Post-class Report.

Class last night was pretty fun. I'm so happy with my group. It's 4 guys plus me and they let me run things which is really awesome. We have finally picked a topic for our group project after weeks of emails back and forth. Also, last night the class got our DISC profiles back. My natural state is high and equal Dominance and Influence. Plus I am very low on Compliance and middling with Steadiness. work is a completely different story. My Dominance is basically the same as my natural state but my Influence is incredibly high - like 94%. Steadiness is in the basement and Compliance is low as usual. The way I read the report is that I like being in control as much as influencing others. Since in my current job I don't have a lot of control, I amp up my influencing skills to exert dominance. I'm still a little confused why my steadiness is so drastically different between natural state and work. Maybe it's the fact that I'm used to holding down the fort in my life outside work and I have fort to hold down at work?

Man pretty surfer dude wasn't in class last night. I didn't realize how catty guys can be. After class, a couple guys and I discussed him. We have a bet going on how old he is. In all this excitement, I wound up leaving my purse in the classroom and I only found out once I got home and looked for it. I sped back to campus since I knew buildings locked down at 10pm. As I was driving back, my gas light came on. What a trifecta of horror. If I did run out of gas, my cell and wallet were in my purse. Luckily, I got into the classroom right before the campus policeman locked the building up. Absolute craziness. In my head, it was divine punishment for gossiping during High Holidays.

Fall 2006 TV Season

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
I've just seen the pilot so far but I have the second episode waiting for me on TiVo. I don't like Amanda Peet's character, Jordan. I find her flat and unbelievable. The pilot basically dragged until the introduction of Matthew Perry (Matt Albie) and Bradley Whitford's (Danny Tripp) characters. Those two have chemistry plus and I'm very happy to see Matt Perry playing non-Chandler. I can't tell how Danny is different from Josh Lyman. Since I adore Sarah Paulson, I'm very happy to see her on my TV. I'm not too happy with her character's name, Harriet. Mike Myers ruined that name for me. Damn you "So I Married an Axe Murderer" with beat poetry!

Heroes
I like the premise. The pilot was a bit expositiony but that's what a pilot is for, right? The flying brothers at the end made me snort with laughter. I liked the super cheerleader. If every week, we get to see a new gross injury, I would be satisfied. The weakest character is the Japanese teleporter. I can't tell if he's supposed to be a complete geek or someone who has no social skills. Plus, I tire of reading subtitles quickly. The Indian professor's son is beyond hot so I'm hoping he won't die! I don't get what Nevada stripper girl's power is. Is it a murderous superstrong doppelganger or is it just herself projected into another dimension?

Grey's Anatomy
The season premiere was boring an underwhelming. I'm glad Ellen Pompeo looks less deathly. The thing that bugged the crap out of me was when McDreamy said he chose wrong. So, what the hell was all last season?!?! The second episode I enjoyed a lot more probably because I'm a huge fan of Christina and Burke. Also, am I the last person on the planet who figured out that Callie Torres is played by the Sara Ramirez?

The Office
Pam didn't marry Roy - woohoo! Jim is still around, not physically but his prescence lingers. Poor, poor Oscar... The show still has the humor and the painful cringe-worthy moments. Plus, Steve Carrel has gorgeous eyes.

The Boat, She is Good

I have no idea how I'm at work today after last night. The cruise was a lot of fun. If you'd like to see a bunch of pictures, check out Sarah's blog.

Getting to Rowe's Wharf was very simple. Since I'm such an anal geek, I checked our route twice via mbta.com and google earth before I left the office. Oh yes, the geek theme will be carried throughout the evening. I got to use the Charlie Ticket system for the first time and it was quite an adventure! The North Quincy station's ticket readers don't feed the ticket through and open the gate, you're just supposed to insert and pull it out. If you don't, a horrible moron buzzer sound goes off. Conversely, the South station ticket reader machine does eat the ticket and spit it out while opening the gate. System standardization in Boston? Surely, you jest!

The Odyssey is gorgeous and the staff were attentive. We were seated on the Horizon deck for a meal that consisted of passed hors d'ouevres, two courses and dessert. Plus, there was an open bar. I was really impressed with their martini list, the wine list was pretty limited. Throughout the night, I had one glass of wine and 3 martinis. The marketing liason took us on a tour of the ship before launch. They have several decks that can accomodate parties of different sizes. My favorite deck was the Horizon. The live band was pretty good but I had giggle fits over the fact that the trombonist worked in trombone solos in every single song regardless of whether the song called for it.

I can't gush enough about the food. In my opinion, if you're on a ship, you should have something with fish. It's apropos. We got to go up front and meet the captain. In the cockpit (wrong word but I can't think of a right one), he had a couple sonar screens which I thought was exceedingly cool. Hitting Shamu would put a definite downer on the evening. Since the group of us were functioning on alcohol and rich food, we basically joked around about gambling and getting two desserts.

Towards the end of the night, I found out our waiter was from Albania. Since I'm a history and obscure trivia geek, I was pretty excited. How did I convey this excitement? I asked him about the genocide in his country. The conversation got pretty good and weird after that. I say weird because we wound up praising Ataturk as the ship was docking.

