Mar 31, 2009

So nice, they named it twice

Long time, no blog! I've been super busy - hosting a games weekend, writing a toastmasters speech, getting charts for pregnant patients off my desk, planning my trip to New York... Wait, I didn't tell you about any of that? Well, balls.

1. Games Weekend - rousing success! Andi and Jeff came up from Roanoke, Maggie and Kristin came down from NoVA, Mike took time out of his busy schedule, and we had - count them - TWO Petes in attendance. While the addition of so many non-bridge-players meant that we played just a few hands, we all had fun playing Rock Band and watching the DVD commentary of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. Good times, everybody, good times. Special thanks to Pete #2 for helping me carry groceries (I was running late and he was shockingly on time) and to Pete #1 for bringing a waffle iron and washing dishes.

2. Toastmasters speech - giving it tonight. Still not done. Oh, well.

3. Getting charts off my desk - sooo liberating. I'm imagining that I'm clearing them off because I'm leaving my job to raise alpacas. And then I'd make yarn, and then I'd knit a blanket, and then I'd take a nap in a warm, soft cocoon of alpaca fur. Yay.

4. Trip to NYC - the real reason I'm trying to finish charts is that I'm leaving tomorrow for a certification course in Public Health Genetics/Genomics at Sarah Lawrence College. I'm nervous to the point of nausea. It seems like all the other attendees have doctorates or are the directors of something. Then there's me, the junior genetic counselor in a small private practice. On top of that, as much as I heart NY, that place scares the shit out of me. I better get used to it, though - this week(end) is only the first session of three. *gulp*

Mar 19, 2009

a morning workout,
ruined: had Wendy's for lunch
whatcha gonna do?

Mar 11, 2009

Whores wear rouge. Ladies pinch.

I don't like make-up. I don't like the way it makes my skin feel, I don't like the way it comes off on my clothes or drinking glasses, I don't even like the way it looks. I can never find my skin tone, even among "true blend" or "adjustable" products, so I end up looking way too dark or way too light. I know there are more expensive brands that (supposedly) feel great, never rub off, and make you look like a supermodel - I'm just not willing to pay for them. And I resent the fact that, as a woman, I am expected to wear make-up to look professional.

The thing is, I don't really care how I look - you can't make a silk purse out of sow's ear, and all that. But if I came to work with blotchy skin and dark circles under my eyes, it would be completely distracting. While I was telling my patients about their risk for birth defects, they would be wondering to themselves if whatever I was dying of was contagious.

Even so, I have to subvert the process somehow. My weapon of choice is eyeshadow. I don' t use eyeliner or mascara, but I love painting my eyelids different colors. Even though my coloring makes it hard to find foundation, I can wear just about any shade of eyeshadow I want. Or, at least, I think I can. I really like matching my eyeshadow to my outfit, though I suspect that's a fashion faux pas. Right now I'm wearing dark gray slacks and a light gray sweater, so my eyeshadow is silver. I apply it lightly, so as not to blind my patients with sparkles, but still. Silver. That makes me happy.

Mar 4, 2009

Gettin' all twitter pated

What's with the sudden obsession with Twitter? Well, I guess it's not all that sudden. "The kids" (she typed, her keyboard dripping with disdain... and jam) have been Twittering for some time now. For those of you who live under a rock, blissfully ignorant of the latest fads, Twitter is a social networking site that consists of a constantly-updated status message. And that's it. Your friends and family can subscribe to your "tweets" to keep track of you throughout the day. I imagine Twittering goes something like this:

12:07 Lunchtime - bologna sandwich
12:11 Eatin sandwich
12:29 Done w/sandwich, eatin chips
12:33 Eatin chips, twittering
12:34 Forever twittering
12:35 Overcome by inanity of own existence, will kill self now

Twitter begs the question... why? Sure, I come from the generation of AIM, Facebook, and Gmail Chat where checking and rechecking someone's away message/status/tagline is considered pretty normal. Somehow, it's alright in the context of a more involved program/site - sure, I'm looking to see what people are up to, but it's while I write emails or blog. I don't have a separate account to keep track of my friends 24/7. I find it creepy that someone would want that, and arrogant to assume someone else wants that from you. And so for all these reasons, Twitter has replaced text messaging as my new Lowest Form of Communication. For those of you keeping track...

1. Face to face conversation
2. Well-written letters
3. Poorly-written letters
4. Phone calls
5. Voicemail messages
6. Well-written emails
7. Poorly-written emails
8. Facebook messages
9. Myspace messages
10. Text messaging
11. Twitter