IT'S TORI DAY!!!!!!!!!!

feeling great deal of tension today, and not sure of why. but not really digging it - not gonna lie about it.

too much to do, not enough time to do it. get me to 5 p.m. and then get me to the airport! oy.

not to mention that i'm sitting here, feeling very, very cold. not a fan of that either.

ok, my apologies -- i'm not going to be able to catch up with everyone tonight after all -- body is crashing hardcore!!! the past two days have been, as i've said, nuts and i know part of my exhaustion tonight is due to the fact that i know tomorrow will be so nuts...i'm going to do my best to be in touch with people tomorrow. my apologies...

couple of quick notes -- today i received (courtesy of the fabulous richard young of msm fame) marc broussard's "momentary setback." i took a quick listen and think it's a pretty sweet album, and i am already head over heels in love with the song "french cafe." loveitloveitloveit. he's on tour during the upcoming months, opening for maroon5, then o.a.r. good times...

i found a restaurant concept that intrigues me and think i plan to give the vegetable garden a shot within the coming weeks.

i treated myself to wrapworks tonight. happiness. mmmm...

and tomorrow will be a long day, but a good one (no beth, i am not a republican).

oh, and i was able to demonstrate today just why i am the queen of the GMC (paul: kevin called me the parker posey of the office. i squealed.)

that is all. :)

keep in mind that while i work in an office that is largely based in my homestate, i'm still hundreds of miles away from the area in which i grew up. so when you have one of those random "hey! we know the same people!" situations, it's alawys amusing and more than a little heartwarming.

when you have instance after instance -- all in the same day -- it's downright bizarre.

today, i met the husband of my favorite teacher in high school -- my wonderful, fabulous german teacher. i had heard so much about him during high school that i felt as if i knew him. so i wrote frau a note on one of my business cards, which he promised to give to her. we also spoke about todd r., whom he coached on the golf team in high school and i, obviously, knew through my sports journalism at smc...

and then a group that came by shortly thereafter included a rutland resident who knows and regularly sees the family of a girl i played on various sports teams with in high school. so then we played the name game some more. it was kind of unnerving at first, but then very cool -- especially since it'll be neat to think of people getting a random vickie update when their various well-wishes are delivered to them...i can just imagine the reactions of "what is she doing THERE?!?!"

yesterday was insane here. today's been insane here. and tomorrow? oh yeah -- it's going to be off the wall.

but things are going well, so i can't complain. but it also means i can't really blog a lot or write email while i'm here, so i'll do my best to catch up with everyone tonight, either via phone or electronically. but know i'm sending smiles.

ok, as a general rule, i don't post emails. largely due to the respect i have for those who email me, also because, in most cases, what is said within email should, in my opinion, remain within that context.

but situation arise in which i have no problem whatsoever with posting a gem -- in either the best or worse sense. which leads me to the emails i have received over the past day and a half or so...good lord, good lord.

i don't generally find myself in the position in which literary sparring comes about, but whenever i do, i have fun with it and don't hold back, particularly if the recipient of said remarks deserves them. such a recipient popped out of the depths of my past after i wanted to doublecheck to make sure no one i knew had been a victim of the fire in rhode island last week. after the mutually obligatory requests to update each other on how things have been, i dashed off a quick summary of the past eight months -- graduated, traveled, played theatre girl, moved to d.c. and am planning my ascent to top-notch theatre critic or otherwise worldly journalistic female.

the following is an excerpt from the response i recieved:

dont have a lot of time to talk i gotta get to bed and be up for six. fun times in coffee world, but it was nice to hear from ya. i donna know about your future endeavors, from my point of view you're entering a seedy profession with not so many professional people out there callin the shots. please dont listen to my cynical world view, lets hope you can make a difference in that shitty and circumstantial world of journalism.
nah, you're good for it
talk to you later

excuse me? ok, i can bash examples of bad journalistic practices (and do, quite frequently and with vigor). i even engage in debate with people i care about, defending or criticizing journalism. because i know the people i hold such discussions with are intelligent and insightful enough to enlighten me and inspire me to make the journalistic world a better place (yes, i realize that sounds just like i should start singing "we are the world" or something). but for a random person to bash the path i intend to follow for years upon years of my life without justification (or at least not justification conveyed to me)? oh no, i don't think so!

so i, naturally, dash off an appropriately short, sharp, biting response that brought me a great deal of pleasure to write:

"shitty and circumstantial." tell me what you really think -- don't hold back on my account.
your candor is appreciated, your cynicism largely disregarded. wait and see what happens when i'm the one "calling the shots."
one might wonder what profession would be considered less seedy. the obviously pristine world of the theatrical arts? much as i love and intend to spend a great deal of my life involved with it, even i know that halo's seriously askew.
enjoy the early morning while i enjoy sleeping through it.

there we go, i say to myself as i click send. no known connection to victims of the fire and the satisfaction of defending my beloved journalism against mean-spirited antagonizers. the odds of getting any form of response? nonexistant.

instead? i get praised.

i must admit i have missed the witty comebacks that were always prevalent in our conversations. and dont worry i wont hold back. (insert various 'justification' for previous cynical email) ...i am willing to concede all is not bed of roses in any profession. but enough of that...
thanks for the laughs, it was funny to see you still dont and wont hold any punches.
oh, and i DID enjoy the early morning thank you very much.
talk to you soon,

some things never cease to leave me in a permanent state of befuddlement.

