emeril

I used to really dislike Emeril. Why does he need his own band for his show? Anyway, I got over it and must confess that I am entertained whenever I watch him. I do love Paula Deen though. Tonight she's guest cook on Emeril's show. There's nothing like a chef who really loves food. I don't trust the uber-skinny chefs. Do they ever taste anything they make? For real? I doubt it.
Tonight, Paula said that she never used to like avocado until she found out it was fattening. Then she tried it, loved it and has been eating it ever since :) Gotta love Paula Deen (she's always "fixing to start somethin" :)

Today was a slow day. Only a few things to do. Went out for a curry with the guys. De-licious. Haven't had curry in some time - the Naan was hot and the curried dishes were tasty. I had 2 plates - not small plates either. So stuffed when we got back to work. Woke up earlier than usual today so I just got ready and got to work at 7:30am. This was good b/c then I got to leave early. I could have left even earlier than I did - I left at 3:45pm - cause my boss left at 3 and said I shouldn't work alone and should also leave soon.

Long weekend. We have Mon off as well. So, long weekend plus only have 3-day work week next week.

I had a weird reaction to one of the allergy shots I got on tues. Took a picture of it but my camera/pc are not on speaking terms at the moment so I can't post it but let me just say that it's not pretty.

moe talent :)

And then there was Leonid the (not very?) Magnificent - not a sword swallower but a sword/knife balancer. I could try to explain him to you but you'd have to see it to believe it/really get it. He almost impaled himself on the sword. There was banter with Regis, then they brought him back out and he broke down/balled his eyes out on stage.

My sis sent me this really funny video(below). A must see. Breakfast will never be the same :) Unfortunately I can't figure out how to post it so it plays as a video file and not just a picture :( Any ideas/suggestions are welcome?


  

america's got...something

OK so into the sea of crap that is summer tv sails "america's got talent". Saw it tonight for the first time. In a word - hilarious. Almost as entertaining as "so you think you can dance" during the first 2 weeks. Got really bored with it when they got to the "real" dance competition parts of it. No way near as funny.

My fav picks tonight
- the guy who juggled very badly to "cotton eye joe". Yes, imagine that if you can cause he drops most of the things - basketballs, baseball bats but he's not done. Somehow he manages to juggle 4 huge knives without dropping any or maiming himself for a whole minute(which is all the time the judges gave him). Maybe he needs to try juggling w/o the music.
- the best was the guy with the nose-flute playing "tip-toe through the tulips". I couldn't make that up :) They all press their "x" buzzers within seconds of him doing his act. Then the guy proceeds to insult each of them in turn - Brandy, when was the last time you had a hit? David (Hasselhoff), some people who are tone deaf are still singers(or something like that).
- boy-band-like cloggers, nuff said

Got to watch the next installment of "talent" :)

slow days

Yesterday I told E about most of the crap from my 2nd/last date with the EB. E doesn't watch much TV(no cable even, imagine!). She thinks that TV would be much better if they made my life into a sitcom - The life and times of ...Yeah well I don't about that. I guess it's kinda funny. I'm not there yet though. Still pondering how to tell him "no more". Until I deal with that, I won't be able to let it go/laugh about it.
I think E means well and all but I don't know if I like the idea of my life such as it is providing entertainment for the masses.

Slow day today at work. I was so sleepy which didn't help. Figured I might as well get my allergy shots today since I didn't have tons going on - which means that I left work at 4pm. Considered going to the gym but changed my mind. Had to wash my hair anyway so did that and flat-ironed it. Now it's all glossy and bouncy. It only lasts a couple days though before the waves fall which just makes it less bouncy but, still cute :)

My insomnia has corrected itself now so I'm back to my regular 5-6hrs a night. I even went to bed earlier than usual last night and got 7hrs. Woke up a little groggy though. My body is just not used to more than 5hrs yet. I'm determined though to get more sleep - essential for weight loss - I've read several articles that say this is true. Another bonus of more sleep = I'm less crabby and as a result, people irritate me less.

I watched Kyle XY last night. I had hopes for it but it was just so-so. One bright spot in it is that Krycek(Nic Lea) from x-files is in it and is obviously a baddie though he's yet to say anything-they just showed him sitting in a truck spying/looking menacing (one of the best looks for Krycek :)

one last thing

I was telling EB about the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" - to which he replied - global warming is a theory, scientists say that..."
I had to stop him right there. He went on to say something about ozone layer...blah blah blah. He just has no clue. My Mum(who's in her 50s) knows all about that, global warming, threats to the environment, etc. and this guy who claims to be around my age is totally clueless. The word my Mum used was much less PC. Does he live under a rock? How can anyone of our generation not know more than that?

