10.31.2005

what is it about halloween that makes otherwise sane girls want to dress up like sluts?

10.29.2005

heaven is a cabin named 'columbine'

so, i'm in montana in the middle of NO WHERE. we have no phones, no televisions, and lots of flashlights. notice, however, that we do have wireless internet. god bless this country.

normally, being in the middle of no where isn't an issue for me. i grew up in ARKANSAS. and, more so than that, i grew up camping nearly every weekend (running water only, please). i didn't flinch when they told us there were no tv's or locks on the cabin doors (though my favorite jersey girl absolutely freaked out. there's nothing funnier than a jersey accent freaking out); i could dig it. who knows, i might even RELAX and SLEEP a bit during this 'retreat.'

well, this meeting actually started a few days before i got here, and, let me tell you, everyone else is REALLY RELAXED. so relaxed that they're VERY ready to get back to the cities they never really wanted to leave in the first place.

sample quotes overheard by the 'leaders' of the architecture profession:

"i don't want to drink port with old men"
"there are several architecture faculty i'd like to see nude"
"do you mind if i entertain you all the way home by reading my spam aloud?"
"good job. now there's going to be a bear who gets gum stuck between his balls"
"we're about two nights away from campfire songs"
"i'm SO GOD DAMN WELL RESTED"


10.27.2005

borf is alive in boston!







10.26.2005

perhaps it's just the rain

I'm weary to the bone, and it seems like every day is like this. True, I'm traveling - right now at the cleveland airport, on my way back to dc from boston, only to turn around tomorrow for a several day trip to montana. But it's more than that, and I can't put my finger on it. Work is engaging and inspiring, the brisk wind of fall keeps my mind clear, and home is cozy, but something isn't quite right. I feel like I could sleep for days.

10.21.2005

i guess that bastard* was right

apparently "it's only a matter of time" meant "it's only matter of time until someone steals your fucking* bike"

motherfuckers*

it was chained to a post. i wasn't even being irresponsible. IT WAS MY BIKE! MINE!

i feel so violated.

*yes, i've been cursing more on my blog. it's my blog. i can do that.

10.13.2005

that's right...

not only was today my last day at work, but now I'm sitting on a train updating my blog from my NEW BLACKBERRY!

10.12.2005

the life of an urban biker

as referenced in a previous blog entry (i'm too lazy to look it up and link it), i've started riding my bike to work every day. granted, i've been traveling a lot lately, but i still ride my bike to work most of the time (also, in the interest of full disclosure, it's MUCH easier/faster for me to bike to work than it is for me to walk and/or take the metro).

i ride down one of the busiest streets in DC every day. it's streaming with busses and traffic and is 5 lanes and is a nightmare to maneuver. i often get into fights with car drivers because IN DC BIKERS HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO TAKE THE LANE. i don't have road rage, i simply KNOW THE LAW.

so yesterday, in typical trinity fashion, i angled my arm out to the side and took the left lane in preparation for a turn. the driver behind me yelled "it's only a matter of time!" to which i responded by nearly breaking out into tears. and i wasn't even pms'ing! it really bothered me! asshole.

so i made up for it this morning. while making my usual transition from h street to new york street, this car started honking at me pretty incessantly. i looked back a few times with an angry glare thinking the whole time that the BIKER IN DC HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE THE LANE, but she wouldn't stop. to make matters worse i HADN'T EVEN TAKEN THE LANE, i was pretty much ON the sidewalk. so, of course, when i passed her later i yelled into her open window 'what good did that do you, you stupid bitch'

it's only a matter of time...

