Nancy

Dexcon

2009-07-13T22:21:18Z

I had a fantastic weekend at Dexcon. It is by far my favorite con out of the ones I have been to. It is almost exclusively a gaming con so you don’t get a whole lot of people dressing up and there aren’t lots of panels and no celebrities, just lots of fun games to play. We had 6 people in the hotel room, so the cost ended up being $40. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, but that is part of the con experience. :) I figure as long as I get a bed I am ok.

I managed to get in 4 rpgs and a bunch of board games, I think in all cases ones I hadn’t played before except for the Stargate game. There were two more traditional mechanic rpgs – Stargate and Witchhunter. I really like the GM for the Stargate game, he is really great and I had a blast. Witch Hunter is an organized play game, and I enjoyed it enough to maybe try it again at Connecticon. I also played in two indie storytelling based rpgs. The first one is called Prime Time Adventures, and we built a TV show episode based on fey characters. It was all story narrative with no dice at all, and very fun! The second on was called Ganakagok and we were primitive Inuit-esque people living in a world with no sun and dealing with its impending arrival. It was very intense and a definite stretch from anything I have done before.

I helped playtest a strategy boardgame for my friend Dave, called Rampaging Titans. It was really intereseting to see more about how games are developed. Also under boardgames I played Nefertiti, Amyitis, Buffy the Boardgame (yes, this exists) and my favorite of the con – Tayu. The last one is a two person strategy game where you are trying to connect rivers to flow to your side of the board while trying to block your opponent. It was both mentally challenging and it has its own zen like thing going on. Finally I played a card game called Pit, where you try and make deals and get sets of goods. It was also fun but I was rather fried by that point.

I think I am going to try and hunt down a local boardgaming group. I really enjoy both the mental challenge of learning something new plus the social aspect. There must be one around here somewhere…

Not that I eat Pringles anyway...

2009-07-09T22:40:20Z

Proctor and Gamble in the UK tried to argue that Pringles should be considered snacks and not potato crisps (fox tax reasons) due to the fact they are only 42% potato. They also "insisted that their best-selling product was not similar to potato crisps, because of their "mouth melt" taste, "uniform colour" and "regular shape" which "is not found in nature"." Not found in nature? That is not something to be proud of and go about repeating. Ugh.

BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8060204.stm
Heard about on the Bugle

notthecheat @ 2009-06-19T13:13:00

2009-06-19T17:14:23Z

I have been meaning to start writing in here again. I can’t remember why I stopped…

I <3 Mika

2008-02-05T22:58:54Z

I can't remember (and I couldn't be bothered to look) whether I have posted about how much I love Mika. It makes me feel somewhat lecherous seeing as he is like 10 years younger than me, but I think he is beautiful and amazing. I especially love the story behind this video. He was watching TV late one night when he saw a news segment on the Butterfly Lounge, which is a BBW club in California. He was really moved that there was a place where larger women could go to feel beautiful and accepted, especially since his mom and several other female relatives are overweight. My only wish is that the girls in the corset things were slightly bigger, but then my idea of what a big girl is and other peoples' vary a good bit.

Getting excited

2008-01-30T16:57:17Z

'Lost' is back tomorrow. Awesomeness. That is all.

What year is it?

2008-01-07T21:14:43Z

When doing accounting entries you have to enter in the date - a lot. Normally when the year switches over I find it difficult to enter in the new year and keep putting in the old one. To combat this I make sure the January journal for the previous year is closed so that I can't post to it. For some strange reason, this year I have been having trouble in the opposite direction. I put in a bunch of December closing entries and then when I looked at my balance sheet and I didn't see any changes, I realized I put them all into 2008. So I went in and closed the 2008 December journals as well so I won't make that mistake again. Perhaps I am more ready for the new year this year?

Listening to it over and over and over. . .

2008-01-03T17:54:13Z

I have had this song in my head since last night at my dance class. It wasn't the song we danced to last night, but it was one from a previous class and the teacher used it during the end of class abs session. I tried to remember the song from last night and all I could remember was this. Then it got stuck in my head and kept playing over and over while I was trying to sleep. Then this morning I felt compelled to listen to it over and over again. It is so weird when this happens. At least it isn't a song I hate like Grillz by Nelly.

Just in case you want to get infected (although I don't particularily care for the bit of the other song at the end):

Pictures!