2nd/last date

I went out on a 2nd date with the EB. We went to see “The Break Up”.
The movie was enjoyable enough except that I thought Aniston’s character was insane to think that all her vague implications would have meaning for her boyfriend-it was a stretch even for me to understand what she expected him to read from her words/actions. Maybe, I’m just more blunt than most.

I enjoyed the movie mostly except for the fact that EB was wearing a watch whose alarm went off at least 7 times during the movie. Yeah, he was THAT guy. I was so embarrassed and annoyed by this. I asked him why he didn’t just turn it off. He said he didn’t know how. Not just that, he waited for it to beep-bleep-beep before turning it off. Every single time. I wished he would just pay attention to it or keep his finger on it so he could stop it as soon as possible every time it went off. We got many stares and I kind of wanted to move and sit elsewhere.

Yeah so after that we went to a bar downtown which has pool tables and dart boards, etc. We played a few games I won 2 out of 3 so I was pretty pleased with that. The last game was the best - a thing of beauty, if I had a camera, I'd have taken a pic I won the last game in the best way (not by sinking the 8 ball too early-which is how he won the first game and I won the second).

All through this, his watch continues to alarm every 10-15 minutes or so. I asked him to let me look at it, maybe figure it out. I was wondering how come a computer scientist couldn’t figure out something like that but I guess not everyone is electronically inclined. He either didn’t hear my offer to figure it out or just chose to ignore it. He said half laughing “this (alarm) makes people think I’m an important person”. Actually, I could come up with many adjectives for what people hearing the stupid alarm probably thought of him but none were “important”.

Overall, I had a good time I guess. There were moments though when he said things that made me think he has us practically married already (after only 2 dates) and I don’t think he knows how many kids we're having but it probably won’t be long till he has a number in mind. Things that he said that implied this to me:
• Talk about how all his siblings are married with kids already and keep asking when he’s going to do the same.
• When is he going to see my apt (yeah I don't think so)
• He’s going to take me to see his apt soon (uhh, no thanks)
• When am I going to invite him over and cook some Caribbean food
• When he can meet my friends…maybe when I cook for him I could invite them as well
• He plans to move out of his current apt (he has 2 roommates) to get a single apt soon (and I need to know that because...)
• What time I would call him today
• Have you told your friends and family about me? What did you say? What did they say?

He asked what I did for fun. I told him, watch movies, and listen to music, bowling, pool, stuff like that.
I asked what he did for fun and his answer the first time I asked was – that’s a good question (that’s all he said). Then I asked again a bit later (b/c he kept insisting that I ask him questions – why I’m not sure). Anyhoo, he said that when he had a girlfriend (his ex-fiancee), they would go out to clubs, movies, eat out. So then I asked what he did now. He said not much since they broke up.

Just so needy that at times I felt like running away. I just can’t deal with that. I won’t.

Then there are the comments he made from time to time. I felt like he was judging my decisions/likes/dislikes. I kept feeling the need to defend myself. I shouldn’t have to defend the fact that I like Celtic music. So what. Because I’m Black I have to like rap/hip-hop and if I don’t then I must have an identity crisis. WTF?
Examples of this:
• You sound “white” – whatever the hell that means. b/c I speak properly and have a pretty good vocabulary? Of course I don’t sound like a Black American. I not Black American, I’m Black yeah, but not American. Strangers who talk to me for the first time always say, “I hear a bit of an accent, where are you from?” They’ve never said “you sound white”. Oh yeah, he didn’t think I should have been offended by that.
• EB: How do you identify yourself? ME: I’m Trinidadian. EB: you don’t identify yourself as Black? Most people I ask would say I’m Black… Me: It’s obvious that I’m Black, it may not be obvious that I’m Trinidadian. I wouldn’t think to say I’m Black, what else could I possibly be?
Then he says that I shouldn’t be offended by him saying I sound white or whatever b/c he was just kidding. The worst thing anyone can say to me (or imply) is that my feelings are not valid. I shouldn’t be offended b/c he’s decided so. Who does he think he is? My mind? Well, I told him I reserve the right to get offended if I felt offended.

So now I just have to tell him that I don’t want to take this any further. He’s so clingy and he seemed to have all these plans for us already. As if we are already an “us”.

If all that isn’t enough, I’m still not the least bit attracted to him. He’s good-looking enough just not my type. In fact, while we were playing pool, there was a couple playing darts next to us and I couldn’t help but think “he’s hot”. Not my date but hers. Not a good sign. He says he’s 33 but he seems older to me still. He’s also shorter than I realized before-I was wearing 2” wedges and he and I were really close in height. That means he’s probably 5’2” or 3 in other words…really short. I was telling my Mum about him today – he kept asking me if I had told my Mum about him and what she said – all I will say is that he really really does not want to know what my Mum said.