in other news -- today was ridiculously long and hectic and i now feel as if i have been hit by a few metro cars. but it was filled with me accomplishing things and contributing to the office and showing (myself, at least) that i am an important part of the team and all...so it was a good crazy long day, not a bad one. tomorrow promises to be the same, so i should get shuteye now -- as i will be in the office early again tomorrow morning! i sense a reward for hard work coming on tomorrow evening. oh yeah, wrapworks is gonna be calling my name...hehehehehe

oh -- my first capitol tour was a success -- filled with a few blunders and lots of information and a healthy dash of nerves. but it's done! and i'm sure i have many more tours in my future to finetune things and come off as super savvy tourgide gal...fun times from jenkins' hill, i tell you.

but for now? i curl up with my mug of decaf tea (cinnamon. mmmm. and why is it that i suddenly felt like jewel for a moment there? "he drinks his coffee with sugar and cream, i drink my decaf herbal teeeeeeaaa..."), a copy of people magazine (i know! but it's an occasional guilty pleasure i'm entitled to, dammit! that and i didn't see an issue of entertainment weekly, which i would have preferred. but at least this issue of people has the most amazing picture of colin farrell, who i will admit is no orlando bloom -- but then again, who is? -- but is still mighty, mighty intriguing. it's the badassmamajahamba side. it's gotta be.) and a few (too few!) hours of sleep approaching.

safe journeys to dreamland to each of you...

JOHN WON A GRAMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now, had he performed "your body is a wonderland" with the style he's adopted as of late -- the whole boy-band-justin-timberlake-let's-ruin-what-i've-got-going-for-me style -- i would have been thoroughly disgusted that such a horrible version of his music has received recognition from the recording industry.

but he didn't.

that was the closest thing to what i wistfully refer to as "old john" that i've seen in months. just john and his guitar. wearing a long-sleeved tee and casual pants while he performed (random note: i do admit he looked quite tasty in his pin-striped suit!), letting the world get a taste of how he used to be -- a singer/songwriter with a guitar and a laidback style, letting his music do the talking.

THAT'S the john mayer i'm a fan of! i was so delighted to see it.

and then, while i was still surrounded by warm fuzzy thoughts of old john, john mayer's "your body is a wonderland" wins a GRAMMY! so how do i react? i react by shrieking (there are witnesses to this, they'll back this up) and getting choked up.

at least for tonight, it's not john mayer the new diva who won a grammy. it's the john who let us interview him and played "babylon" during soundcheck for me and compared notes about david gray songs and sang, "your body is a taco stand."

i'm so absolutely tickled pink for him.

ok, time to process this. john won a grammy. hell, i've interviewed a grammy winner! how weird is that?!?!?

other quick notes: it was amazing to see simon & garfunkel together again. james taylor is the man. and coldplay is genius. i heart them.

more later...

surprise...

for the time being (well, the next two months, anyway), i have aol access--as i was sent one of those free trial things and i figured hey, why not? so look for me online during the evenings/weekends, as i might be lurking about...fun times, eh?

ok, need to run errands. more to come...

it is amazing that i technically had two extra days off this week, yet i still sit here this morning thinking, "thank god it's friday!" but it's a good, relaxed feeling, as i anticipate a pleasant day in the office and a good start to my weekend...

the week has been hectic, but good. i still feel as if i'm in a bit of a bohemian mindset, as i really should unpack my backpack and organize my room, which is currently in a state of disarray, as i haven't had time to be able to organize or anything remotely along those lines. ok, i admit, it's not as if i'm ever truly organized (while i'm making progress, i still definitely have the mentality that "it's not that i'm disorganized--i just have a creative approach at organization as a general practice."), but with the decoration process i've been working on as well as the bag o' stuff i brought back from vermont combined with the books i'm needing to organize and put away and all of that jazz, it's a bit of disarray that doesn't settle well with me at the moment. i've discovered how nice it is to come home to a tranquil living space and not feel the clutter of the day and whatnot weighing on my shoulders--i can drop my work bag by the door and just exist for awhile--no worries about calls regarding nominations, flag requests or tours--just vickie time that i can spend however i deem appropriate. just a much-enjoyed release--ahhhh...

but that was a tangent i didn't mean to go on...the week's gone well. being in recess is always nice for a few days, as the workday is shorter and the necessary daily tasks tend to be less in-your-face and stressful (mainly catching up on projects and whatnot), but this one has worked out particularly well because it's so brief--while it's nice to relax, recess can get rather dull. but in this one, we only had three days of it, so whoo hoo!!!

that said, i do have a cloud hanging over my head as i approach the 26th of this month...as i've been alerted that it's going to be one fuuuun day on the phones. i feel hesitant even writing about this, as i know this site has come up through some random search engines (how can we possibly forget the mass of people who stopped by while searching for "big fucking boots"?), but nonetheless, i'm going to go with it and take my chances. an organization (which i will not mention or link to, just to prevent any of those potential protesters from stopping by here) is planning a "virtual march on washington" during which they hope to have a phone call a minute coming into each senator's office voicing opposition to war in iraq. a phone call a minute for the eight hours i will be at the phone--granted that's the ideal for this group and is rather unlikely, but it still means i'm pretty much guaranteed an insane day of taking comments. oh yeah, fine holiday fun.