All in all, even though I got home after 11 and only had 3 hours of sleep, the night was good fun and an excellent research opporunity for the company's holiday party. Also, I guess I don't work in the Production dept. I work for Operations. You learn new things every day, huh?

Skincare

I have been blessed with nice skin and it takes work to keep it nice. Genetics are nice but you can't coast on them, you know what I mean? Back in June, I had a facial at Elizabeth Grady. Since, I'm an easy sell I wound up buying $90-worth of their products. Sure, I'm a sucker but these products are AMAZING! So amazing, I haven't needed a facial ever since. I try to cleanse my face once a week. I don't do it too often since I have been told that I have "free oil flow" and that shiny oil is fighting back the ravages of time.

I start with this pore refining scrub and I try to focus scrubbing around my hairline. I only need to use a tiny dab of this for my face. Plus, it smells like almonds.

This is the best cleanser I have ever used. It's mild, moisturizing, definitely cleans out my pores, and my skin feels as smooth as silk after using it.


During the winter months, when my oil isn't as free flowing, I end my facial regime with this moisturizer.

New Bumper Sticker, Help Needed

After almost getting killed by an SUV with Florida plates Saturday night, I realized I need to get a bumper sticker. I have a couple favorite bumper sticker sites:

One
Two
Three
Four

This is a tough decision since it requires me to narrow down what I most hate about the current government.

After Six Long Years

I finally backed a winner! Waltham did me proud too. 2,968 for Deval, 2,081 for Gabrieli and 1,920 for Reilly. I'm just hoping this is going to be a trend for the year. Oh yes, you just might wind up calling me magic touch Anna especially with the mid-term elections coming up!

Isn't it nice not to wake up with dread in your heart after an election? Missing the painful concession speech is great. What is even more wonderful is not hearing about how the voting was rigged. I'm still bitter about 2004. Ohio, I'm looking at you. Purge this!

Gorgeous New Banner...

... is thanks to my fabulous cousin, Sarah, who is a MS Paint Queen.

Newsflash: My Grandparents Aren't Biggots

My mother's family is Catholic so I have kept pretty quiet about my conversion to Judaism. My immediate family knows and two cousins know. As weddings are approaching and more family time is on the horizon, I found it pretty hard not to mention this major thing that is new with me. My grandparents are great people but their sensibilities are very non-PC. At my brother's high school graduation party, my grandfather talked at length about the difference between Chinese and Japanese. Back in the day, my grandparents hit the roof when my mother married a Hungarian. My mother's family held the scandal torch high and passed it down.

My grandmother was hospitalized for several weeks due to a blood clot in her arm. In one of my mom's visits, they wound up talking about "Sex in the City" (my grandma is pretty hip). When Charlotte's conversion came up, my mom told me she was very close to saying, "Oh yeah, like Anna." With that almost-slip, I had a very short window to tell my grandparents about my conversion. My grandmother was sent home last week and is on Coumadin (a blood thinner that I am intimately familiar with). I visited them yesterday. It wasn't just me and my grandparents. One of my aunts was there but she's cool so I didn't mind. Plus, it saved me another layer of family to announce my conversion to. I got to have nice talks with both grandparents and share any wisdom I have amassed from my history of horrifying hospitalizations.

My fear was that they'd be upset, try to talk me out of it, or kick me out of the family. But I had forgotten that they are old people who have dealt with a lot more scandalous occurences in their family. Time has worn down their outrage. So, I broached the topic by saying that I'm taking Hebrew classes. My grandmother thought that was great and asked me if I was thinking of converting. I said yes and she said, "That's wonderful." Aww... My grandfather made a circumcision joke. As I was getting ready to pack up and leave, I wanted to make sure they were cool with the whole conversion thing. Grandpa didn't hear me clearly so Grandma explained, "She wants to know if we're okay with her becoming Jewish since we're Catholic." In one sentence, she totally got it. They are okay with it and my aunt was okay with it. I'll probably get some jokes directed my way around Xmas but I am psyched! I can be the complete me with my family.

My Haircut

Haircut Goal

This is the picture that I will show my hairstylist tomorrow. We'll see how he does!

Higher Education Needed

I've had to write something after I read this idiotic piece in the Boston Globe.

Firstly, it is a very easy and old meme to rant about liberalism in higher education. It detracts from actual debate and questions the debater's patriotism - thus impeding any fruitful discussion. I feel like I can speak about this topic because I have been to college (BA and MBA soon). I worked at a college for 4 years. Plus, both my parents are professors. I will not deny the fact that SOME professors choose the classroom to grind their own political axes but that behavior is not common. When you boil it down, faculty care about educating young minds, tenure, getting published, and departmental politics.

So, this college-educated gal asks, "What is the connection between 9/11 and Mohammad Khatami speaking at Harvard?" To answer that question, I'll have to dumb myself down. Well, Khatami is an A-rab. A-rabs attacked us on 9/11. Khatami is a Muslim. Muslims attacked us on 9/11. That's the only connection I can come up with.

