It was a dark and stormy ...

afternoon.

As I was having my Sunday afternoon telephone chat with good friend Jenn (a long-standing tradition), when suddenly it got very very dark in ye olde Attic. When I glanced out the windows I noticed that the sky was dark with this on my little glimpse of the horizon.

While no monkeys or witches flew by, it was quite a dramatic evening of weather. Needless to say, we wrapped our call up early.

Mother Nature sure likes to put on a show.

Little lightning strike over Midtown Manhattan tonight. #NYC #storm pic.twitter.com/GKGRq9fcrR

— Inga Sarda-Sorensen (@isardasorensen) June 1, 2015

Quote of the Day: I am an Introvert!

At the end of a very long, socially-involved day... #introverting #introvertlife #justaddabook pic.twitter.com/TXrddcAahb

— Introvert Tweets (@introvert_diary) May 28, 2015

Sometimes when I’ve been around people for too long I wish I could just yell “I AM INTROVERT” and throw down a smoke bomb and disappear.

— Ashley Clements (@TheAshleyClem) May 30, 2015

It doesn't help when Mercury has been in retrograde FOREVER this year. Where is my blankie? I want to curl up under it and just hide.

Rain Insurance / Spotted on the train

Murphy's law:

If you HAVE your umbrella with you, and it looks like this ...

it won't rain.

I did. It didn't.

But ...

What is Murphy's law about stashed drinks on train?

If they are there, you won't be thirsty?

These were separate legs of separate commutes. 

I'm going to start a photo series if this keep up.

People! Follow the national park rules. Pack in. Pack out. 

There are enough annoying things on trains than dealing with your trash.

The company can't even afford to fix the seats with anything better than duct tape, 

forget hiring people to clean up after you.

~photos by iTouch; general distaste for litterers, all of us

Memorial Day 2015

Because we remember.

Because we visit when we can. 

Because we need to learn their stories.

But because the stories are lost to time

we wear the reminder NOT to forget 

every day.

For our family's Army, Air Force, and Navy veterans,

lost in service

or bearing the scars for years to come.

We Laugh, Because It's True

A cartoon by Roz Chast. See more from this week's issue: http://t.co/M03vQkG6Xm pic.twitter.com/raR3tc2KyP

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) May 24, 2015

Today's Daily Cartoon by Christopher Weyant: http://t.co/VMGP7sYwwd pic.twitter.com/GtistT7j0Z

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) May 25, 2015

Retroblogging: Life is a Journey, Eat More Birthday Chips, March 18, 2015

Celebration Number 3 for Mid-March had an International Flavor, literally.

I may have mentioned that this group of colleagues is more into savory or salty than sweet.

And with that in mind ... and this ... from 2011

did we plan our team celebration in honor of Christine's birthday with an Around-the-World Exotic Chip tasting afternoon.

Decor was much more subdued than our California Beach Party, because there was no way to anticipate the flavor selection that was going to show up when six ladies purchase a random assortment of chips. (We did have some veggies, dip, cheese, and fruit to off-set all the salt. Don't worry Surgeon General. We are slightly smarter than that.)

Life is a Journey. Eat more Chips.

If you think you can't see the table for the chips, you would be right. I lost track, but I THINK there were at least two to three bags per person there. (Our standing team is seven, but flexes to 10.) Forgive me if I sound like Bubba Gump, but we had:

Potato chips

Lentil chips

Quinoa chips

Sweet Potato chips

Corn chips

Micro chips

Some sort of air chip

Green bean chips

Plantain chips

Seaweed chips

Flavors ranging from plain to sour cream and onion, guacamole to maple bacon, Worcestershire flavored to onion and garlic, and lots in between, plus odd shapes to boot. 

We were supposed to try and pick our favorites - but we ended up grabbing and gabbing ....

(That blur is Karla, blocking me from getting to the jalapeno chips! She moves fast that one.)


Gabbing about ingredients and flavors and how it was probably better that couldn't read the truly international ingredients from the Asian markets. At least the crab shapes didn't taste like crabs. Some of the other ones did. Can you spot the mystery bag?

I think poor Christine has been on a juice cleanse since the chip party. That was a LOT of salt. We kept finding half-finished bags of chips for about a week. The rest of the office had to help us out.



Are you keeping track? Yes, that was three office parties in my office in six days. Did I get much done that week? No. Did I impose a fun moratorium in my space for a bit. Yes, I did. I mean, it's called WORK. Not party.

Though, I should call it MEETINGS, not work.

So many meetings.

Or 9hour email and Reply-All free-for-alls.

Sigh.

Email = bane of my existence sometimes.



*I was going to name this post: Tossing Your Chips-- which while hysterically funny to me, especially in the context of a party only attended by ladies -- PROBABLY wouldn't be the best thing for future blog searches.

Retroblogging: Celebration California CEO, March 16, 2015

Mid-March was chock full of celebrations. This was celebration number 2.

For the surprise one in honor of our CEO's birthday, I thought I was SO clever to find a recipe that would pay homage to his California background. I found this recipe for an Earthquake Cake in my new-to-me Cake Mix Doctor cookbook (thank you public library sale for $2) and said to myself -- voila! Perfection.
 

You would think. Wouldn't you?

My first clue should have been that all of the overhead lights in my kitchen chose that weekend to burn out. Both of the large, overhead, florescent circular tubes ... BOTH. Two tubes that are so "vintage" that you have to go to a specialty store to find them. NOT your local CVS or 7Eleven.

LUCKILY, my emergency preparedness kit had a lantern in it for ... emergencies. Earthquakes = emergencies. Baking Earthquake Cakes in the dark = emergencies, right?

I SHOULD have realized that if you are making something and the name of it is something that is used to describe a natural disaster -- well. That should be a CLUE.

Even though the recipe did have directions to adapt it into cupcakes, let's just say ... My Earthquake Cake should have been called Volcano Cupcakes or Tsunami Sticky Cups, because ... oy ... my oven. Those sticky suckers needed some serious time to cool and even then I couldn't get them out of the tray. I think I am still chipping off gooey coconut from the bottom of the stove.

I took the extra batter and poured it into a regular rectangular pan for the remainder of the bake. That was somewhat better.

At least they tasted good. Sweet, but good.

Luckily, my contribution to this party was just a few treats and my space. The CEO's assistant came in and decorated it into a beach party extravaganza. I got to "enjoy" the ambiance for a while - and not being able to see out my windows.

View from my computer out into the room:  

Yes, they wrapped the windows AND the filing cabinets.

 Yes, I had to duck around lanterns all week.

 Yes, all I could smell was chocolate.

It was INCHES FROM MY FACE!

Yes, we dressed up in silly outfits. 

 Yes, we got him good.

 

 Yes, I think we exceeded the Fire Marshall's occupancy rating for my space.

 

 Yes, we like to party.