but it's all good. why? because it's not the 26th yet--it's only the 21st. it's friday, i've had a good week thus far and had a very enjoyable evening last night--we held a "we miss rob!!!" happy hour at buffalo billiards after the office closed down at 5 which provided fun times, good drink and good conversation, after which i returned home, in my half-buzzing state decided i was completely capable of working out on the cross-trainer for a bit, which resulted in amusing vickie antics and, after about fifteen minutes, the realization that excercising wasn't happening. so then i was able to catch up on phone calls and otherwise relax, enjoying sprawling out in my room and chatting and laughing. good times!

alright, more later. must be diligent (or at least appear to be!)

i was laughing until i had to try to get back to dc, that's for sure! despite some concerns about getting back to the area (and a two-and-a-half hour shuttle ride that left me, shall we say, quite non-plussed), i'm back, ready for a new (half) workweek and in an absolutely fan-flippin-tastic mood.

getting into work today was an adventure and a half, to say the least. while the metro was crowded at my stop this morning, there was still certainly room to get a stop standing, which was fine, particularly once a seat opened up shortly thereafter, so i was able to sit comfortably and observe the ensuing madness. there were two schools of commuters--those who were aware of the fact that the sardine-tin effect was out of everyone's control and that all those at the platforms trying to get onboard were just trying to get to work on time, and then those who were (understandably) crushed already and frustrated that more people were trying to squeeze into subway cars that were waaaaay too crowded, so they were busy yelling at other people to wait until the next train and not try to board ours. i felt (and i expressed this to some of my happy-crushed-commuter people) as if i was finally able to grasp the experience had by everyone trying to get a spot on the much-coveted lifeboats as the titanic sank into the atlantic...i found it amusing. granted, i'm sure this had something to do with my having a seat for the experience, but nonetheless...

and then, getting off the metro at union station and making my way up delaware to work--hahaha! the snowdrifts are huge, and i joined the line of those trying to climb over the drifts without falling flat on their faces. it was a warm (relatively speaking, naturally) morning, so i was loving it--particularly when everyone was enjoying the experience with one another--from the smiles i exchanged with passersby to the kind gentleman who stood on top of one of the drifts and extended a hand to help me take the slightly periolous step up to the top of the drift.

it's just been that kind of a day--there's a giddiness in the air today that i'm practically gulping in. the morning has been fantastic--i spent some time laughing and talking theater with kevin down in his office, i caught up with erica, chatted with a couple of vermonters on the telephone, got some work done--and the entire time, i've been talkative, energized--just in a fantastic mood. i don't know if it's the snow, the fact that it's warm outside or the fact that there's only a half week of work before another weekend--but things are great! between all of that, shared laughter over "guffman" quotes (there's something so delightful about picking up a phone call and hearing hysterical laughter on the other end before you even say hello) and discussion about how to get me back into the theatrical swing of things down here in dc-land...it's just all-around fun times today...lovin it.

i'll post about the weekend later on as i have more of an opportunity...fun times in the land of the frozen north were had.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

area closed on account of snow...

and everyone thought i was crazy for heading up to the frozen north of vermont this weekend--it might be cold as all hell here, but it's been too cold for snow! meanwhile, my fair home in dc is buried beneath a foot and a half of the white stuff? this is too funny...

granted, it's too funny while i'm still up here--i have a feeling that it will be a nightmare getting back home on tuesday--that is, if everything is operational again so i can get home on tuesday...i have a feeling it will, though. but bwi is closed tomorrow--will it be up and running tuesday? keep your eyes on the weather channel, gang, and see if i'll be in work tuesday afternoon or not...

what a screwy winter it has been, eh?

things here are going well. very well. relaxed, enjoying the opportunity to see everyone...a more substantial post will probably arrive tomorrow, but for now, i've got to head to bed...

happy valentine's day to each of you...

ah, yes, v day. anticipated, hyped-up, depressing, annoying--it can be so many different things to so many different people. me? i think it can be cute--a chance to see how people shower affection on their significant others that always brings an "awww..." from witnesses to said displays--but i've never been one of those people who is all about the holiday, whether all about loving it or all about hating it. i remember being younger and feeling as if i should be so incredibly excited to fill out valentines and give them to all of my classmates because then i'd be getting valentines back, but, save a few special valentines for crushes, it was always a sort of rote process of signing my name and figuring out creative ways of personalizing each one. plus i never enjoyed the feeling of wanting/not wanting to count the number i received and wonder how my total compared to others in the class (when you're younger, all of those holiday things come down to a popularity contest, don't they?). as i grew older, i never found myself involved with someone when the 14th rolled around, so i'd jokingly wear black in "protest" of the "horrificially commercialized manner in which hallmark conspires to make people 'in love' feel superior while those who are single have their noses rubbed in it." but i never fully believed it--while i always wore black, i also found a way to wear red.