He told me “all” about his previous relationship. He was engaged to someone who he says left him b/c she wanted to be married straight away but he wanted to wait until after he got his PhD. Now she lives in the city and has gotten a dog. A very fishy story that seems to be missing bits and pieces. I’d think she’s be married by now to someone else if she left b/c she wanted to get married soon. Or maybe that was his friend’s wife. He tells so many stories about his family and friends, it’s hard to keep it all straight.

At least he doesn’t know where I live (we’ve been meeting at neutral locations) and I don’t believe he knows my last name either.
So I think I need to be more specific when next I ask the universe for something...deja vu?

hell week...not quite but close

Not much posting of late. Barely any sleep. I've slept through the night 2 days this week. And I took tylenolPM both those nights. And yeah its 2:20am and I'm posting now and not asleep. I got home over an hour ago. Although I'm exhausted, I just can't turn my mind off enough to actually fall asleep so I figure i'd do something instead. I hoping that this whole insomnia pattern I've fallen into will spit me out soon.

Saw "An Inconvenient Truth" tonight. I thought it was pretty good except that no practical tips were given through it. If I'd gone to see it alone(I went with a group of 5) I'd have left way before the credits which did have tips slipped in between them.

Some effer tonight stuck gum on my car window. yeah, WTF is with people? I was so mad but consoled myself with the fact that said effer could have stuck it on the body of my car in a place where I wouldn't have noticed it immediately...then would have had a hell of a time removing it tomorrow or whenever after it turned to the congealed mess that gum eventually becomes.

Lots of news...long weekend

Have not been sleeping well at all lately. Was out much of the weekend and had great fun. Since then haven't not been able to sleep more than 4hrs at a stretch.

Fri - went to a late bonfire party with S. Met a number of cool new people, had a really good time. Didn't get home until after 1am and couldn't get to sleep. Was up till 3 or 4am, just tunred out the light and lay there. Then to make things worse I woke up at 730am and couldn't get back to sleep.

Sat - went out on a date. Yes, with the random chinese-food guy aka the eager-beaver(EB). I emailed and he emailed back and we'd decided to meet for coffee around 530pm. Then we met and chatted for a bit. He was smoking the last of a cigarette when I got there and I just sat upwind of him. He kept saying "i'll quit, i'll quit, it's a bad habit, just something to do, you know." I told him to quit if he wants but not to do it on my account. I don't want him to quit to impress me. I don't generally date guys who smoke so I was making an exception I guess but I didn't tell him that. To his credit, when he finished that cigarette, he didn't have another for the rest of the time we were together. We changed the coffee to having a drink downtown but we couldn't decide exactly where to go. Then when we decided, neither of us knew exactly where it was. We drove around(well I drove us in my car) for about 20min while we decided. We eventually ended up at a restaurant and had dinner. So coffee turned into dinner and cool conversation. It was cool cause he didn't get upset or angry as we drove aimlessly around which is great b/c this allowed me to relax and be able to just enjoy our meandering :) without getting stressed out. He did apologize several times though - "I'm sorry, I should have planned exactly where we could go better". I told him it was fine. After I dropped him back to his car, we said good night with a hug cheek-kiss. We both said we had great time and maybe we'd go out again soon.

All good right. Well it would have been - I wasn't home 5 min before EB calls me on the cell to reiterate what a great time he had and how we should do it again soon. I was a little put off by his eagerness. Didn't we cover all that in the car 5 min ago? Just a bit too much I think. I mean wait a day or two at least. Yeah he's emailed me twice this week already since Sat. It's Tues. I'm trying not to be too freaked by it. Plus I just didn't feel anything more than a friendship vibe from him. Still in 2 minds about whether I should go on a 2nd date or not.

I got back home around 830pm only to realize that my gas light had come on so I had to drive to the nearest gas station to fill-er-up. Next on the agenda was bowling at 930pm till quite late. We are getting worse not better. I will not put our scores in print - they were less than stellar. Still had fun though and I guess that's the important thing. Got home aorund 1am again and once more couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned until 430am.

Sun - Woke up at 8am. Went to choir, last day until end of suummer. I was very hoarse for most of the day after singing but I was glad I went. We had a pot-luck luncheon after and it good. Lots of food and dessert :) I got back at 4pm and talked to my family for about an hr. Next thing I know it's 930pm. I must have just passed out on the futon - all the late nights caght up with me. Of course I was wide awakle after that. Couldn't sleep. Turned the light out at 3am, tossed and turned. Woke up at 630am. Went to work early @ 715am b/c I had a doctor's appt at 830am and wanted to get some stuff done before.

