I know it's not ACTUALLY the middle of the night. It's 6:40am. (And for some of you, it's an hour or two or three later than that.) But I've been awake since 4am, and it's still dark, and it feels like the middle of the night. "Why have you been up since 4am, Jamie?" you might ask. "Why have you been awake since 4am when you went to sleep at 11, and the night before only had 4 hours of sleep? Why?" And the answer is I HAVE NO IDEA AND I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.
GRRRR. I'm tired! I haven't been in my own bed in 12 nights, and all I wanted to do was crawl into my nice clean sheets, sleep late, and enjoy a nice 8 hours of rest. (Yes, sleeping "late" for me is like 7 or 8. So that's why at 6:40, I'm just giving up and getting up.) (Do you think I make too many parenthetical asides?)
Thanks, Superman and Scotticus, for the math help. I think I got it now. I've moved on into the geometry/trig section, which was always sort of my specialty, so I'm feeling a lot more secure in my mathmatical abilities now.
I'm so happy to be home! Brian and I wanted to go to Zuni last night but they are closed on Mondays, which was unfortunate. We ended up at a really awesome wine bar in Hayes Valley with some vinho verde, the best %^$*#@! triple-cream brie I've ever had in my life (yes, it warranted cursing; that's how good it was), and a long conversation debating Blanche Devareaux and Blanche Dubois, and which one is from Golden Girls and which one is from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It ended with my calling in back-up, and discovering that neither Devareaux nor Dubois is from Cat, but rather from Streetcar. So, thanks Gherkin, for being my phone-a-friend, but I lost the bet and had to pay for the wine, so next time could you just side with me? He'd never remember to look it up later.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
reaching out to the interwebs for math help
OK kids, this post is in no way interesting. I'm asking for some Algebra help. If you can't help me in Algebra, you can just stop reading now-- I promise this post will put you to sleep.
OK, so I'm studying for the GRE. Two of my first few practice tests were Basic and Advanced Algebra. I haven't taken Algebra since 1990. In college I tested right out of it and moved on to Calculus (which was clearly a genius plan since at the ripe old age of 32 I can barely remember how to multiply 2 parenthetical sets without looking it up. But hey, that's why I'm studying).
So, in my first 40 questions, I came across 4 that I just stared at with big blank eyes and wondered if really, this was a real question, honestly, I have absolutely no idea how to come up with this sort of information. They all seem to be the same question, but since I don't know what I'm looking for, the internet has been of little help in the research category. SO, I thought I'd reach out to my readers. Surely one of you can point out what's I've no doubt right in front of my face and make me feel foolish for not knowing it.
2. If Sally can paint a house in 4 hours, and John can paint the same house in 6 hour, how long will it take for both of them to paint the house together?
A. 2 hours and 24 minutes
B. 3 hours and 12 minutes
C. 3 hours and 44 minutes
D. 4 hours and 10 minutes
E. 4 hours and 33 minutes
3. Jim can fill a pool carrying buckets of water in 30 minutes. Sue can do the same job in 45 minutes. Tony can do the same job in 1 ½ hours. How quickly can all three fill the pool together?
A. 12 minutes
B. 15 minutes
C. 21 minutes
D. 23 minutes
E. 28 minutes
9. If Steven can mix 20 drinks in 5 minutes, Sue can mix 20 drinks in 10 minutes, and Jack can mix 20 drinks in 15 minutes, how much time will it take all 3 of them working together to mix the 20 drinks?
A. 2 minutes and 44 seconds
B. 2 minutes and 58 seconds
C. 3 minutes and 10 seconds
D. 3 minutes and 26 seconds
E. 4 minutes and 15 seconds
10. If Sam can do a job in 4 days that Lisa can do in 6 days and Tom can do in 2 days, how long would the job take if Sam, Lisa, and Tom worked together to complete it?
A. 0.8 days
B. 1.09 days
C. 1.23 days
D. 1.65 days
E. 1.97 days
Clearly it is important to the people that let me into grad school that I know how to solve these sorts of issues, but honestly? Those 4 questions above might as well be written in Farsi, that's how absolutely empty I am on ideas how to solve them.
Help?
OK, so I'm studying for the GRE. Two of my first few practice tests were Basic and Advanced Algebra. I haven't taken Algebra since 1990. In college I tested right out of it and moved on to Calculus (which was clearly a genius plan since at the ripe old age of 32 I can barely remember how to multiply 2 parenthetical sets without looking it up. But hey, that's why I'm studying).