2007-12-20T03:15:33Z

So every year I have to do a write up and submit pictures to my step-mother for a family newsletter. Since I don't have anyone to take my picture I spent a bunch of time this evening taking pictures of myself. Boy can that make you feel vain. Anyway, I really like how these two came out. Also I am including a picture of me in the same red shirt right around 2 years ago.

I really like how blue my eyes look tonight. They don't always look like this.

What a difference 2 years can make!

Snow and audit prep

2007-12-13T17:19:20Z

8 years living in Atlanta turned me into a snow weenie. I am ticked off that I missed Monday’s dance class due to a company dinner, Tuesday because of traffic (the highway was stopped dead and I tried to take a short cut and got myself totally lost) and now tonight I probably won’t be able to go because of snow. We are getting 3-8 inches, but that is enough for me not to want to venture too far afield.

I did end up ordering the wide dance sneakers I found. They will arrive next week. I hope they fit.

I am very frustrated with prepping for my audit next week. I am totally into systems and not redoing work I have already done, so when I prep my audit reports I take the one from the year before and just move the prior year’s data forward and add the current year. However, since my boss wanted to get the audit done before the end of the year we are doing all the reports as of November 30^th. This means I have to go back and not only do the totals for this year but for last year as well. This would be a whole lot easier if my accounting system didn’t suck.

Wide feet suck

2007-12-06T19:11:07Z

It really sucks having wide feet. All the women in my dance classes have these cute dance sneakers that make it much easier for them to do turns, slides, etc. So I am looking online and so far I have found ONE dance sneaker that I can get in the US that comes in a wide width. At least it is fairly cute and not hideously expensive. I will keep looking, but I don’t have a lot of hope.

Really sore

2007-12-05T16:26:28Z

I am SO SORE this morning. I really pushed myself the last two days and I am now in a lot of pain. I just took some Tylenol to help and hopefully I can take a few walks around the office building today to get the lactic acid out. I do not want to skip my dance class tonight but at the same time I don't want to injure myself. I can't tell right now if it is just soreness or something else.

The old teacher came to the Zumba class last night and I can see why people were really upset that she left. She was so much better than the new teacher. She is obviously a dancer and she moves really well. The new teacher just doesn’t have it. She is nice though and I will keep going, but it almost makes me wish that the old one didn’t come back so then I wouldn’t know what I was missing.

On a completely different subject I recently finished The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke and THEN got Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I know I should have done this the other way round, but even so I really enjoyed the first and so far the second as well. I really wish I had more drive to read non-fiction, but there is just something about getting lost in a story that so appeals to me.

Little things

2007-10-05T03:24:38Z

My new office faces west and I can see the sunset. I will make sure to always take a few minutes if I am in the office at that time to watch it and try and connect with the beauty of nature. I can get so wrapped up in all the mundane things - it is such a shame to ignore the true gifts of life.

I got my shipment from BPAL today. Instead of the 6 samples (besides the two main items) I ordered I got a total of 13 samples. Tonight I tried on Blood. I didn't really care for how it smelled in the vial, but on me I really like it. It is so amazing how scents change when they mix with the chemistry of our skin.

I am taking tomorrow off work since I worked both days last weekend. I keep feeling like I need to get to bed early because it is a week day, and then I remember. I think I will stay up for awhile.

Andrew is coming over on Saturday. We are going for dim sum and then he will help me fix my electrical problem and hang my towel bar. I don't know if I mentioned the electrical thing, but if you ever have the option of painting over an outlet that has a ground fault circuit interruptor, don’t do it. I was using the microwave and toaster at the same time, tripped the outlet, and because it is painted over (by the previous tenant) I can’t push the button to reset it. However, I am actually looking forward to trying to replace it myself (ok – with help). I am also planning on getting a timer for the porch light that my Dad told me about. It is smart enough to know when sunset is and adjust accordingly. Technology can be so awesome.

Office move - check

2007-10-03T19:06:11Z

Thank god my office move is finally over. I still have a good bit of unpacking to do, but the stress is mostly lifted (until I get the call that our new conference table has arrived since that room is mostly still full of boxes waiting to be unpacked).

Highlights of the move, not including dropping the 50 pound monitor on my leg include:

1) The wrong color trim being put in all the offices and having to redo it on the day before we moved in.

2) Hearing “We didn’t know you needed a 30-amp twist lock outlet in the IT room” 2 days before the move, when I had sent the power specs to the building WEEKS (if not months) ago.

