I’s (getting) married now!

Squeeeee worthy? I think so.

To save you all from the deluge of wedding ideas that I want to share, I’ve created a new tumblr specifically for these thoughts. Follow if you like to read about wedding-y stuff.

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First thing I need to do is stop writing this blog post and walk myself to Home Depot (I have no car plus its only a half mile away) to get something to kill the insects in this place. There are at least 3 kinds of spiders and some kind of small brown thing that I can’t identify. This does not please me and they all need to be vanquished before I can begin putting my furniture together.

Oh the furniture. I love Ikea, I really do, but I hate putting their stuff together. I may be alone in this but I prefer instructions with words that accompany the pictures. Somehow reading “put this thing into that thing then tighten the screws after everything is all done” works better for me than one picture with a couple arrows indicating motion. Luckily when I’ve decided something needs to be done, I’m very tenacious about it. I’ve decided that my apartment will be “done” by the end of this weekend so come hell or high water, it will be. If its not, well, the Astronaut will be here on Friday and he can put the rest of this crap together. (Only partially kidding here.)

Speaking of the Astronaut visiting, this will be his first time coming to California, ever. Pressure much? I barely know this area but I will attempt to show him a good time. One of the things that I’m definitely doing is taking him to the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico. I told the parents we’d stop by so they could meet him (this terrifies me in many ways) so we’ll hang out in Yuba for a bit then head up. Outside of that, I’m at a loss for what to do while he’s here. I know we’re going to see Tropic Thunder and do the obligatory tour of the workplace but *shrug* after that. I suck at planning these sorts of things. The Astronaut is lucky in that he has a really close knit group of friends to help him plan for my visits. His best friend (the Admiral) has even suggested we go watch horses run around in circles for my next visit. Joy!

Since it is now 9 am, its probably best I get this day started. Stay tuned for the pics of the completed apartment.

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It’s done.

My year and a half sentence in NYC is coming to a close. I’ll be out of here in less than 3 weeks, on my way to sunny California. To answer the question I know at least 2 of you are asking, yes, I’ll be a the same company doing nearly the same job.

Moving on, I just signed the lease on a place in Sunnyvale and hello, I will have a yard. I haven’t had a yard since 2003 so this is a big deal for me. I plan to fully go overboard with my yard so if you ever stop by, be prepared to see a bunch of solar powered lanterns, a hammock, and perhaps a tacky fountain. Oh yeah.

Since I’m doing this move mostly on my own, I’ve opted to sell almost all my stuff, send some boxes via UPS ground (mostly clothes and books) and anything else will go on the plane with me. I figure this way the move will be clean start in California (plus I’m pretty over these leather couches).

I will miss some things about New York, to be sure. In the spirit of ridiculous linkbait top ten lists, here are the top 10 things I will miss about New York.

10. Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery (love the frosting and what is a cupcake but a frosting delivery mechanism?)
9. Burp Castle (the one place I can go and drink the “beer” on tap)
8. Google NYC (arguably the best Google office in existence)
7. No vehicle expenses (not looking forward to the car payment+insurance payment)
6. Kati Roll (mmm Unda Aloo roll)
5. Broadway (I’ve only been to one Broadway play but I will likely come back here a few times to view more)
4. The Acela to the MD/DC area (for undisclosed reasons)
3. Mass transit to get anywhere
2. NYOPS (Viva La Kaiser!)
1. New York pizza slices

I’d write a list about things I will not miss about NYC but that would take up the entire time I have left here and I still need to pack.

For the last 8 or 9 years, the computer lover has been at the forefront. I’ve immersed myself in technology, gadgets, and the internet and had a blast of a time doing it, meeting some people and influencing some lives along the way. However, true immersion comes at the cost of losing a bit of ones self and for sure and certain, I lost the bookworm. Oh, I’d listen to my audiobooks and read the random best seller I picked up in the airport but it wasn’t the same. When I was a real bookworm, my library card showed frequent stamps since I was checking out books at least once a week, often twice a week. I used to wake up dead tired in the morning for school because I’d stayed up until 2 am reading a book under the covers. There was a point in my life where I used to get yelled at by my mom for using all the hot water after losing track of time while reading a book in the shower.