Yes, allowing him to speak at Harvard was very controversial given his Human Rights record as president of Iran. The thing about higher education is that we're taught to listen to different perspectives and a variety of viewpoints. The rest of the article is basically rambling. Yes, Harvard supports women and homosexual's rights and Islam doesn't. One university's actions won't force American women into wearing Burkhas! Not content with accusing Harvard of handing America over the "jihadists", this author also throws in a lovely accusation of anti-semitism against two faculty members.

ABC 9/11 Movie

I didn't watch the movie Sunday night but I did TiVo. Last night I got about halfway through it. Here are my impressions:

- 3 hours of uninterrupted movie is a bit much. We're not talking about "Schindler's List" or "Saving Private Ryan" here!

- It's nice to see the actors from "Band of Brothers" getting work.

- Wow, if I hadn't lived through these events, this seems like a very long episode of 24.

- Okay, here comes the agenda. Yup, it's too bad that the FBI can't spy on American citizens without a warrant. Yeah, due process just gums up the works in the War on TerrorTM


TM owned by Halliburton, the Carlyle Group, and Project for the New American Century

Insomnia Uncovers Excellent TV

I couldn't sleep Friday night and during my random flipping through stations, I discovered Meerkat Manor. It is addictive, funny, heartwarming and upsetting TV. Basically, the show follows a family of meerkats. Each meerkat has a name. The Mama is Flower. The Papa is Zaphod. Zaphod's mentally ill brother is Youssarian. Yup, he is mentally ill from the brain damage of being dropped on his head when he was little. In one of his crazy frenzies, he wound up killing one of Flowers grandbabies. It is seriously engrossing TV. One of Flower's children, Shakespeare, was bitten by a poisonous snake. He has hung on for a couple episodes so far. The new season starts soon and hopefully he'll still be around!

Encouraging Real Estate News

Single women buying their own houses appears to be the rage nowadays. Which gives me hope and inspiration. Rock on sisters, build your credit rating!

I Love Brookline

I had my first Beginner's Hebrew class last night and it turns out that I'm pretty ahead of the class. As we went around the table introducing ourselves, most people said that they wanted to learn so they could follow along during services. That was the refrain until it got to me. I said that I'm converting and learning Hebrew is part of my process. It turned out I was sitting at the conversion end of the table - two other people around me said they were converting!

As I was walking back to my car, I found a place where I would love to live: Washington on the Square. It's down the street from a Whole Foods, a temple, and The Fireplace. Plus, it's in front of the T (green C line). Basically, it's perfect. I have no idea how much a unit costs. My birthday is coming up, Mr. Soros...

I Hit You Because I Love You, Says Bush

That is basically what this news item says. I guess no one can call me a liar when I say that calling in sick to work and sleeping in saves millions of lives, huh?

A Quickie

Chocolate covered espresso beans are absolute crack. I've been eating them so often, I'm surprised that I'm not on my third heart attack!

This is the dress I'm wearing to the October wedding.

Since I wasn't a coffee drinker when I picked my dinnerware, I didn't get a sugar/creamer set. Now, I finally ordered one!

Also, today I finally lost 5lbs. I got a ribbon and star at my weigh-in!

Goodbye White Shoes, Hello Jerry Lewis

Today is probably the only day I'll get to blog this week so here it goes.

In my Thursday night class, Leadership, we're supposed to form groups for a project by this Thursday. I only know about 5 people in my class and groups are supposed to consist of 5 so it seemed like an easy task, right? I have spent the last four days trying to find a group to join and wondering to myself if I have B.O or dandruff. Basically, in terms of this class I've been feeling like, "Everybody hates me, nobody likes me, why don't I go eat worms." That is until this morning when I got an email from a classmate inviting me to join his group. Yee haw!

Saturday night was fabulous. I grabbed dinner with my mother at Caffe Tosca in Hingham before we saw Kathy Griffin at the South Shore Music Circus. The show was hilarious! My jaw was hurting from all the laughing and I lost my voice. We had awesome seats - second row. Kathy really is tiny and skinny but not scary skinny. I saw some upperback bra bulge.

Sunday I had planned on going to the gym, doing my homework, and cleaning my apartment. Did I do any of those things? Nope! I watched Transamerica and played the Sims 2. Rainy days just suck me dry.

Today, I ventured into Cambridge to hit Old Navy. I forgot that this is the weekend when all the college kids move back so driving was extra special. I don't know what happens at the Cambridgeside Old Navy but every time I go there it looks like a typhoon has hit the store and I have to dig through piles or hurly burly racks to find any decent clothes. I got some outfits but wound up buying other clothes online when I got home. Maybe I'll save the gas and just shop online solely?

Sense of Self: Once Born vs. Twice Born

I started doing homework for my Leadership class and I encountered this concept by William James.

Once Born: Adjustments to life have been straightforward. Life has been more or less a peaceful flow from birth. A sense of belonging. Self-worth enhanced by perpetuating and strengthening institutions.

Twice Born: A life marked with continual struggle to attain some sense of order. Cannot take things for granted. A profound feeling of separateness. Work in organizations but never belong to them. Sense of self not dependent on membership.

Guess what type am I? Guess which type Leaders usually are? The answers are the same.