3) Following on to #2, having them ignore our IT room layout request and install the backboard for the phone system on the wrong wall.

4) The people moving our phone system forgetting how it was wired through our rack and not being able to get a dial tone on our integrated T-1 until our tech pulled up pictures of how they had configured it in our old space (thank GOD for digital cameras).

5) The people who moved our cubicles completely missed wiring one of the panels into the main and now they aren’t calling me back.

6) Oh, and I guess I shouldn’t forget to mention the fact that they originally put up the walls to my office a foot and a half off.

Moving really sucks and I am just fed up with being a glorified office admin. Not that it isn’t an important job, but it isn’t what I want to be doing. Even though I am good at it, I don’t like doing all this organizational office crap. Once my audit is done in January I am totally looking for a new job that is all accounting and involves no office moves, phone answering or party planning. I am done.

Moments in stupid

2007-09-21T20:02:08Z

My office is moving and I am the main person organizing everything. We have a bunch of old 21” monitors that are really heavy pieces of crap that we are getting rid of. They are unbelievably heavy and awkward. I decided to put them all in the conference room so they will be out of the way and easy for the disposal people to pick up. I was arranging them on the conference table. Here is the stupid part. I put them all on one side of the table. With 6 they were fine, but just now I went to put the 7^th on the table and the whole thing tipped over. Luckily I was mostly able to get out of the way. The monitor I was holding did drop down on my leg a bit, but other than that I was ok. The conference table appears to be relatively undamaged and I am not worried about the damage to the monitors. The biggest damage is to my nerves (which are now shot) and my ego. How stupid of me not to realize that I needed to balance the weight and put some of them on the other side of the table? I am going to have a pretty giant bruise on my right leg.

Dancing, workout clothes and ex-employees

2007-09-17T21:01:13Z

On Saturday I went to a Moroccan restaurant with Andrew (ex). I went to see how he was progressing with putting his place together and also to deliver his last two utility bills for the old place that were still in my name. It was a fun place with live music and a belly dancer. After her show, she invited everyone in the place to get up and dance. I happily got up and danced – inserting myself into a group of women from a table next to me. Andrew wouldn’t get up and join me. Getting up and dancing at a restaurant is the kind of thing I am losing weight for, and I would also really love to meet someone who has the self confidence and joie-de-vivre to get up and dance with me.

It was time to upgrade the workout outfits this weekend, and since I couldn’t find any pants at Target I hit up Wal-Mart where I found some nice workout pants in XL. I also ordered bras and tank tops online, so I will be all set for awhile. I also indulged and bought myself a really nice yoga mat since I am now taking classes twice a week. I have been invited to the morning intermediate class, and although I know I will still need to modify many of the moves and I won’t be able to do anything that puts too much weight on any one limb, I am pretty excited about it.

A woman who used to work for me sent me an email today about being used as a reference. Now this person didn’t leave under the best circumstances – she basically had a falling out with her husband, went to Florida to recover emotionally and then stopped communicating with me for over a week (no-show, no-call) after which I let her go. However we all have troubles and so I have overlooked this and still consider her a friend. She has emailed me several times since this to see about getting together while she is in town (somehow she is always in the middle of traveling from one place to another – she just got back from Italy) but my replies to her always bounce because it says her inbox is full.

So she writes to me this afternoon and the bottom line of it is that because of the gaps in her resume due to her traveling, she has put down that she worked with me until December 2006, except she was only here until August 2005. She wants me to lie for her. Even worse in my opinion, is that she didn’t check with me first but already told someone this. I won’t do it, and now I need to respond to her and tell her I won’t, but I am trying to figure out a nice way to put it. I really hate that she put me in this position. I wish her all the best in her life, but that doesn’t mean that I will be blatantly dishonest for her. If it was stretching it a month or two and she asked in advance I might do it, but that is just too much.

I think I will wait until tomorrow to respond.

And they work again. . .

2007-09-10T15:28:42Z

So this morning I got myself out of bed at around 6:00am so that I could take my car to the dealership to have them look at my gas cap door (you have to be there by 7am for a walk in or you won’t get seen right away). Just for fun, as I was leaving the house I decided to try again. Yeah – you know what is coming next. It opened. There are two possible explanations for this. First, my guardian angel had to stop me from going out yesterday (since I also tried it yesterday afternoon). Second, the problem is caused by the metal heating up and expanding so the problem only happens when it is warmer out. #2 is more rational, but I like #1 better.