So, in my first 40 questions, I came across 4 that I just stared at with big blank eyes and wondered if really, this was a real question, honestly, I have absolutely no idea how to come up with this sort of information. They all seem to be the same question, but since I don't know what I'm looking for, the internet has been of little help in the research category. SO, I thought I'd reach out to my readers. Surely one of you can point out what's I've no doubt right in front of my face and make me feel foolish for not knowing it.
2. If Sally can paint a house in 4 hours, and John can paint the same house in 6 hour, how long will it take for both of them to paint the house together?
A. 2 hours and 24 minutes
B. 3 hours and 12 minutes
C. 3 hours and 44 minutes
D. 4 hours and 10 minutes
E. 4 hours and 33 minutes
3. Jim can fill a pool carrying buckets of water in 30 minutes. Sue can do the same job in 45 minutes. Tony can do the same job in 1 ½ hours. How quickly can all three fill the pool together?
A. 12 minutes
B. 15 minutes
C. 21 minutes
D. 23 minutes
E. 28 minutes
9. If Steven can mix 20 drinks in 5 minutes, Sue can mix 20 drinks in 10 minutes, and Jack can mix 20 drinks in 15 minutes, how much time will it take all 3 of them working together to mix the 20 drinks?
A. 2 minutes and 44 seconds
B. 2 minutes and 58 seconds
C. 3 minutes and 10 seconds
D. 3 minutes and 26 seconds
E. 4 minutes and 15 seconds
10. If Sam can do a job in 4 days that Lisa can do in 6 days and Tom can do in 2 days, how long would the job take if Sam, Lisa, and Tom worked together to complete it?
A. 0.8 days
B. 1.09 days
C. 1.23 days
D. 1.65 days
E. 1.97 days
Clearly it is important to the people that let me into grad school that I know how to solve these sorts of issues, but honestly? Those 4 questions above might as well be written in Farsi, that's how absolutely empty I am on ideas how to solve them.
Help?
Friday, October 24, 2008
mini-vacation
I know, I know. I haven't updated in FOREVER. I've been in LA for over a week, and been pretty seriously busy. I'm staying the weekend with my lovely friend Charlamagne, and having my own little mini-vaction. I spent the morning at the hotel doing laundry and packing and such, an since she's in law school, I spent the afternoon truly relaxing at her place-- way more so than I would have at my own house, because there I would have felt guilty for not being more productive with chores, etc. I did a couple of sudoku puzzles, read the breakfast issue of Saveur (nomnomnom), played on the internet, caught up on Pushing Daisies (utterly charming), and when C. got home from school, we ate olives, made these potatoes, dear LORD, they were amazing, drank wine, and caught up on girl talk. It was the most delightful day I could have imagined.
This morning I went out for coffee and walked around her neighborhood for a while. It's really nice here. I'm going to do some more lying around, read, take my sweet time enjoying a light lunch and probably catch an afternoon movie... and I think we're going out for Indian tonight. Isn't vacation delightful??
This morning I went out for coffee and walked around her neighborhood for a while. It's really nice here. I'm going to do some more lying around, read, take my sweet time enjoying a light lunch and probably catch an afternoon movie... and I think we're going out for Indian tonight. Isn't vacation delightful??
Monday, October 06, 2008
mememememememe~
It's been a long time since a meme has floated around these parts. I got this one from a livejournal friend Kir, and I am supposed to "tag" people-- so, tag, you're it: I choose (for old times' sake) G, Gennykins, Bee, and then Bruce and Dish. Oh, and Bisch. And Gherkin and Chanelle. Do it, all of you. Make me proud.
1. What do you usually wear to bed, PJs or boxer shorts? boxers
2. What do you do before bedtime? read-- either a magazine or a book I have read before. I can't engross my mind in something new when it's sleepy. Currently my bedtime story is Anne of Green Gables, which I was shocked to find that Charlemagne has never read. Ooooh, Charlemagne, I am tagging you too!!!! You need to blog.
3. What's your favourite colour of ink to write with? blue, and I audit in red (at work... I don't audit anything just for fun)
4. What is the city of your dreams and why? I think I'm living in it. But I certainly wouldn't mind giving Paris a try, because of the coffee and the wine and the cheese and all the art.