i don't know, i guess it comes down to the fact that as far as valentine's day is concerned, i think it's nice that there is a day for it--because there are people out there, sadly enough, who need a specific day to serve as a reminder that they should tell people they love how much they care--and i do, in some respects, feel it's way too commercialized. and i understand that it's frustrating for some because it's a reminder that they are Alone (i use the capital letter because there's being alone, which can be good and liberating, but then there's Alone, which can be depressing and frightening) and i think all of us, regardless of how okay we are with not being involved with someone romantically, feels a twinge of envy when someone describes a romantic valentine's display of affection or gets flowers delivered to the office--but really? it's just a day. a chance to wear red. or black. or red and black or whatever color you want and pass around chocolates to friends and coworkers while acknowledging that whether it's a boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, family member or friend, there's someone out there who loves you and is thinking of you. as far as the roses and presents and dinners and other showy displays of affection, i say pick a random day to surprise your loved one with it. personally, it would mean more to me to have a boyfriend tell me on a random friday that he loves me and wants to treat me to a night of romance than if he did it specifically on the 14th of february. because then it's not because there's an obligation or pressure to do so on a particular day, if that makes sense.

it's a cute day and it's a fun day. but it's really just that--a day. so have a great day--make sure to eat a chocolate-covered cherry!

it's funny how the day always looms ahead, so full of time and so full of things to get done in that vast expanse of time. wake up, go through the early (too often too early) morning routine, get out the door so i make it to work on time, make the familiar walk to the metro with the familiar unfamiliar faces of those who make the same walk each morning, read on the ride in, look for the familiar people positioned at their "stations" along my walk to work (dredlock man asking for a dime in his barry white-esque baritone, prophet lady standing just before the street--will she greet all of the pedestrians this morning or will she chastise them for their coffees, cigarettes and cell phones?), greet the security officers at my office building, head into the office, plunge into the waiting pile of papers, messages, projects. then, all of a sudden it's lunch, an hour of peace spent refueling, reading, talking perhaps with someone i've met up with. halfway through with the day, there are still hours of work to go, hours that suddenly fly by in a flurry of the same papers, phone calls, perhaps an IM conversation or a few emails dashed off. and then it's the trip home, nestled on a metro seat with the comfort of the book shielding my body from the rush-hour crush of sardine-packed people in the subway car. hurried walk against the brisk evening breeze back to the apartment, where i'm greeted by fidel in the same manner each evening ("good evening, my dear, happy ____ --fill in the blank with appropriate day of the week--how are you?" "great, thanks! see you later." "yes, dear, see you tomorrow, have a great night.") work the office-chair kinks in my back with luxuriously blissful stretching while i warm up in my room before heading down to the gym to work out some of the excess energy/frustration/excitement the day provided while watching bravo on the flatscreen television in front of me--the opportunity to zone out in the realm of entertainment and actors--the first opportunity i've had to not think all day. just be, relax, enjoy. give myself small challenges (well, small by the standards of the buff weightlifters who take on the weight machines, anyway) with the various pieces of machinery, discovering delightedly that i need to add another weight to the resistance, seeing previously hidden muscles start to emerge. return to my apartment feeling the delightfully contradicting sensations of muscles tired and energized, my mind centered and at peace. dinner, some phone conversations, television, more phone conversations, catching up on the day's events with my roommate, then the nightly ritual of unwinding with my book, a mug of hot cinammon tea, a "christmas cookie" candle burning as i relax in bed and prepare to drift off to sleep. a pattern, a routine that brings comfort and peace. and thus the vast and looming day is complete, another to begin when the alarm goes off the next morning...

ok, i felt like doing a bit of stream-of-consciousness writing there, which i haven't done for awhile. it's been a hectic day and i thought some time spent just letting my fingers move over the keys would provide a little spring of tranquility in the hectic pace of the morning. it did, thankfully! i don't know why i wound up writing about my typical routine--it just sort of happened, i guess. looking back on it now, i feel this need to clarify that it's not as boring and mundane as it sounds! there are often bits to jazz it up--whether meeting up with someone for lunch, going to a happy hour after work, etc.--but all things considered, it's a pretty typical presentation of the life of vickie (although i didn't make reference to the writing that i tend to do every day)...

as i said, a busy, hectic day today. but it's been going well and i don't feel as if i'm struggling to keep up with the workload, as was the case yesterday afternoon. but that was also due to the fact that i was trying to get my scheduling work done while organizing tours, waiting for return phone calls while communicating as best as i could via IM with my father (who is a much-improved computer user, but still somewhat illiterate when it comes to IM). it was as if a big stress snowball was rolling down the side of a swiss alps mountain, gaining momentum and size as it prepared to bowl me over and i had no possible way to escape.

