dactyl endeavors to battle the flu...again and again and again.

since my lungs have been undergoing a constant battle with the east coast air quality and germ plague, i decided to bite the bullet and succomb to the pseudo-spam-yet-from-human-resources pleas of a free flu shot. i made the trip up to the appropriate floor five times, only to be told the first time that the doctor had run out of shots about eight people in front of me, and the remaining times to find a line so long, you'd think they were giving away diamonds... or even top quality peanut brittle. who knows. fifth time was a charm however, and i was at the front of the line when the rest were informed that they only had six shots left (i received number 2). i don't know what it is about such a scenario that causes me to actually GLOAT to the rest of the line, and cheekily try to sell my shot to the highest bidder... but the words did in fact come out of my mouth. obviously, not one person found that moment amusing (except me of course... and i would like to point out that the nurses administering the shot found me hilarious... lest you all suddenly worry that i've lost my mojo).

unfortunately, i'm now worried that my body can't battle the virus they've injected into my arm. i have been sneezing like a sneezing fool all last night and today. i got super dizzy last night and just kept eating and drinking water until it went away, but still felt a little offkilter. and my arm kills. of course that means that i can't work out (oh darn, it'll have to wait a day), but it's sort of ridiculous that one little stab in the arm can sideline your regular life so badly. bygones. i'll win this battle. my already forming powerhouse antibodies have been adequately bribed. if they do a good job, i promise not to kick them out.

do you ever notice how much better a woman walks when wearing heels? i don't know what it is about me, but i'm always made aware of the fact that i FEEL like i have more confidence when wearing something with a little lift. it's as if my lower half is doing magic tricks on stilts. love it.

i've got my morning coffee in hand... let the fantasmica begin.

last night... we baked

coworker J and i attempted to do some baking last night after work. and no, i most certainly do NOT mean the illegal kind... i'm talking flour and eggs and sugar here people, stay with me.

we were overwhelmed with excitement at the thought of making these green tea cheesecake brownies but really, they look like white mini quiche squares. too much butter perhaps?? who knows. but we have them at work and are waiting for SOMEONE to brave the weird appearance and give them a little taste.

someone just sent us an email saying that they are, in fact, delish... right this second. i was going to transition my thought pattern, but had to tell you. success!! even if the nibbler is a young canadian girl.. it counts.

i rather enjoy all things domestic. i really love doing laundry, and cooking, and organizing, and sewing, and all such things. i dont actually like the cleaning part however. if it weren't for the advent of the swiffer, i would be living in a ginormous pile of dust bunnies. i mean if you're going to keep pets, they might as well be living beings, right? can dust bunnies be considered pets? i'm going to look into it, b/c i'm certainly not going to pay anyone a pet deposit simply b/c i abhor dusting.

i tangent... whoopsie.

my valediction prediction...

just go with it... it rhymes.

i have very intelligent friends... i do. i'm not going to lie. such things usually make me feel good about myself. for some reason, new york has provided me the opportunity to increase the knowledge level of my friend base. why is that you might ask (or you might if you actually cared about what i had to say... so thank you... for those that actually, in fact, you know... care)? i think it's because there's a pretension that goes along with this place. people really seem to care about where you went to college, and what you studied, and the number of degrees you have (because one bachelor degree doesn't really cut the mustard), and all that flim flam. whatever. sit at a table with me and my coworkers on any given day and this will be the round up: yale, yale, stanford, harvard, oxford, brown, yale, university of washington. pretty sure that last one is the dactyl (good call). it amuses me. but at the same time i can't stand verbal showboating. it's a fine line, but in the publishing industry, advanced vocabulary is routine.

i left los angeles because i couldn't stand how plastic the city was... and not just in a surgically cosmetic sense... the people just seemed to have no souls. i lived there for two years and didn't generate one meaningful relationship with a single person there. tres boring. but i find that i dislike new york for the opposite reason. there is meaning, but does soulfullness exist here?

back to my original topic... whenever i find myself puzzling over the meaning of a certain word or concept, i know not to trouble myself too greatly with it. i simply lean my head out my office and ask the general nearbys what the answers are. more likely than not, it is my bff at work R... and in today's case he came through for me. again.