The doc had me stop the advair for a few days but I still needed my emergency inhaler on the days without the advair but at least the hoarseness seemed to be better. Good news - I'm now off the Advair(finally) and back on Flovent. I've taken Flovent before without any problems so hopefully, this'll do the trick. Barely 2 days and my throat already feels more normal. Can only get better now.

Pure Nerd 73 % Nerd, 47% Geek, 26% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd. The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful. Congratulations! Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality America/Politics Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 75% on nerdiness You scored higher than 72% on geekosity You scored higher than 37% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

mind of mencia

Carlos has outdone himself tonight - he did this parody of Brokeback Mountian with Slater(saved by the bell). One word - hysterical.

world cup madness

My boss said I could go home and watch the Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) vs England world cup match tomorrow at lunch. Don't know if I'm going to but it was nice of him to suggest. I'll only do that if I can get to work early but that is unlikely. I plan to tape it and watch it when I get home.

I don't normally watch football(soccer :) on tv willingly but it's not everyday that your country makes it to the world cup for the first time. And not only that, plays far beyond anyone's expectations against Sweden which is considered one of the teams to beat. Our guys played a great game and even with one man short during the 2nd half, they didn't allow Sweden to score. We were hoping to not lose by too many goals in our 3 games but with the draw against Sweden - gives an extra bit of confidence that maybe we can score a goal and if not win against England at least play well.

Lots of excitement back home from my family. I'm pretty psyched. Got to wear national colors tomorrow (red/white/black) to show my support. Go T&T.

Movies, movies, movies

Saw “Akeelah and the Bee” last week and really enjoyed it – really cute movie.
Went to see “Prairie Home Companion” on Sun and enjoyed that too even though I’m not familiar with the radio show it’s based on.

Watched “40 yr old virgin” recently as well. An older friend of mine (who my Mum’s age) went to see it while it was still in cinemas and she hated it. Said she was offended by most of it. The only part of it that offended/bothered me was the scene with the drunk girl driving – I have seen people that drunk leave bars intending to drive which bothers me b/c I have to drive on the same roads as those lunatics.

Got several movies from the library this week:

A Wedding For Bella - was a little odd but a still a good story.

Smoke Signals - it was a little quirky but cool all at the same time. Plus you get to see a young Adam Beach. Gosh it was a shame to see him cut that beautiful hair. His character Victor was quite mean and angry but you see why he is as the story progresses but, he gets better at the end.

C lent me AnchorMan but I haven't been in the mood to watch it yet.

the oddest thing

Ordered chinese take-out and parked and was just about to walk in when there was this guy. This guy who was standing outside the door smoking. I don't usually pay much attention to smokers.

Anyhoo, I nodded as I was walking past him and then he said "hi". So I said "hi" back. Then he introduced himself. All very weird I know.

The real reason I was a little weirded out is that recently I've been thinking/asking/imploring the universe...how am I going to meet new people? where do I go? not at work, that's for sure? then I thought that I would just have to start talking to random people.

Still with me(all 3 of you :) so we chat a little then we both went inside b/c he'd also ordered chinese take-out. It was kind of cool in a way but weird. Strange men don't normally just introduce themselves to me as I walk by.
Stranger still - he asked to exchange email addys and gave me his phone num. He told me he's been living here ~6mths and that he's in grad school. We talked about how hard it is to meet people. He also told me that he's decided to just start talking to random people, hoping to meet new people that way. Bizarre, no?
Anyhoo, he asked if I wanted to go out sometime and maybe hang out. I guess it can't hurt. Well, as long as he doesn't know where I live and we meet in a public place. haven't completely lost my mind, yet :)

Huffy Biatch

Monday night was supposed speed dating night. Yeah so since I was in no shape to talk to people(stomach flu) I called to let them know I was ill and wouldn't be there. So first off, the woman got all huffy with me. Then she went into this diatribe...well you can't have a refund b/c we were giving refunds willy-nilly(her word) to people but then the management have craked-down and are enforcing their rule about no refund unless you give at least 24hr notice so you can't have your money back...

So I told her that I
a)only called to be courteous
b)didn't call her to talk about a refund
c)wasn't canceling for a trivial reason and only realized I was sick at 5am that morning so it would have been impossible to give her 24hr notice of it
d)Plus I didn't care about the [damn] money.