I will test my theory this afternoon after I do some errands for work. I didn’t bother bringing it into the dealer because if I can’t reproduce the problem they will probably tell me I don’t have one. Either way, I am going to make sure I gas up the car when I am down to ¾ empty and not on fumes, just in case this does happen again.

When things don't work right

2007-09-09T15:21:24Z

I had a bit of a rough night last night. My plan was to go to the gym and then head to Target where I would do a bit of shopping for things I need in the house. Specifically I wanted to get some nice plastic bins to finally organize all my bathroom stuff. The gym didn’t go so well because I got a really bad pain in my foot shortly into my elliptical session. I stopped, did the treadmill for awhile and went back to the elliptical and it seemed to go away, but I was more tired than normal I think because I was compensating with my muscles to try and hold my foot in a way that it wouldn’t have that pain.

The real kicker came when I got to the gas station. My car has a little door covering the gas cap that you are supposed to be able to just push in and it will pop open. Well – there was tons of pushing (which turned into hitting) and I couldn’t get the thing open. I tried for like 15 minutes. Since it is effected by whether the car is locked or not I tried locking and unlocking the doors multiple times. I checked the manual to see if there was an alternate method. Nope – I was screwed. I had to go home and cancel my plans for last night and today. I will take it to the dealership first thing on Monday morning on my way to work and hopefully they can fix it.

I think the thing that made me the most upset is really how fragile parts of our lives can feel. Some small thing like a gas cap not opening and I felt so stranded (which is ridiculous because I can walk to all sorts of places from my home). Part of that is being single and not having someone to call to come help me. I ended up talking to Andrew later because he was looking for his dinging table and didn’t know where they were (how the hell I was supposed to know this I have no idea) and he offered to drive over right then to try and fix it (he now lives over an hour away). It was a nice offer but I declined.

Upon reflection this morning I am just grateful that this happened when I was so close to home that it didn’t involve getting stranded anywhere and having to pay for a tow truck. It could have been so much worse. So, I’m stuck at home today, but that isn’t such a bad thing. I can get lots done and maybe I will even walk over to town and buy myself some new perfume from Sephora, which I have been planning on doing for awhile now.

Moving hell

2007-09-04T16:53:01Z

The last 3 days have been pretty hellish. So much for having a long weekend.

Saturday I arrived at A’s at 7:30am to go pick up the truck. The day ended at around 11pm when I finally got home. We packed up a 24’ truck with all his stuff – just the two of us. It took us the entire day to pack everything up, especially since there was a lot of stuff he hadn’t finished packing. It was so exhausting. Of course he had to get a truck from a “professional” place and not just any old U-haul, which meant we had to drive out of our way (back over the Tappan Zee bridge) to get the truck. He also had to have a lift gate truck which, in my opinion, made most of the move much more difficult. The one item he really needed it for is his computer rack, which was a total bitch to move even though it was on wheels because it was too tall to fit through the doorway. I have to admit I didn’t feel as sorry for him as I should have when his dressers and bookcases fell off the lift gate when we were sending it up because he tried to put too much on it (they were a bit damaged but mostly ok). All I can say is thank god that neither of us got hurt.

Luckily, he agreed to pay my friend J to help on Sunday and he also managed to get a co-worker to help, so for the unloading we had four people and it only took us about 6 hours. However, after that I still had to drive him back to drop the truck off and then get home, so I was gone from the house from 8:00am until 9:30pm. I totally have to do something wonderful for J because he made the day tolerable. The move in part was much tougher than is should have been because the elevator closest to his apartment was broken and we had to walk everything through the parking garage and then quite a ways down the hallway to his place.

The co-worker, M, was a rather freaky fellow who wouldn’t shut up if you let him start talking about any subject. You would have to wait until he ran out of breath to try and interject something quickly. I heard way too much about golfing and snowboarding. Do people not even think to wonder if the person they are talking to is really interested in or knows anything about the subject they are talking about? With some people the answer is no. It isn’t that mind having CONVERSATIONS about almost any topic with almost anyone (that’s a bit broad, but generally true), but being talked at non-stop is just not fun. Also, you can’t expect people to be impressed by your golfing stats if they have no clue what the hell you are taking about. But, on the other hand, who the fuck cares how much he talked because I was just so happy that it wasn’t just A and me trying to unload all the stuff.