5. Who is your guy crush? What am I, 12? OK, fine, David Tennant. Oh look, I am 12! Maybe I'll cut out a photo of him from my Bop! magazine and put it in my locker.
6. When was the last time you checked out a book from the public library, and what was it? I used the Jersey City Public Library for a while when I was unemployed. I don't remember the last book I checked out but I remember stumbling upon Oryx & Crake and it being one of the best books I ever read. I was sad to give it back. I also once checked out Six Days of the Condor (after watching Three Days of the Condor with Uncle and Auntie-- I love that the film version shaved off three days, *snort*) and leaving it at a hotel somewhere in Florida. I had to pay the library $6.40 for it.
7. Ever cheated on someone? No. I never really understood the concept. Like, you're dating a person, and you decide you want to be with someone else, why don't you just break up and be with that person?
8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do? Pine.
9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days? My. November. Schedule. Blows.
10. What is your best quality? Ummmm, I am not sure if I am the best person to answer such a question. I think I am generally a pretty thoughtful person (but I'm only in my head, so maybe I'm wrong).
11. What do you wish you could eat right now? Eggs. Hm, I think I will go make some eggs.
12. What are your guilty pleasure shows? Bad Lifetime movies. In fact, my roommate and I have The Fab 5: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal and Coco Chanel, starring Shirley Maclaine, on our DVR. If we are ever home together again we will watch them.
13. What is one of your biggest pet peeves? Random strangers who tell you to smile. What is UP with that?
14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is? Kir, that Great Frosted Flake, didn't really tag me, but I stole this from her LJ anyway.
15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head? Daisy... Daisy, what is your answer to? I'm half crazy, all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage... I can't afford a carriage, but you'd look sweet, upon the seat of a bicycle built for two... after seeing a couple on a tandem in the Park yesterday. Sang it all the way home.
16. What’s your favourite item of clothing? My green Chuck Taylors. Dude, I can't believe I've had them for over 2 years!
17. How do you see yourself? Sleepy.
18. What's the first thing you notice in people? Posture, or how they carry themselves. Random?
19. Would you bungee jump from the Empire State Building for $10,000,000? $10 million? Yes, yes I would. I might pee myself on the way down, but I could buy some new pants (and dignity) with my $10 million.
20. What were your parents going to name you if you'd been born the opposite gender? Jamie, probably. :)
1. What do you usually wear to bed, PJs or boxer shorts? boxers
2. What do you do before bedtime? read-- either a magazine or a book I have read before. I can't engross my mind in something new when it's sleepy. Currently my bedtime story is Anne of Green Gables, which I was shocked to find that Charlemagne has never read. Ooooh, Charlemagne, I am tagging you too!!!! You need to blog.
3. What's your favourite colour of ink to write with? blue, and I audit in red (at work... I don't audit anything just for fun)
4. What is the city of your dreams and why? I think I'm living in it. But I certainly wouldn't mind giving Paris a try, because of the coffee and the wine and the cheese and all the art.
5. Who is your guy crush? What am I, 12? OK, fine, David Tennant. Oh look, I am 12! Maybe I'll cut out a photo of him from my Bop! magazine and put it in my locker.
6. When was the last time you checked out a book from the public library, and what was it? I used the Jersey City Public Library for a while when I was unemployed. I don't remember the last book I checked out but I remember stumbling upon Oryx & Crake and it being one of the best books I ever read. I was sad to give it back. I also once checked out Six Days of the Condor (after watching Three Days of the Condor with Uncle and Auntie-- I love that the film version shaved off three days, *snort*) and leaving it at a hotel somewhere in Florida. I had to pay the library $6.40 for it.
7. Ever cheated on someone? No. I never really understood the concept. Like, you're dating a person, and you decide you want to be with someone else, why don't you just break up and be with that person?
8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do? Pine.
9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days? My. November. Schedule. Blows.
10. What is your best quality? Ummmm, I am not sure if I am the best person to answer such a question. I think I am generally a pretty thoughtful person (but I'm only in my head, so maybe I'm wrong).
11. What do you wish you could eat right now? Eggs. Hm, I think I will go make some eggs.
12. What are your guilty pleasure shows? Bad Lifetime movies. In fact, my roommate and I have The Fab 5: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal and Coco Chanel, starring Shirley Maclaine, on our DVR. If we are ever home together again we will watch them.