Anyway, it seemed all that faded away as I became more engrossed with computing and the intarwebs.

Until this evening.

Tonight I got on the train to come home at about 8:30pm (post TGIAF shenanigans kept me at the office until that hour). I opened my Kindle cover, did the ALT+Home thing (that still seems so awkward) and continued where I’d left off in my book. I’d been reading that book while I was walking the halls at work, on the train ride to work, sitting in the DMV, and on the train ride to the DMV. When I got home around 9pm, I continued reading my book while laying on my bed with a cool breeze coming through the window. Aside from the sound of the fan oscillating, the occasional car door slamming, and the “ice cream” (I use that term loosely as well) man, there were no other sounds. When I got up to take a biobreak, I checked the clock on my cable box in the living room and realized 3 hours had passed.

Let me explain the gravity of that. I got home and didn’t turn on or touch a computer for 3 hours. If you know me well, you know this is unheard of. The last time I did that was the night…wait I actually don’t remember the last time I did that. Tonight though, I sat back, relaxed, and immersed myself in a book instead of a computer for 3 hours. Come to think of it, I’ve been spending a lot more time reading and a lot less time stressing or geeking out. I’ve bought and read 3 books in the last few weeks because its been so easy to do so. Finish one book, connect to the store, buy another book. Sure, I haven’t returned to my old book devouring pace but I can feel that part of myself coming back out and until 45 minutes ago, I was starting to forget that part of me even existed.

Thanks for that Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and whomever else was behind the Kindle.

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friday ketra and i went to see charlie and the chocolate factory after work. johnny depp? secsee. also, his portrayal of willy wonka was hilarious. kay? i would like to know why is it everytime i go to a movies premiere date the phipps plaza theatre that someone is always trying to make me take a survey. um hello survey people? people get paid to take surveys these days. you want me to rate the movie? then let me see it for free. otherwise take your survey and…well you get the point.

anywho, after the survey, i went straight to borders for the harry potter party. yes, i am a proud potthead. i was number 140, so sayeth my ticket, and on July 16 at 12:32 am, i was the proud owner of harry potter and the half blood prince. i also bought a pink bible and was very pleased about that as it was the first bible i purchased for myself. all my others had been given to me.

i spent all day saturday reading the hp, after having a small trauma about where to read it and what snacks to partake in. i wanted to go to piedmont park but since rain was forecast for the day, i decided on the queens chair (my oversized leather chair w/ ottoman) and i went on a snack run to kroger. cheese sticks, apples, pom’s, dried cranberries, and rice cakes later, i got home and settled into a good 8 hours of reading. well worth it, i might add. since the apt. complex pool party was on saturday i also got treated to some music during my read. thats where the daft punk came in. whoever dj’ed the party was good. why didn’t i go? what fun is going to a pool party by yourself? besides, i wasn’t up to being ogled on saturday and i also had a book to read.

sunday i spent doing laundry, cleaning, playing halo and watching spanglish which is an outstanding movie. OH! for all you woot’ers out there, i also got 3 BOC’s last night. woot!

so begins a new work week. i got my business cards today. now i can feel important when i meet people…not really. the birthday countdown continues on…12 more days. i’m so excited! all for now, later lovies.

…”You aren’t eligible to donate.” Um what? Why? Well because I was in Europe for more than 6 months between the years of 1980 and 1990, i could have possibly been exposed to some terrible outbreak of mad cow disease in Europe during that time period. i tell her i was on a military base and she politely points out the part of the webpage she was looking at that explicitly mentions people on military bases during that time frame.

oh.

so she gives me my indefintely ineligible to donate letter and sends me on my way. i didn’t expect to feel such disappointment at not being able to donate blood. i half felt like crying but i just frowned and went back to my desk. i really didn’t feel like working at that point so i went on my lunch break (btw, it will take all i have to stay away from the ben and jerry’s that just opened on windward parkway). so that was my disappointment for the day.