10.10.2005

i forgot where i was going with this...

in all of my bragging yesterday (sorry about that. i get carried away sometimes), i forgot the real reason i was writing.

to pick up where i left off:

so, i was an avid athlete in high school. i had solid 6pack abs and loved every minute of it (oh, shit, i forgot i was going to stop the bragging). needless to say, i was unable to keep up with this routine in architecture school, and i slowly slipped into bad habits of eating junk food and not working out (and not washing my hair and not wearing makeup and not sleeping, but that's beside the point). i never "worked out" in high school (except lifting weights for track. and doing situps and pushups for track. i used to have to do 200 inclined situps a day during pole vaulting season. shit. that bragging thing again.), i simply went to practice. i'd say that's been the hardest transition for me - going from the mentality of doing something i love to do to doing something because it's good for me and i probably should. there were times in college when i would stick to a workout routine (like when candi (hi candi!) and i used to go running every morning at 6:45 in rome. jena (hi jena!) went running with us for awhile. until she threw her shoes away) and other times when i would sit at home and eat rice crispy treats (i LOVE rice crispy treats). through most of college my weight stayed pretty steady (around 10lbs more than my high school weight), but weight isn't really the issue. i'm more concerned with being healthy and feeling good.

fastforward to now. this last year was really tough on me. i was traveling constantly, working out sporadically, and eating REALLY good food at nearly every meeting i went to. i felt tired most of the time and just generally blah. breaking my ankle put another damper on fitness, as i went nearly 10 months not physically being able to run (and i, sickeningly, LOVE to run).

so, i've resolved to get back into shape. i mean REALLY get back into shape. i'm talking 6pack into shape. i'm running again, lifting weights, eating healthy, and it feels great. well, it FELT great. until yesterday. deciding to take it up a notch, i thought it would be a good idea to run up and down 14 flights of stairs for 30 minutes (and if you make a SINGLE comment about how i broke my ankle, i'll kill you). i'm so sore today that i can hardly walk. this is like 'first day of soccer practice sore' or 'first time learning a back twisting lay-out sore.' i'm REALLY fucking sore. =(

10.09.2005

warning: incessant bragging masked as reminiscing ahead

most of my loyal readers know i was once an avid athlete. i wear this title as a badge of honor, and i rarely let an opportunity to tell others about my athletic history pass. i'm not sure why i still feel the need to be so competitive about past feats, but it's who i am, and i'm not really interested in changing that.

back in the days, i was a soccer player, a gymnast, and a competitive track athlete (i was also a cheerleader for a time, but please don't hold that against me). i still don't know how i juggled these sports, my grades, and a social life (oh wait, i didn't have that last one), but i'm fairly certain it had to do with the fact that my parents never once suggested that i get an after-school job. thanks guys.

since the gymnastics facility was an hour away from my house, there were many days each week when i wouldn't get home until after 10pm, only to have a load of homework in front of me. seems like soccer practices, games, and track meets were the same way, but i could probably still do the gymnastics drive with my eyes closed. i'm sure i'd still instinctively slow down around dubach, la to avoid the inevitable cop car sitting in the carwash parking lot. the most vivid memory of this life is not the time first time i scored a hat trick or landed my first layout stepout on the balance beam or qualified for state in the pole vault. nope, the most vivid memory is the taste of salt streaming off my face after the first blast of a cold water shower. but, hold on: i must add this - that game where i scored a hat trick in front of a home crowd WAS the game when i knew the relationship with my high school sweetheart was over. after the game, i ran out of the locker room estatic to see him, only to be greeted by 'wait here for just a second' and to see him walk past me to talk to my DAD! it wasn't 'hey, let's go meet your dad, i need to tell him something. it was 'you stay here, and i'll go talk to your dad and come back to get you when i get done.' THAT was a healthy relationship.