I was very polite, didn't actually swear even though she was a total bitch but I was already feeling like death and was in no shape to talk to her for longer than I needed to. She acted like I was getting an attitude with her and all I'd said was that I was too sick to make it, even told her that it was stomach flu. Her whole attitude really pissed me and if I was not feeling like death I may have been a lot less polite.

I was watching "10 things i hate about you" again tonight - I love this movie, I do. There's a part where Heath's character in order to apologize does this whole routine where he sings "can't take my eyes off of you" accompanied by the school band.

I love that part and I was thinking that if a guy did that to apologize to me, that'd be ok. More than ok :) Apology? Yes. Marriage proposal? No. I just think that should be done in private, there should be a moment, just you and that person. Not incl. millions on tv.

I so have to watch this new show Workout on Bravo in July if only to see the guy who says "these hands are the hands of Michaelangelo" - my answer to that, tell me more ;). It's billed as a docudrama. Can we say oxymoron. What does that really mean? Ok so I know it's prob a contraction of documentary/drama. Is that even possible though? I guess it is since we live in crazyworld dominated by reality tv.

things that make me feel like gagging

So I'm watching Shania's concert on CMT - no shame - love me some Shania. She looks fabulous, must be totally worth it not eatingmeat if you get to look like her. Of course the money probably doesn't hurt either :) Ok she invites this guy onstage to supposedly fulfill some request of his. Then of course he calls out his girlfriend to the stage. I'm like, God no. I'm telling you that if my boyfriend tries that with me I am so not going on the damn stage. I think it's the chessiest thing ever. Then to top it off, we get to watch the newly engaged couple dance in the background while she sings. I don't think so. Now is a great time to check the current score for the Yankees-Red Sox game.

Another that almost made me gag happened a while ago. I don't often go back and erase or rewrite stuff but I've been feeling kinda bad about what I worte here about my friend. Really need to deal with her face to face instead of passive-aggressively on the blog or not at all.

Back on solid food again...Yay

So I'm back on solid food again - if you consider plain noodles in chicken broth to be solid food - then yes, I'm back to eating. Very small portions at a time. I can still hear rumbling in my lower abdomen but it's not as loud or as often as yesterday.

Stayed home from work today as well b/c this morning I still felt very naseated. Feel much better now though. Must be because I've eaten several times today, small portions. Got to keep stressing that cause the thought of eating too much is more than I can handle in my stomach's current fragile state. Definitely on the mend though.

Also had a fever last night but mostly gone today. I still have a headache even though I've taken tylenol, no help there. I was taking my advair and it was uncomfortable. To take it I have to open the mouthpiece part, exhale forcefully, then put the mouthpiece in my mouth and inhale forcefully. This hurts a little when you already have a headache and your lungs are congested. I was thinking that I don't get a high off of this and at least it'd be more fun if I did. Obviously I'm still a little delirious. I've never taken recreational drugs, ever. Not b/c I haven't had opportunity to do so, there were many times at college where it'd have easy as well as free but just never appealed to me. Well I was thinking that if I did drugs i'd at least have a brief high from it before all the side effects. Ok Ok with the advair, I can breathe but other than that all I get is sore throat, acid reflux, hoarseness. All business, no fun. I kind of had a point with this but I think I lost along the way. oh well :)

sick sick sick

Woke up this morning at 5am with the most awful stmach cramps. Within ten minutes I realized it was something serious. Either I had food poisoning or some kind of stomach bug. Gah! Awful awful awful. Gross alert! Think sitting on the loo with bucket in hand. At least I didn't have any accidents on the floor. Optimistic even when I feel like death warmed over :)

Called in sick of course. I sounded awful on the phone. I know this b/c when M answered and I told him I wasn't coming in today before I even explained, he asked if my allergies were acting up. Cause I'm hoarse of course of course :) Couldn't take the zantac today since I've not eaten much of anything and also skipped my allergy spray this morning - too sick to be bothered.

Made a rehydrating solution with sugar/salt/water. Apart from a few galsses of that(small sips every so often), all I've had today is a plain bagel - most of which didn't stay in my stomach for long (eewww, right?) and 5 crackers spaced out over the course of the day.

Still feel ill but nowhere near as ill as I did for most of the morning. The thought of eating anything substantial makes me feel more naseated. The only time I can't eat is when I'm really sick.

Not sure about work tomorrow - hope I feel better than I do at the moment.

outside my window just now

It's been raining for most of the morning. While talking to a friend of mine, I chanced to look out my kitchen window and saw this...

 

Here's the big picture for context.

 

How crazy is it that? Does the duck think that huge puddle is some kind of pond? Well, I of course had to get pictures :)