I also need to learn how to totally detach from A’s choices. I was really disappointed in the apartment he chose because it is very small and I have no idea how he is going to fit all his stuff in there with room to move. The place is so packed right now that I have no idea how he will find space to set up his furniture. The appliances aren’t nearly as nice as our old place and the apartment smells like the last occupant was a smoker. The thing is – it is his choice, not mine.

The other thing that stuck me is how much lack of forethought A has. He didn’t think to consider whether there was toilet paper or hand soap in his new place. He also didn’t think to make sure his helpers had water. Thank goodness in both cases I did think of it and made sure the items were there. Compare this to J who brought donuts for everyone and it makes a striking contrast. A also didn’t know exactly where he packed his shower curtain or the clothes he needed for work this morning. I wonder how it went finding them last night.

Yesterday I could barely move when I woke up, but we still had the cleanup of the old apartment to do. I left the house at around noon, we cleaned until about 8pm, and then we drove the last load of his stuff down to his new place. It was amazing to see the old place totally empty and shiny clean. It was actually a lot more emotional for me than I had realized it would be. I really loved that apartment and I think part of me is still grieving for what I THOUGHT my relationship was. The more time I spend with A the more I have no regrets over my decision, but still it makes me sad for reasons that I can’t quite pin down. It is more grief over what could have been than for what actually was. I am also sad for him because I feel like I have put myself in a better place while he hasn’t, but again, that is my opinion. I have to stop thinking that I know what is best for him. That is just damn arrogant.

I am just so glad that I decided to take today off. I need it to recover and get my own chores done.

Sci-fi TV interlude

2007-08-30T19:17:39Z

Recently I started watching The 4400 on DVD (yeah Netflix!) All I can say is wow – this is what sci-fi TV should be. The stories are smart and interesting. They effectively weave the self-contained show stories in with the overall series story arcs. The acting is good. The writing is good. The characters are complex, believable and interesting. In some ways I am glad that I just started watching this so that I can plow through several seasons all at once and not have to wait for new episodes every week. I much preferred watching Lost that way rather than having to wait each week. I still haven’t seen Heroes which I have also heard is quite good. That will be next in my Netflix queue after The 4400 and Ugly Betty.

While I am a big fan of both Stargate and BSG, I just can’t understand why the sci-fi channel can’t make good stuff like The 4400 instead of mush like Painkiller Jane and Flash Gordon. Speaking of which, if either of those gets a second series over the Dresden Files I will be livid (on a bit of research I just discovered that PKJ has in fact been cancelled).

Once again a vicitm on my ex's poor planning

2007-08-29T16:55:14Z

I don’t know how to think about the latest development in Andrew's move.

Basically, when I agreed to help him he had two guy friends lined up to help, who would be able to do most of the heavy lifting. Last night he gives me a call at around 10:00 to let me know that - I bet you can guess the next part. Yup – BOTH of the people he had lined up to help have backed out on him (I had anticipated this would happen knowing the people involved and suggested he make backup plans). One of them still agreed to come by on Friday night after work to help, but A won’t even have the truck then. Sure – they can get a bunch of heavy stuff down to the first level (there are 2 flights of stairs since it is the higher side of a split townhouse). Also, there is an elevator on the other side, so we won’t have to be lifting heavy things up stairs.

Still, I have no idea how we are going to manage with just the two of us. I may be a lot fitter than I was, but I am still a fat girl and just hauling my own ass up and down a flight of stairs multiple times can start to take it out of me, not to mention if I am carrying things. It makes me really angry that he is going to put me in this position. I am very tempted to ask J for help, but J is my friend, not A’s and why should he spend his Saturday doing that? I could also insist that A hire some moving help, but since it is such short notice and a holiday weekend to boot, he would probably have a tough time finding someone. A part of me just wants to say fuck him and leave him on his own, but I couldn’t actually do that. I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me. However, if I need breaks I will take them. I will not hurt myself because of his irresponsibility.

This weekend is going to be really hellish. I will just be glad when it is over and I am very happy that I decided to take Tuesday off to have at least 2 days to myself.

