Monday, December 18

about 10 hrs to go

Didn't do much at work today - was finally feeling in the holiday way :) All my reportss are done and I even prrof-read it today. Cleaned out the crap left in my hood - had some waste to quench, then dispose of that took a couple hrs. Updated my lab notebooks - lagging a little since I spent the last couple weeks doing experimental reports. But it's all set now. Then I spent the rest of the day puttering around.

My packing is mostly done - still have to find space for a few things though. I'm really tired. Have to do the few dishes in my sink, then bed. Soon. I'd like to get to bed by 11:30 for the latest even if I'm not asleep but at least in bed - that'll be good enough. Have to be up around 6ish, depends on whether I wash my hair tonight or tomorrow. Then off to my friend's apt complex to park my car. She's going to give me a lift to the airport. Then I'll truly be on my way.

I have about 3 hrs to wait after I get to Newark then 5hrs to home.

All the best for the holidays!

Tuesday, December 12

concert

Tonight went to concert "irish Christmas In America". My main reason for wanting to go was this new group I'm interested in called T_e_a_d_a (tay-da) - they play traditional irish music. They were joined by a fe other musicians as well. This amazing harpist (is that the right word?)Grainne Hambly and also Tommy Martin who is amazing on uillean pipes and tin whistles.

They also had a few dancers - one got the smile thing down perfectly - you know exactly what I mean if you've ever seen Riverdance, those danceers grin from ear to ear as if they are having the most fabulous time ever! Well one had the smile down, another was concerned with her skirt flying up during the kicks and the last one was definitely counting. But they were still fun to watch.

They were supposed to have Cathie Ryan from Cherish The Ladies but instead they had a guy Michael Londra whose voice is so clear and true, he needs no accompaniment. Truly amazing.

One of the guys from (Tristan) read poems and also told in a narrative fashion stories about Irish Christmas traditions both ancient and modern. His voice - I must confess that I couldn't understand half of what he was saying even when he was speaking English - still, I could listen to him all day. So much so (I blame my reaction partly on the lure of his voice) that during this skit thing they were doing, he pretended to fall ill and lay flat on the stage. At this point one of the other band members called out "is there a doctor in the house?". To my shame, I kinda shouted out "i could be one!" Then he called out for me to come up and at that point I realized that I was insane. I quickly settled myself but good in my seat. Our seats were excellent ones about 4 rows back from the stage - they let move there from our original seats which were fairly close to the stage but on far right so they told us we could move for a better view. Yeah, so after my outburst, they continued with their skit. One of them had a whole spiel about how he could revive the dead make an old woman on crutches skip again.
I bought their latest CD. All in all a great night.

Sunday, December 10

Movies Seen On Big Screen(2006)

Munich
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion. the Witch and the Wardrobe
Glory Road
Brokeback Mountain
Something New
Cache
Inside Man
Just My Luck
X-Men 3
Akeelah And The bee
Prairie Home Companion
An Inconvenient Truth
The Breakup
Superman
The Devil Wears Prada
Scoop
Barnyard
Step Up
John Tucker Must Die
Little Miss Sunshine (best movie for any mood)
Beerfest
Trust The Man
Jet Li's Fearless
All The King's Men
The Departed
Marie Antoinette
The Prestige
The Illusionist
Stranger Than Fiction (movie I laughed out loud at the most)
Borat
Casino Royale (best action)
The Holiday

9 days to go

That's right, in 9 days I leave for home -sweet T&T. Did a mock packing and realized that my suticase is not big enough. My plan was to take 2 suitcases - 1 med/1 sm but it kinda looks like I need to take 1 large instead of the medium. This is just the stuff I have as presents, etc. My cases are full and I haven't packed anything to wear/shoes/etc. Have a couple things left to get then I might try to get a cheap one this week. If not will have to use 2 medium instead. Nothing for it. I'd prefer to have med/sm since that's easier to cart around. I'll just have to get carry-cart.

Last week was busy. Have been doing paperwork all last week and will spend the the rest of this week doing the same. My self-evaluation is also due. I have to go in early tomorrow to finish it, send it to my boss. Then back to experimental write-ups. I have so many left to do. I thought about going in this weekend to do a few hrs worth but I was so exhausted. I think I may be getting a cold. This would really suck since I will be travelling/on holiday soon. Everyone in my immediate office space were sneezing/blowing their nose/hacking up their lungs last week. I've never met a group of people who are sick so frequently. One of them sounds like she has consumption-she really needs to take some antibiotics or something. I don't really care, I only care that I not catch whatever the hell it is she's got. I've been takign loads of zinc and vit C and drinking liquids.

Went to see "The Holiday". I really wanted to like this movie. Unfortunately, I really can't stand Cameron Diaz and she almost ruined it for me. I loved Kate Winslet's character and Jack Black's was great too. I could have done with CD's attempt at acting. I also didn't much care Jude Law's character very much either. I wish the movie only contained snippets of CD and JL and focused more on KW and JBs story. Yeah, it probably would have been a 90min movie instead of 130min but that would have been ok by me. I'll have to give a 1/2 thumbs-up.