13. What is one of your biggest pet peeves? Random strangers who tell you to smile. What is UP with that?
14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is? Kir, that Great Frosted Flake, didn't really tag me, but I stole this from her LJ anyway.
15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head? Daisy... Daisy, what is your answer to? I'm half crazy, all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage... I can't afford a carriage, but you'd look sweet, upon the seat of a bicycle built for two... after seeing a couple on a tandem in the Park yesterday. Sang it all the way home.
16. What’s your favourite item of clothing? My green Chuck Taylors. Dude, I can't believe I've had them for over 2 years!
17. How do you see yourself? Sleepy.
18. What's the first thing you notice in people? Posture, or how they carry themselves. Random?
19. Would you bungee jump from the Empire State Building for $10,000,000? $10 million? Yes, yes I would. I might pee myself on the way down, but I could buy some new pants (and dignity) with my $10 million.
20. What were your parents going to name you if you'd been born the opposite gender? Jamie, probably. :)
Friday, October 03, 2008
best thrift store purchase ever
I found these at the thrift store last week. I have never bought thrifted shoes, because well, ew, but these are brand-new, or at least appear to be. The soles are completely unscratched, even down to the tiny texture on the tips of the heels.
They are DAVINCI, which I have never heard of- black patent leather round-toe pumps with a sweet red suede bow and a sassy red suede heel, which is just the right height.
I intend to wear them with my sassy red Jezebel dress to Evan's wedding next Saturday. Whoop!
They are DAVINCI, which I have never heard of- black patent leather round-toe pumps with a sweet red suede bow and a sassy red suede heel, which is just the right height.
I intend to wear them with my sassy red Jezebel dress to Evan's wedding next Saturday. Whoop!
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Compliant!!
OK, time to finally blog about my weekend. My awful Monday travel day morphed into way too many errands, cooking a big pot of soup, and snuggling up on the couch for some DVR... and promptly falling asleep. I think I was asleep before 9pm, but that made for a better Tuesday, which was pretty busy.
So, the weekend was great-- Friday night Nikki and I drove over to LA and had dinner at Swingers with Rori. Saturday night was really fun as well... I had some friends from LA drive over to Long Beach and we all had dinner at The House of Madame JoJo, which is sort of... brothel-themed. It was a cute, intimate restaurant and the food was lovely, but I woke up with a nasty hangover at 5am on Sunday morning (thanks, Riesling!). I bought a 7-Up and read a magazine for a while, and then fell back asleep to a dream that involved biological warfare in the form of gas bombs, riding around San Francisco in a SmartCar with Ricky Gervais, and then trying to escape SF in a Super Shuttle (because clearly, the fastest way to get out of town in a crisis is the blue van). And the whole time I was telling myself that I really needed to text Nikki and let her know that I would be late for work, but rationalized that surely she had the television on and must surely know that San Francisco was under terrorist attack.
ANYway, ahem. So after the fastest move-out in history, I drove back to LA to drop Nikki off with her boyfriend and then go see a movie. I had very specific directions from my hotel to her hotel, her hotel to the Arclight, and the Arclight home. And since A) I never drive, and B) I certainly never drive in LA, I was a big white-knuckled during this entire affair. I got myself to the Arclight, but I missed all the 8 o'clock-ish shows by about 20 minutes, and nothing else was starting for at least 2 hours. Bummer! I was hungry, and since I had been at Swingers two nights before, I thought I could get myself there at least. After a couple of U-turns, I turned onto Beverly and spied a little one-screen theater whose marquee was advertising The Flight of the Navigator!! Screeching wheels, I did another U-turn and flew into the theater, sure I would have missed this one too. This is a movie I used to have on Beta, people. The Beta player that weighed probably... 80 lbs, and had a remote control on a cord. But luck was on my side-- I bought a ticket for the show that started in an hour, and headed down to Swingers for a fried egg sandwich and a couple of sudoku puzzles. (As a side note, the bored delivery driver was sitting at the counter as well and told me how much he liked sudoku, so I offered to rip out a couple of pages of my book for him. He lit up like I had offered him my first born. Weird.)