regardless, i sit here today feeling much more in control of my workflow, not overly stressed yet still having enough to do in my four hours of afternoon office time after lunch to not rest on my laurels and look up random websites online. i'm also looking forward to a relaxing, enjoyable, somewhat impromptu trip to vermont for the weekend. i had mentioned to my parents two nights ago that chloe would be in colorado this weekend (actually leaves tomorrow) and that i would probably be chilling and relaxing by myself for most of the weekend, as almost all of my friends have valentines to spend the long, romantic holiday weekend with, and my father mentioned a few minutes later, quite out of the blue, "why don't we fly you home? it would be fun!" after being unable to find a flight back to bwi on monday, however, the plan seemed futile--until i was given permission to take a half day on tuesday and fly back to bwi tuesday morning. i'm looking forward to being able to have some time to unwind and see the homestate again. normally, there's such a rush to do everything when i'm home--see people and wish them the best on whatever holiday happens to have brought me home--i don't generally chill and do whatever, so it's nice to come home for no particular reason and just be for awhile. i'm thinking about making a day trip to burlington on sunday, as the family is working during the morning and early afternoon, and, if the defender staff will be working, i might be able to poke my head in and say hi, which would be a great deal of fun. it would be nice to have a little infusion of journalistic routine in my system, if only a taste. not to mention i would look forward to (in a masochistic sort of way) seeing how much the campus has changed already. so if you're a smc type and you'll be around, drop me a line and perhaps we can see about meeting up...

i feel like the past couple of days have been a montage of high-speed moving shots one would see in a hollywood film. everything's racing by, next to, behind me, moving with a rapid, somewhat jerky pace while the camera focuses on me, at my desk, or in the subway or in my apartment, moving at normal pace with a zen-like calm evident. it's rather bizarre...

i tell you, to quote wilco..."i just can't find the time to write my mind the way i want it to read..." - wilco

today's horoscope:

because the sun is agreeing with saturn, it's fair to surmise that an opportunity wouldn't be presenting itself to you unless it had a legitimate place in the/your scheme of things. therefore, especially when dealing with household, real estate or psychological issues, use the available resources instead of trafficking in theoretical abstractions and "if only"s.

despite the fact that i'm having a bit more difficulty this morning being conscious and coherent (the two c's that i hate when my alarm goes off at 5:45 on tuesdays and thursdays), the day is going to be great, i suspect. a great tuesday to follow a great monday and a very enjoyable weekend. once again i find myself faced with the challenge of providing at least some form of a recap of the weekend--a process i always want to be sure to engage in, but i never feel as if i do justice to whatever events i participated in. i need more time--time to describe in greater detail the sights, sounds and feelings that arise through the endeavors...but nonetheless, something's better than nothing, so here i go again...

friday evening was blessedly low-key. i hadn't been feeling particularly well thursday, and although the vickie indulgence thursday night i decided on (decided to finally see "igby goes down," eat chipotle and relax, unwind and decompress) helped, i still wasn't 100% on friday. so i watched the second half of "igby"--i'd had to stop the movie viewing halfway through the night before so i could get enough sleep for the next day at work--caught up on some phone calls, even did some of the work i'd brought home to do over the weekend (organization i didn't have time/space for while at work). i knew that i had plans for debauchery, adams morgan-style, saturday night, so i wasn't all about the idea of going out and being all crazy-like all weekend long (i'm getting old--such behavior is far too tiring! haha).

during the day on saturday, i continued the "vickie explores washington" tour with a trip back to the national gallery, this time to view, among other things, the two special exhibits on display--one on trompe l'oeil (artwork intended to deceive the eye), the other featuring edouard vuillard, which i thought would be enjoyable, as i'm currently discovering an appreciation for 20th century french art i never knew i possessed. both exhibits were fascinating--while some of the trompe l'oeil left me with a "um...not so much" (honestly, how many paintings of dead ducks hanging from hooks do i need to see? a question i never thought i'd have occasion to ask myself) feeling, there were so many pieces that i found astounding--both in their incredible likeness to life and the creativity that led to such pieces. there were three in particular that really grabbed me and took hold. one was a painting that was actually part of a door--a depiction of a violin hanging on a nail that was so lifelike i had to look at the door from the side so i could see that there was nothing more than a flat surface present. the second was a full-length piece depicting a door opening into a hallway, with additional open doors visible in the background. the museum positioned it at the end of one of the rooms in such a manner that visitors turned a corner and saw it at the other end--everyone was doing doubletakes. and the third depicted a painting with a curtain drawn over half of it--the sheen of the curtain, the creases in the fabric--i'm still amazed that someone can create such life out of oils, brushes and canvas...very cool indeed.

the vuillard exhibit was pretty decent--he pretty much covered the spectrum of subjects throughout his career. stil life, decorations, portraits, nudes, etc. i actually found myself drawn more to his sketches than most of the paintings, although i'm not sure of precisely why. perhaps because they were more raw and unpolished? or because they were less "classical"--i've found that i tend to prefer art that has more of a contemporary feel (i won't say "modern," as that makes me instantly think of weird sculptures and big block shapes of color, which i don't enjoy. i'm most into work from the early twentieth century, things that would go with an art deco-inspired environment). think picasso, matisse, van gogh, georgia o'keefe and similar artists. nonetheless, i enjoyed being able to amble through the rooms, at times truly interested in the pieces i was seeing, at other times unabashedly trying to look like i was interested--playing the part of the serious art enthusiast and showing "my cultured side"--hehehehe. museums are so much fun in that respect.

but i also made sure to stop by the contemporary/twentieth century section--finally stood in front of an authentic picasso for the first time (squeal!). picasso and matisse are associated so closely with my theatre experiences--the first production i ever worked on (read: the play that grabbed me by its claws and made me a theatre person) was "picasso at the lapin agile"--that i can't help but be excited when i have the opportunity to be around those works. i went up to the tower to view the matisse cutouts, which are amazing--i highly recommend that people check them out (my favorite was either "icarus" or "cirque", which i'd never seen before.