10.08.2005

yours is the only version of my desertion that I could ever subscribe to

it all started innocently enough. michael picked me up from the airport in memphis in december of 2002. i was returning from half a year in europe, and christmas was two days away. i was able to sleep on my flight from rome to newark, but a six hour layover there had me pretty wiped out. we began the 5 hour drive from memphis at around 7pm in the formidable acura legend. he presented me with a cinnamon roll at the airport, assuming i would be hungry and that i liked cinnamon rolls - neither of which turned out to be true. i think he secretly wanted that cinnamon roll. but that's neither here nor there.

my love affair with interpol began that night. we listened to 'turn on the bright lights' the entire way home (all the way through each time, incase you're wondering). the music is dark, moody, and stunning. themes range from love to loneliness to infidelity, and it's aching without being emo. it screams of a cold new york winter, and i can't get it out of my head. three years later, i can safely say, without being crass, it's my favorite album.

interpol . pda

template problems

my template only seems to display correctly on internet explorer (everyone's favorite browser!), so unless someone can help me get this to work with mozilla and safari, i'm going to be forced to switch back to an older blog format. =(

10.06.2005

he's a martyr with a wide rope

i've been awfully bored lately. my music has gotten boring, my workout routine has gotten boring, the tv shows i like have gotten boring: things just aren't that interesting around here. i started last week digging up my old music and reliving the first few years of architecture school. pavement's 'i need to sleep' was practically my theme song during de noble's studio in second year. i would listen to it over and over again while building models well into the night.

speaking of, err, i mean not to change the subject completely, but i've got a little beef with this whole 'being married' thing. it's great, don't get me wrong, but our methods of listening to music totally clash, and his is wrong. there's a right way and a wrong way to listen to music, and mine is right (of course). michael INSISTS on always listening to music IN ORDER. he wants to listen to a CD from the very first song to the very last song, and doesn't like listening to it if even one song has a skip or something. before itunes, he didn't even like to listen to burnt cd's. GET OVER IT, HONEY. i, for one, like to listen to the same song over and over and over again. i could listen to the same song 15 times if it's what i was in the mood for. also, my itunes and ipod are ALWAYS on shuffle (that is, if it isn't on repeat to hear the same song over and over and over again); i rarely ever listen to a cd all the way through (who has the patience for that?).

i listened to this song about 20 times while cleaning the kitchen a few days ago (yes, it took me about an hour to clean the kitchen, and no, michael wasn't home. do you really think he would have let me listen to a song that many times? or clean the kitchen for an hour without trying to distract me?).

shannon wright . william's alabama

10.04.2005

wait for it... wait for it...

i gave my resignation at work yesterday.

i know.

it's crazy.

but, trinity, you just started your new job.

i know.

and you wrote the job description.

i know.

i got the most incredible job offer, and i couldn't turn it down. and things weren't working out like i thought they would at my current job. the details aren't really important; what's important is that i'm really happy and excited to start my new job in two weeks.

what will you be doing in your new job?

well, i'll be working for a non-profit that is federally funded by the national endowment for the arts. the group works with mayors and design professionals to help mayors make educated, informed decisions regarding city planning in their communities. it's a really small office, so i'll be doing a little bit of everything (when i start, we'll have two people). i can't wait.

10.02.2005

stay tuned for a big announcement tomorrow...

it seems as though there is a building across from mine that's on fire right now. i can't tell for sure, but there's some pretty thick black smoke billowing out of it right now (i know, i know, you're thinking that i've gotten really desperate for blog entries if i'm tuning in to write about a building that's on fire. you're pretty much right). we don't have renter's insurance. a fire would suck. it smells like rice crispy treats in here.

last week in san antonio, i was in a sound drunken sleep at around 2:00am when the fire alarm started blaring. being in the sound drunken sleep i was in, it took a good minute to figure out what the hell the noise was. my sound logic told me it was the alarm clock, but after banging on that for another minute, realizing there must be fault in that logic, i eyed the smoke detector. next thing i know, i'm standing on the bed, pounding on the smoke detector, trying to rip it out of the wall. that must have been the official point that i 'woke up' because i decided right then that this MUST be a false alarm, so i crawled back into bed and put a pillow over my head. i think i went back to sleep before the alarm stopped.

10.01.2005

central park at dusk