So I was going to write a super exciting post about my day. And all about how I went out to lunch with my former co-worker and how we spent an hour gossiping (she is the queen of gossip and still knows EVERYTHING about EVERYONE in our old office, though she hasn’t worked there in a year). Then I was going to write about how I walked to Filene’s Basement, the Boston Public Library, and then for the hell of it walked all the way home. And how I barely got any work done because I was out gallivanting all day. But then Shelley reminded me that I didn’t do the meme Nicole posted the other day, so yeah, I’m doing that instead. You’ll have to hear all about my exciting day another time. I know, I know. Sorry to disappoint.
A – Age: 25…Uhh I HATE saying that. So scary.
B – Band listening to right now: I’m listening to Ryan Adams as we speak. If you consider this speaking.
C – Career future: Who on Earth knows? Hopefully editing some fun stuff. And writing for major magazines. And writing relationship advice. More stuff too.
D – Dad’s name: Bert (and Ernie! haha that was in response to Nicole’s Alvin and the Chipmunks). If I were a boy, I would be Bert III. Yup. I could have easily been Bertha…but I have a mother who was smart enough to put a stop to that.
E – Easiest person to talk to: Depends on what I’m talking about.
F – Favorite type of shoe: Uggs and heels, totally depending on my mood.
G – Grapes or Grapefruit: Love ‘em both.
H – Hometown: Born and raised in A-town…now I’m a Boston girl. Brookline, more specifically. And I spent some college years in New Hampshire. Yay.
I – Instrumental talent: None! I played piano for about 11 years and I seriously sucked. I also played flute for 4 years and was a complete mess. I really want to be good at music stuff.
J – Juice of choice: Cranberry
K – Koala Bear or Panda Bear: Probably panda, but I love all bears. Fo’ real.
L – Longest car ride ever: Um, I really don’t remember. I guess Buffalo, NY…8.5 hours (like one
million times). Anywhere farther and I’d hop on a plane. But I have a really bad memory so I’m probably forgetting somewhere I’ve driven to.
M – Middle name: Marie.
N – Number of jobs you’ve had: My first job was an internship in PR at United Way. Then I worked at American Eagle for a couple years (until they made me stay from 8 p.m. on Dec. 23rd until 7 a.m. on Dec. 24th and only let me leave because I begged them. Hi, it’s Christmas Eve). In college I worked at a gift shop and UNH apparel store in town. Got to do fun stuff like design clothing and meet with sales reps. Then I moved to Boston and worked for the state gov’t until I realized I was the only one who worked. Quit a year ago and have been freelancing ever since. Mostly writing and editing relationship advice. I need a “real” job badly. Anyone? Want me? Please?
O- OCD traits: I do lots of weird ish.
P – Phobia[s]: All bugs. Heights. I have many irrational fears.
Q – Quote: “How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.” -Coco Chanel
R – Reason to smile: Hanging out with my mom tomorrow. And getting a home-cooked meal from my dad. See? There are benfits to being unemployed! Also smiling that the weekend is almost here.
S – Song you sang last: Singing Plan B by Mute Math right now. Because it’s on my iTunes and I’m singing along.
T – Time you wake up: Uhh totally depends. My life is pretty much a mess right now. The last few days, I’ve basically been sleeping from 4:00 a.m.- 9:00 a.m. I suck.
U – Unknown fact about me: I rarely get in grumpy moods. I am a naturally happy person and don’t like being grouchy.
V – Vegetable you hate: I don’t think I hate anything. Hmmm.
W – Worst habit: I probably gossip too much. But I’m a girl, right? In that case, I shop too much too.
X – X-rays you’ve had: My teeth. And my ankle when I sprained it triple jumping in high school. I’ve never actually broken a bone in my life!
Y – Yummiest food my belly likes: Whatever my parents cook. Chicken pot pie. Orange vegetables. Homemade Mac and Cheese.
Z – Zodiac sign: Libra. And I’m TOTALLY a Libra 100%
Now, you try. kthnksbai.
Sometimes I hate being such a grammar fanatic. While trying to do a project for work tonight, I literally spent an hour reading the Chicago Manual. It started out with one little rule I was questioning. It took me forever to find the solution. And then I just kept reading other stuff I had completely forgotten about. I then started questioning every single thing I had been editing on my work website, and made me want to go back and re-edit every single page.
When I took my copyediting class last year, we had to read the entire Chicago Manual of Style. It was Hell. I remember the first week, I had to read 400 pages. I was visiting my sister in Chicago that weekend so I lugged the book with me and all my luggage to work that day. I was sitting at my desk telling a co-worker that I was going to Chi-town. “Ohh, so you’re bringing a Chicago guide book?” he asked, pointing toward my huge-ass book. I had a difficult time not bursting out laughing. “Umm no, that is a book on grammar, not a Chicago guide book.” But I guess it was kind of cute that I had to read the Chicago Manual my whole way to and back from Chicago. And it made for good plane conversation.