anyhoo, twas very cool. then there was relaxation and whatnot, as well as some gym time, before heading out for the night with chloe and nicole. we partook in my bottle of boone's farm (haha--lovin it!) before leaving for aileen's apartment, where we knew next to no one, which made it fun. the three of us wound up talking with a guy originally from atlanta, but now working at some lobbying job and who possessed a greater working knowlegde of the political realm than either nicole or myself (and we're the ones with the government jobs..whoops!). the guy was talking with me about the fact that there's a movement to rename the russell building--he was asking my opinion of it and i was explaining my frustrations over the pettiness of the "small stuff" when there are so many other things--larger and more pressing things--we could be focusing on, yadda yadda. my partners in crime were delighted and shocked later when i informed them that that was the first i'd heard of any such movement--i was totally bs-ing the entire thing. whoops! it was fun, though--gave me the chance to do some chatting and enjoy a couple of glasses of red wine--works for me!

and then we headed into adams morgan. i love the morgan, but i'm definitely looking forward to warmer weather. so much of the fun of the place is tied into wandering the streets, watching the people in their various stages of intoxication flock in and out of bars, spilling out onto the streets and into cabs--and it's tough to observe it properly when everyone's busy trying to get into anywhere warm...but nonetheless, it was still fun. hit up a few different places, most of which i'd never been to before, so that's always cool. it was just a laidback chance to have a few drinks, do some people-watching, find people to talk to and what have you.

before piling into the cab to return home, however, i made a horrible, tragic discovery. when first experiencing all that is adams morgan, there was a system--go to bars, drink, have fun, get a jumbo slice at pizza mart, scarf down said slice, head home. i hadn't had the slice since november, however, as i wound up having a not-so-pleasant experience with it (i think it was a combination of eating too quickly and having partaken in far too much fun at dan's cafe). but saturday night, i was ready to experience it in all of its glory once again. so we bought our slices, balanced them on the tin foil and plates while we flagged down a cab and piled into the car for our trip home.

and then i discovered it--i can't eat pizza mart anymore! i had maybe five or six bites when i started feeling ill. i stopped eating it and felt better. took another bite and felt ill. so i enjoyed the crust of my pizza and had to get rid of the rest (for the record, both chloe and nicole said it wasn't up to pizza mart's usual standards as well). this cannot be! now i have to discover something else to enjoy during the late-night drunken state! i'm going to have to either stock up on salsa con queso or find myself something else to indulge in. a travesty, i tell you!

anyway. sunday was relaxation day--i told myself that i was going to sleep in as late as i wanted. no setting alarms, no nothing. so naturally i woke up at 9:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. never fails. ;) but i was able to veg out for most of the day--did the necessary weekly tasks (grocery shopping and the like), as well as taking in a matinee of "how to lose a guy in 10 days" with c & n, which was predictable, frothy, but adorable and funny as hell! i highly recommend it to anyone in need of a fun, mindless moviegoing experience--it's a very fun time.

and then there was yesterday. typical day at work--yadda yadda. i was craving something different for dinner, so i stopped by dupont on my way home and hit up wrapworks for "the big juan" (grilled fresh veggies, roasted tomato salsa, corn and pepper relish, black beans and mexian rice in a low-fat flour tortilla) which i brought home and thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed. i'd experienced wrapworks once before, when i had a wrap custom-made for me, but never tried one of the specialties--it rivaled chipotle, although, admittedly, they're apples and oranges.

so i enjoyed gym time and dinner before checking my mail and discovering the greatest surprise waiting for me--a two-disc mraz show, courtesy of the truly kick-ass paul! so many thanks to him for sending that my way (it got me singing and dancing as i started my day today, therefore helping me cope with the early hour)--not to mention that it's an outstanding recording! it's easily the best live show of any artist i've heard--it's like mraz is chilling in my room, playing for me!

anyway, a few phone coversations later, i settled in to watch "joe millionaire" and immediately became so disgusted by the fact that we weren't going to find out who he picked that i gave that up and wound up making some calls and all in all having a great night! so thank you to those who contributed to that!

whew--ok, i should think about doing some work now. whoops!

alright, so my evening. after closing up the office, i made a mad dash to the hearing room for beryl's "so long, farewell, good luck" party, which had begun at 5 (i closed up the office at 6). about an hour and a half spent at the par-tay, enjoying a couple of glasses of wine (i'm beginning to acquire a taste for the stuff--but only red. white is way too dry for my pleasing) and conversation (including speaking with the senator's wife, as i was arranging a white house tour for her and a couple of her personal guests--she's so sweet!) before the party started to wind down at 7:30. after cleaning up and whatnot, a bunch of us junior staffers headed to cap lounge to celebrate a couple of office birthdays--patrick's, which was yesterday, and chris', which is today. i'd never been to cap lounge before, so i was looking forward to that, as well as the opportunity to hang out and relax for a drink or two before heading home in time to catch my wednesday night tv shows.

well, i got home at 10, just missing both shows. but it was worth it. i did stick to my "drink or two" policy, but wound up talking and laughing and whatnot...and having the single WORST encounter with a waitress i've ever had. the story, you ask? let me tell you...

upon entering cap lounge, we headed to the downstairs bar, which was offering specials on beer (not that that did me any good, but nonetheless). we all got our drinks and headed back upstairs, where we took over a couple of tables. when the waitress came over at one point, corey ordered another beer and i asked for a glass of water, since i wanted to pace myself and all. she gave me a Look and said it wouldn't be a problem. but when she brought corey his beer, she never brought me the water. didn't bring it at all, so i figured she forgot. no big deal.

but when i finished my first drink, i wanted another and she wasn't there, so i walked over to the bar, which was just a few feet away. while the bartender's making my drink, the waitress comes up to me.