Pronoun sensitivity

2007-08-28T12:34:04Z

On Sunday I spent most of the day at my ex’s (my old apartment) helping him pack up for his move this coming Saturday. He needed the help because he gets very easily distracted by details and gets stuck doing small tasks (like instead of packing magazines in boxes, feeling the need to read through them first). Since I am helping with the move I figured it was in my best interest to help a bit with the packing, otherwise I would probably arrive next Saturday to find much still unpacked.

So at one point he was talking about how while there are a few holes to spackle, there weren’t all that many because “I never hung many pictures” (he was saying this in the first person referring to himself). I corrected him and said we – since for the majority of the time we shared the place together and we would have hung pictures together. He countered with the fact that I would have made him hang the pictures for me anyway (not true) and then he said I was just too sensitive about pronoun use.

This issue came up for us on multiple occasions while we were together and I am just wondering, is this me or does this bother other people as well? I know my sample won’t be very representative since I think most if not all the people who will see this question are women, but I don’t think it is being overly sensitive. I think proper pronoun use demonstrates how you think about the person you are with and your relationship to them. When you say I when it should be we, you are excluding the other person.

Just one of those little irksome things.

Random things before bed

2007-08-25T05:16:12Z

I finally got my license and new plates for CT today. I can finally get my park pass now!

I recently got my eyebrows waxed for the first time ever (in fact it was my first waxing experience). I have to say that I have an absolutely fantastic imagination, because the actual waxing hurt way less than what I was anticipating.

I MUST STOP eating pretzels at work. I don’t have any inclination towards the regular kind, but these honey wheat twist ones are proving very hard to resist. I won’t be buying them again.

I just started reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and so far I am loving it – way better than American Gods. I do think I am slightly biased since he dedicated the book in part to PG Wodehouse, but I know it is more than that. Also regarding Neil Gaiman, I am going to see Stardust tomorrow with J.

I watched Strictly Ballroom last night and it was just what I needed to see. A girl needs a dose of romance everyone once and awhile, especially if she doesn’t have a special someone. However, as a glasses wearer I am always a bit miffed that the #1 ugly duckling transformation makeover item is glasses removal. Ummm. . . if she really needed the glasses, how can she just stop wearing them?

Loud neighbors

2007-08-11T14:11:30Z

Now, I am a pretty laid back person when it comes to noise. I understand that noise is part of life and so things like crying babies and barking dogs really don’t bother me. I also have this incredible gift of being able to fall sleep through almost anything. However, there are times when people just cross the line.

Last night my neighbors had a party. A loud party. They have an outdoor sound system. This party lasted until after 1am. My bedroom faces their backyard. OK – as I said, I can sleep through almost anything and I respect everyone’s need to have a fun party.

What really riled me up was that at 9:30 this morning, after having been playing loud music until 1am, they started playing really loud music again. I guess they wanted a soundtrack to cleaning up from said party. I don’t know, but I do know that that crosses my line of incredible rudeness. For god(des) sakes if you are going to invade my aural space until 1am can you have the common courtesy to let me sleep in a bit later? Perhaps there should be a 12 hour rule. I don’t know. At least I wasn’t planning on sleeping in today or I would have been even more pissed off. For as much as I can fall asleep at night, once something breaks my morning doziness then it is all over for me and I might as well get up. But, I wanted to get a workout in this morning before going to a family event this afternoon, so I need to leave the house shortly anyway.

notthecheat @ 2007-07-19T12:15:00

2007-07-19T16:20:24Z

I think I have seen these before, but they are so funny that I was laughing so hard I was crying. My co-worker came into my office to make sure everything was alright.

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

I can't fathom the whole jelly and mousse thing for anything savory. And what's up with mackerel?

Feeling memories

2007-07-18T15:24:21Z

It’s amazing how a song can totally link you right back to a time in your life. I was looking for something different to play this morning and I put all songs by Matthew Sweet on random. The first song was from the Girlfriend album and as soon as the song started playing I could taste chai. Not just any chai, but the Oregon Chai (in the purple box) made with Edensoy which I drank obsessively for a short period while living on St Charles in Atlanta. It feels so eerie to all of a sudden feel transported to another time in my life like that. It is hard to describe, but I find that I have a general “hum” to my life – a background feeling that pervades my senses. This feeling isn’t usually distinguishable because it is so persistent and it changes so subtly over time that the difference is only felt when something like this happens and all of a sudden I can compare the two. I wish I could describe the whole thing better – perhaps with some time if I can focus more and try to get into words exactly what I mean.