during lunch S posed the following question: i know that the opening of any letter is called a salutation, but what is the closing called? the answer: a valediction. R wins again.

and now you can all consider yourself enlightened...

a busy weekend and the vroom vroom...

thank the ceiling for small favors... after a very busy weekend of traveling and shooting (new jersey and connecticut), i found myself back at home on sunday evening preparing for a date that never happened. he was tired. feeling slightly deflated about the way this new romance had fizzled, i decided to take a stranger up on his offer to take me on a bike ride... and by bike, i mean the real kind.. the motorcycle.

we did a full swoop of lower manhattan, at about 70 miles an hour, the wind blasting me in the face, my legs doing their duty of keeping me on the bike... and a grin deliciously plastered across my face. overall i never loved living in southern california, but i certainly do miss those weekend bike rides out ortega highway... stopping randomly for beers and mexican food. last night i had a taste of that again, and boy... it was just what i needed. JUST... WHAT... I... NEEDED!

until next weekend, when we ride again... i'll be here enjoying the smile that won't leave my face.

sort of an exciting day in dactyl land...

my photography website has gone live... still have to do some final editing and get a logo designed etc.. but it's there for your viewing pleasure.

www.taraleigh.com

eeeeeeeek!!

these also came in the mail yesterday, so you'd best believe that i'm rocking them today. i love zappos... such things should just be known. :)



i had a rather painful date last night... and i have another one tonight with a doctor (like that matters), and really, i just want to cancel and stay home and read. now i'm starting to remember why i hated this process so much last year... b/c it's painful and emotionally draining. i've already met someone that i think is lovely and such a great time to be around...but he's not looking for a relationship. so now what do i do? i keep going on painful dates, that's what i do.

a midtown monarch...

i just went into rakesh's office to tell him something about his notoriety as "an indian man that speaks many languages" when i happened to glance outside his window (at the ever increasing grayness that is the sky today... pending rain anyone? anyone?) and saw a monarch butterfly hovering. i mean it clearly wasn't flapping it's bright orange wings and flying around... it was sort of just coasting and was probably propelled upwards by the steam and exhaust of the buildings and cars below (i'm making this up but it sounds interesting)...

it's not very often that one looks out a seventh story window only to find a monarch butterfly commuting through midtown manhattan. i mean really...

where is he going? is bloomie's having a sale that i don't know about? i mean, he's completely missed the columbus day (aka let's celebrate our italianness and be annoying by blocking the sidewalks day) parade... but still. you don't come in to midtown without some sort of mission.

i wonder if i toss a 20 dollar bill out the window (that doesn't open) if he'll go on a starbucks run for me. i could use a little something-festive-with-caramel-and-a-long-name-achino, if you know what i'm sayin...

word.

all i know is that i miss you...

i have a serious problem. i'm a little bit obsessed with amazon. i've bought soooooooo many movies in the last few months that it's kind of ridiculous. but i'm buying all these movies that i love and that i can watch over and over and over again during my 'stay in bed the entire day b/c you love wearing your jams and watching movies all day' kind of days. but when i total up the amount of money i've spent in the last six months on movies... eeek. i mean its not THAT bad... but really... i need to knock it off and just get out of the effing house.

i went out to dinner with a friend and coworker on saturday night and it was really lovely. we had a glass of wine, and then had brazilian for dinner, walked around a bit... and i sent myself home b/c all the talking was making me cough really hard, but i had a truly delightful evening. i forgot what it feels like to have an easy and interesting night out on the town. i need more of those.

i miss the west coast. i'm just going to admit that right now. it's so lonely here. and i'm not getting enough visits... you slackers. ;) i figure this time next year i'll either be heading back to seattle or moving eastward again... why not europe, i mean really. i figure if i'm not seeing someone and moving towards that settling down stage, that i might as well see the world and experience as much as i can. i mean really, if you'd like to change that plan of action, by all means put a ring on my finger... but in the meantime, i'll be living via passport.

i've been coughing for about two weeks straight now... i KNOW as soon as i walk into a doctor's office it's going to stop... and then i'll have wasted all that money. am i being stupid? stubborn yes... but stupid? i don't pay enough attention to myself anymore, so really have lost clarity about alot of things.

all i know is that i miss you.