So I get back to the theater about 20 minutes before the Q&A with Randal Kleiser (the director, who ps> also directed Big Top PeeWee-- and Paul Ruebens voiced Max in Navigator, under the pseudonym Pall Mall, if you need a full circle connection there-- and Grease), and Jonathan Sanger, the producer (who also produced little gems like Vanilla Sky and The Producers as well as playing the NASA doctor in Navigator). I went into the theater and plopped down with my Sudoku book, only to discover that I was sitting right in front of Kleiser and Sanger, who were catching up on old times with a couple of friends while they were waiting. I hope no one noticed that I was only holding that puzzle while eavsdropping on light Hollywood chit-chat, including a couple of references to Sarah Jessica Parker (who plays Carolyn in Navigator). Maybe a commonplace thing in Beverly Hills but I was entranced.
The Q&A was really interesting and the movie was glorious, of course. It was a long drive back to Long Beach for sure, but worth it, for one of those rare gems of an evening that only ever occur under happenstance.
In other news, I'm thinking of starting a photo-a-day blog- one picture a day, all from my phone, for an entire year. Would anyone be interested in that? Here's a test entry- let me know what you think.
So, the weekend was great-- Friday night Nikki and I drove over to LA and had dinner at Swingers with Rori. Saturday night was really fun as well... I had some friends from LA drive over to Long Beach and we all had dinner at The House of Madame JoJo, which is sort of... brothel-themed. It was a cute, intimate restaurant and the food was lovely, but I woke up with a nasty hangover at 5am on Sunday morning (thanks, Riesling!). I bought a 7-Up and read a magazine for a while, and then fell back asleep to a dream that involved biological warfare in the form of gas bombs, riding around San Francisco in a SmartCar with Ricky Gervais, and then trying to escape SF in a Super Shuttle (because clearly, the fastest way to get out of town in a crisis is the blue van). And the whole time I was telling myself that I really needed to text Nikki and let her know that I would be late for work, but rationalized that surely she had the television on and must surely know that San Francisco was under terrorist attack.
ANYway, ahem. So after the fastest move-out in history, I drove back to LA to drop Nikki off with her boyfriend and then go see a movie. I had very specific directions from my hotel to her hotel, her hotel to the Arclight, and the Arclight home. And since A) I never drive, and B) I certainly never drive in LA, I was a big white-knuckled during this entire affair. I got myself to the Arclight, but I missed all the 8 o'clock-ish shows by about 20 minutes, and nothing else was starting for at least 2 hours. Bummer! I was hungry, and since I had been at Swingers two nights before, I thought I could get myself there at least. After a couple of U-turns, I turned onto Beverly and spied a little one-screen theater whose marquee was advertising The Flight of the Navigator!! Screeching wheels, I did another U-turn and flew into the theater, sure I would have missed this one too. This is a movie I used to have on Beta, people. The Beta player that weighed probably... 80 lbs, and had a remote control on a cord. But luck was on my side-- I bought a ticket for the show that started in an hour, and headed down to Swingers for a fried egg sandwich and a couple of sudoku puzzles. (As a side note, the bored delivery driver was sitting at the counter as well and told me how much he liked sudoku, so I offered to rip out a couple of pages of my book for him. He lit up like I had offered him my first born. Weird.)
So I get back to the theater about 20 minutes before the Q&A with Randal Kleiser (the director, who ps> also directed Big Top PeeWee-- and Paul Ruebens voiced Max in Navigator, under the pseudonym Pall Mall, if you need a full circle connection there-- and Grease), and Jonathan Sanger, the producer (who also produced little gems like Vanilla Sky and The Producers as well as playing the NASA doctor in Navigator). I went into the theater and plopped down with my Sudoku book, only to discover that I was sitting right in front of Kleiser and Sanger, who were catching up on old times with a couple of friends while they were waiting. I hope no one noticed that I was only holding that puzzle while eavsdropping on light Hollywood chit-chat, including a couple of references to Sarah Jessica Parker (who plays Carolyn in Navigator). Maybe a commonplace thing in Beverly Hills but I was entranced.
The Q&A was really interesting and the movie was glorious, of course. It was a long drive back to Long Beach for sure, but worth it, for one of those rare gems of an evening that only ever occur under happenstance.
In other news, I'm thinking of starting a photo-a-day blog- one picture a day, all from my phone, for an entire year. Would anyone be interested in that? Here's a test entry- let me know what you think.
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