Anyway, I successfully completed my copyediting class, including the weekly quizzes and exams my professor made us take closed book (everyone else was allowed to use their books; um, as editors in the real world, you can open a book any time you want. Right??). I learned SO much; I can honestly say I’ve never learned so much in one class. But since then, between following other businesses’ style guides and being forced to also read the AP Style guide, I didn’t retain as much of the information as I wish I did. But I have become super obnoxious and ridiculous about grammar. I wouldn’t call myself a perfectionist, but maybe just a bit OCD. When it comes to stuff for work, I get so bothered by inconsistency or tiny little errors, it won’t stop nagging me. I could edit the entire site over a million times, and still not be happy with it. I can’t wait to go back to Chicago in 1.5 weeks…this time without my 1,000 page manual!
This Lolcat is using proper grammar!
Oh, and talk of OCD grammar craziness does not apply to this blog. Ever. Just so you know.
In 4th grade, during parent/teacher conferences, my teacher told my parents the only thing she worried about with me is that I seemed to space out a lot (uhhh, who me?). She’d be giving a lesson and look at me and I’d be completely off in my own little world. But then she’d call on me and I’d know exactly what she was talking about and I’d always answer her questions correctly. Really not much has changed and now I actually think of this as sort of a skill I have. I am able to simultaneously space out and pay attention, fooling everyone around me. That’s partly why I’m a super good eavesdropper.
I don’t really know why I’m talking about that except that my mom and I were discussing how I’m really good at reading people, even when they have no idea I’m doing it. Basically I do a super good job at playing dumb and pretending I have no idea what’s going on when I usually know exactly what’s happening. I think it’s great when people think they’re fooling me and I can totally see right through them. I think in some ways, I play “out of it” because I don’t like confrontation so I just act like I don’t know what’s going on and like everything’s fine. This might not be a good thing, but I do think it really gives me time to figure stuff out, not act irrationally, and let other people be the ones who end up looking dumb. Strange I haven’t changed much since 4th grade. Or maybe I was just smart at a young age.
And just so you know, there are allegedly quite a few Bo Bice fans out there. I stand corrected. Apparently, my last post was placed on a Bo Bice fan site and Bo Bice fans from everywhere have been visiting my blog! So, welcome Bice fans. Biceys? Bice-0-maniacs? There’s gotta be a better word for that. Do tell.
And to everyone who thought maybeee the license plate said “Bob Ice.” Go look again and you’ll see the driver had the same worry and placed a blue sticker in between the “Bo” and the “Bice,” so you wouldn’t get confused.
Also, does anyone know why all the images I post here are landing so far down on their posts? I’ve probably been fiddling with the html a little too much or something and maybe screwed something up. I have no idea what went wrong or how to fix it. I know that it’s probably my problem since the images are working fine on my other site (by the way, visit my other site if you haven’t already; it’s fun!) So yeah, if you have a clue what’s going wrong (or what code I accidentally took out maybe, oops), please let me know!
Andrew spotted this license plate the other day and had Nina e-mail it to me. Really? Bo Bice? On a license plate? Are we being serious here? When I first opened the e-mail, it took me a second to register the picture. And then, my first thought was, “Bo Bice?? Oh S*%#! Does Andrew think I like Bo Bice??? Is that why he thought of me when he saw it??” I immediately felt extremely embarrassed. But he reassured me he did not think I was a Bice fan; he just knows I am sort of a bit obsessed with American Idol and knew I would get a kick out of it. True. Because um, it’s Bo Bice. On a license plate.
My second thought after seeing the picture was, “Who on God’s Earth would get Bo Bice’s name on their vanity plate??” I mean, you have to be a pretty big fan of anything to pay extra money to get it on your license plate, so we’re talking super-huge Bo Bice fan here. I wasn’t aware there were super-huge Bo Bice fans out there. But clearly I was wrong. There’s at least one, and she (or he?) hangs out in the Greater Boston area. And you know she/he was majorly sad when Bice lost American Idol to Carrie Underwood, despite the fact that she/he called in their votes 155 times each night (oh, if only he/she had used the house phone and cell phone! Could have made all the difference).
This has kid of inspired me. When I get a car I might just have to get a license plate with “ElliotYamin” on it. But I think that might be too many letters. Sigh.
That said, American Idol is coming back on Tuesday. Am I excited? Well, let me answer that in two parts. First of all, I wasn’t very impressed with last season. The show started to lose its charm and gasp, even bored me a bit. And second of all, the season doesn’t really start until like March, after all the lame and horrible (and fake!) auditions. I don’t get why so many people LOVE this part of the show. It’s so made-up, it pisses me off. But I’m sure I’ll be watching American Idol anyway. Because, really? What better do I have to do? So sad, but so true.
P.S. I thought about posting an image of Bo Bice here for effect, but honestly, I can’t stand to look at him and really don’t want him permanently living in my blog. Ew, that’s creepy.
The Patriots are officially 17-0. That’s right. Still undefeated. I wore my hair in a ponytail tonight. Very unlike me. But I kind of liked it. I came close to wearing my glasses, but couldn’t do it. Baby steps. Going out with my hair in a ponytail is a big deal for me. My hair is so ridiculously long at the moment that I don’t really like anything I do with it. Need a haircut and highlights badly.
All I have to say. Sleep now. More tomorrow. Yayy!