"why didn't you order a water at the bar?" the woman, who was probably mid-40s in age, asks with another Look.

"because i wanted a water when i asked you for it," i replied. "now i want another drink."

"well, you should have ordered a water here," she shot back. "some of us have rent to pay, you know."

"well, i probably would have ordered my drink at the table had you been at the table," i said, shocked and amused by the whole thing. "but you weren't, i wanted a drink, so i got one where i could get one now. and thanks for bringing me the water." with that, i took my drink and walked back to the table, where i told everyone the story. everyone was floored. when the waitress came back to see if anyone wanted anything else, ted asked for a water. she gave me another Look (thoroughly unprovoked on my part!) and walked away.

later on, she gave dan a hard time too, as she gave him grief for paying his tab at the bar because she wasn't around and we were getting ready to leave.

i couldn't believe it, though! it's not like i'm mean or anything, particularly at restaurants or bars. i know how hard it is to deal with people--hell, i'm the former drive thru queen--i'm all about giving credit to those who deserve it. but i didn't commit any huge social faux pas or anything by what i did and she was just a bitch! i hope she was just having an off night. holy schnikies!

but the night was great fun and, while i'm feeling it today (i wasn't Drunk last night, but i was certainly past the buzzy stage) combined with the reminder that i have no big muscles as of yet (thanks cake, flower stuff and the case of beer i lugged back to phil's office post-party), i feel like i've been hit by a truck. ugh. i have tentative plans to go out for drinks tonight, but it's up in the air at the moment and kind of hope we can get it postponed to this weekend or next week or something, as i'd love to head home tonight, do some stretching and cross-training, eat dinner and watch tv.

mmmmmm.

seeing something like this makes me very, very happy.

i had an absolutely fabulous ("FAH-bulous, dahling") night last night. a full recap will follow later today, however, just know for now that i had a blast. although i did manage to miss both of my wednesday night shows (i feel as if there's something missing today--oh wait, there is! my knowledge of what happened on each show!) and i learned of just how deceptively heavy a large cake can be (particularly when one must very carefully carry said cake from the fourth floor of russell down to the basement level, through the passageway into dirsken and up to the second floor of dirksen--while waiting a good long while for the various elevators), followed up by a similar experience with a deceptively heavy box with flower arrangements, bowls and whatnot. the arms are certainly feeling it today.

but the good thing is that i've become a lightweight. whoo hoo! quick, cheap drunk! ;)

ok, more to follow later.

update: ok, link doesn't work that way. go to averi's main site, go into the journal and follow the link chad posted at the end of the most recent entry. second photo--the sold out one.

i can already tell that i'm going to be way too exhausted to kickbox tonight. so i think i'm holding off until saturday so i can use the two days this weekend and fully enjoy all that the fitness center can offer.

i think this is a wise decision, so i don't break myself. kickboxing saturday, sauna or pool sunday? not too shabby...

you ever have one of those days where you feel like you just don't feel like you can get anything right? i mean, i wake up, i get into work, i'm being dutiful and taking care of everything i can take care of. i have a project i need to finish up, but i can't do it because other people aren't providing the info/aren't in the office/etc. then i have to run to my cap tour class that's supposed to take two hours and winds up taking two and a half (but was fascinating and provided lots of fun stories i can add to my tours, so that's all good), so i haul arse back here so i can take a quick lunch (twenty minutes instead of an hour) so everyone else can get their lunches out of the way because there's a tour that has to be given this afternoon and i want to make sure erica gets her full hour (see what a sweetheart i am?). so after hauling arse back here, people don't leave for at their lunches for at least another twenty minutes (still haven't left yet), so really, i could have relaxed. i could have enjoyed my lunch, even. but instead, here i am, feeling rushed, flustered and frustrated, not to mention pissed off because now i STILL can't finish the work i want to finish.

meanwhile, i don't ask for people to come up to me and tell me how wonderful i am or anything like that, but i'm not going to lie about it--i've been working damn hard lately and i would love it if someone even appeared to NOTICE. i'm already pissed that i can't go to see the "whose line is it anyway?" performance tomorrow (don't even get me started on that one) and i've been trying to do everything i can to be a big team player and all that. a "hey, vic, thanks" would be more than sufficient.

it's just one of those days and i need to get through it so i can go home, unwind briefly and then kickbox for an hour, probably resulting in a lot of pain for me tonight and tomorrow, but at least it'll get this aggression out. grrrrrrr.

i'm intrigued.