i saw 2 movies over the weekend…war of the worlds after i got off work on friday and the fantastic four on sunday with ketra. war of the worlds is out-friggin-standing. HOWEVER, i only recommend it to people who are able to think on a level outside of their norms. i’ve heard quite frequently from people that “the ending sucked” and “there should have been more comedy.” apparently people can’t handle a well written ending if it doesn’t end in standard movie ending (read: shallow) and they can’t stomach a movie that doesn’t make them laugh frequently (read: small-minded). not that theres anything TOO wrong with those things but it reminds me that i cannot take the word of other people when it comes to movie choices. the fantastic four was okay, standard hollywood flick, lots of action and laughs peppered with the struggling romance. it was fun eye candy but didn’t make me think.

okay, this is enough to read for now. 18 days till my birthday. will YOU be in atlanta on the 30th of july? if so drop a comment, i’ll shoot you an invite to the birthday dinner. no stalkers please, i’d like my birthday dinner to be fun and stress free. also, no guys (or girls for that matter, gotta put that out there when in atlanta) who want to be my date. i have one for that night already.

toodles peoples!

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Originally Posted by Brian
Erica, What motivated you to work in the computer field?

^that guy right there, the Tandy 1000 SL…I got it in 1987 (at 7 years old) for Christmas and that was all she wrote. My mom used to do combat plans and supply for the Air Force so she had to know BASIC and QBASIC which she taught to me. I dunno, I guess I just took to it and never let go.

I was always on a computer somewhere in school. In GT classes I always did the computer junk. Oregon Trail and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego were my applications of choice in 3rd grade. When I was 10, I got sent to this full week long HyperCard class so that I could come back and teach the entire 5th grade of my school how to use it. Of course it all went over their heads but it served to fuel my love of computers.

After putting together a newsletter for my school on the PC’s in GT in 6th grade, I was hooked, completely. I’d do all the typing test crap in the required computer classes and then when I was done in 10 minutes, I’d have 50 minutes left to tinker on the little Macs and tinker I did. Back then I knew those things inside and out. Funny how Apple had a hold over the education system, even then.

Anywho, as I got older I was always attached to a PC. I became the fix it girl for all my computer classes and even took a non-required zero hour (an hour before school really started) class to learn programming in high school. I also got into hacking/phreaking in high school too and almost got expelled for it but I won’t go into the details about that.

In college I majored in computer science, hated the programming, and switched to CIS. I got my associates degree and got hired by the University of Alaska Statewide after doing my internship there. I’ve been learning (picked up the whole web thing without classes) ever since. Next stop? Going back to what I love the most about computers and technology…InfoSec.

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i got my shoes today that i’ve been hunting for like mad for the past month. wanna see em?

finding those bad boys in a size 11 was a complete TASK. luckily i did and they fit like a dream and i can’t wait to wear them somewhere…i just dunno where yet.

other good news…jelly belly makes sugar free gummy bears made with splenda. i bought a pack and i thought they were gonna be nasty. wrong. those things can rival haribo gummies man. they aren’t AS good but they sure as hell can give haribo’s a run for their money. oh y’all didn’t know about my gummy bear fixation? yet another thing to know about me.

even BETTER news…the Drewble fairy called Cingular and got my bill chopped in half. yay!!! i dunno HOW that works but i am not about to question it or complain.

i have been beckoned to halo, therefore i must end this entry.

i say good day sir!

have you ever taken a meyers-briggs test (clickable)? if so you know the whole classification system. i just took one again because i’m bored and i came up with the same thing i did in college…INTJ. which means I’m a Mastermind Rational (click for a description). take the test if you haven’t and see what you are.

i wanted to type more but don’t feel like it ATM. i’ll post again when i get home i guess.

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chick at the register is being fucking rude, talking on her cell phone (“giiiirl please”) while customers are trying to order. so, i hopped on the atlanta bread company website and sent them some feedback about my experience and about the “service.” now drinking my sweet tea, i’ve pressed send and atlanta bread company knows about my experience while i’m still sitting here.

i love technology.

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