this morning, i was looking up information about kickboxing classes in the area, as i've been thinking about getting a tape or something as a way of overall body-strengthening and as an aggression/frustration/energy outlet. but i figured going to at least one class might be a good idea, so i can see and be instructed on the proper way to do it before i give it a shot and listen to billy blanks or someone equivalent on my own. so i found out that there's a fitness center actually just around the corner from my building that offers a kickboxing class on tuesday evenings. and has a free two-day introductory special. so i printed out the little coupon thingy and am thinking about checking it out tomorrow night, at it works into my schedule really well. i'm sure the price of a membership is unrealistic for me (i'd really only be a member for the sake of being able to participate in the classes--i have a fitness room in my building that i can--and do--use for free, so what's the point in paying?), but having the opportunity to kick my own ass in kickboxing and see if i like it is great! and, i figure, since the class only meets once a week and i would, therefore, not be able to take advantage of that with a two-day offer, perhaps i can take advantage of the massages on wednesday and get my first backrub in eons! mmmm...

anyhoo...it was a nice weekend. went out to happy hour with some of the office friday evening--started off at cap city brewery and then went with jess, liz, greg and greg's brother (new to the area) to irish times, which i'd never been to before. hung out for awhile, surprised myself at the fact that i was nice and buzzy after a vodka cran and a midori sour (granted, the midori was strong and in a pint glass--good irish times bartender, i say!--but nevertheless, a midori sour isn't exactly what one would think of when one things of drinks that will get one nice and drunk). i, for the record, enjoy the buzzy feeling so much more than the "hi, i'm duuuuruuunk" feeling. i haven't been a really big drinker as of late, primarily for that reason, i believe. but riding home on the metro, my eyes feeling a bit fuzzy around the edges, my head not completely attached to the rest of my body and my fingertips feeling a bit buzzy? i'm always a fan of that feeling.

i visited the holocaust museum as i had intended to do and the experience was amazing. i spent over three hours there without realizing how much time had passed and was fascinated by everything i came across. while i obviously knew of the details of the holocaust, prior to saturday, i could never fully understand how things had reached the point they had. but the manner in which the museum is set up gives the visitor the opportunity to really understand how it was a gradual process and how it wasn't as if the german people were foolish and just randomly let hitler take power and warp everyone's minds...it was fascinating. and the reflection room at the end of the museum is gorgeous and moving. it's rather difficult to put into words the way i felt as i wandered through the museum...while no one in my family (to my knowledge, anyway) was involved with the holocaust from any real point of view (we're pretty much strictly from ireland), to be walking through the museum, with my blonde hair and blue eyes, i had to wonder how the logic could have existed that i, had i lived in that time and area, would have been considered "purer" or "more german" than someone else. no matter how many times you are taught about it, no matter how old you become, i honestly believe there's no way to get past that initial fact--and i don't think it's possible to ever provide an answer to it.

so i left the museum and, on the metro ride back towards my neighborhood, checked my messages, only to discover that my father had called to ask about what had happened to "the space shuttle." unaware of the fact that columbia was in orbit, i figured there had been a launch delay or something, so i called him at work and told him i didn't know, but i'd find out when i got home--just had to run some errands and whatnot. so i stopped at tenleytown, took my own sweet time grocery shopping (i found that i have two additional grocery stores that aren't super far away from my place--yeah, larger selection!!!), walked home, stopped at panera to get myself a bowl of mesa bean & vegetable soup (mmmm...), then ambled into the apartment, turned on the tv, and realized what had happened.

whoa.

besides my initial shock about the events that had transpired, i found myself comparing this experience to the experience i had as a young child learning of the challenger explosion. i don't remember a lot of that day--i was five, afterall--but i do remember watching the explosion on television and talking to my parents about what had happened. but i remember knowing that something like that had never happened before and hoping that it would never happen again.

when i discovered that it was columbia that had exploded this time, i instantly realized that i had seen columbia in person--back in junior high when my family vacationed in florida. my brother, who had been a huge nascar fan, was being treated to a trip to the daytona 500 by my father. since mom and i were letting the men of the family be all macho-like and watch cars race around a circle track (can you tell i've never been a nascar fan myself?), we decided to spend the day at the kennedy space center. so we drove down, took a tour and, as luck would have it, were able to see a shuttle on the launch pad, as it would be taking off on a space mission two days later. the shuttle was columbia.

so i spent much of the afternoon watching the television coverage, then took a break from that to work out (but wound up watching the coverage while i cross-trained in the gym) and then ate dinner while watching the coverage. i had intended to go out with chloe and the various and sundry chloe-people, but plans fell through and chloe wasn't going to be doing anything afterall, so i headed up the street to the movie theater there to catch the late showing of "chicago." a short review of the movie will follow later this afternoon.

and sunday was relaxation. went to trader joe's for the first time ever--love that grocery store! did a lot of reading and room decoration--finally hung up my various framed pieces of artwork or vickie memorabelia. i finished "confessions of an ugly stepsister" and began my research about shakespearean authorship. i'm now reading a book called "murder of the man who was shakespeare" (or something like that) by hoffman, which argues that christopher marlowe actually wrote all of shakespeare's work. i'm doing everything in my power to remain skeptical (i would be crushed if shakespeare didn't actually pen my favorite works), but i plan to do a lot of research on this and am already finding hoffman's book fascinating. so we'll see...