tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-129696002011-11-13T02:35:16.407-08:00The garbled musings of just another expat overseasE.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.comBlogger561100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1990675412338074952011-08-17T02:28:00.001-07:002011-08-17T03:16:47.236-07:00

So, New Zealand has been hit with a so-called once in a lifetime "blizzard" this week. I had to gently point out, being a former Baltimorean after all, that that term has a specific and meteorological meaning and so probably does not mean what they think it means. Still, it's cute. Everyone's freaked out and theatres have been closing early and the mail has, literally, not run for three days.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-51528193579389951242011-08-08T05:36:00.001-07:002011-08-17T03:04:51.951-07:00

Okay, lookit. I am more than a little bit crazy. Way more than a little bit. At times in my life, this has been treated pharmaceutically. But most often not. These days, I choose to manage my own crazy behaviorally for a lot of reasons. The primary reason is that managing my bad crazy with drugs ends up managing my good crazy along with it, which I am not cool with. It makes me flatlined.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-17514313690189343362011-08-03T01:42:00.000-07:002011-08-03T03:07:53.576-07:00

I am currently living out a scene from When Harry Met Sally in my own life right now - the one where the couple moving in have a fight about the wagon wheel table.Only I'm not living that fight at all because there would be no fight. That table was awesome and that lady was crazy. In fact, I have spent most of my adult life looking for a wagon wheel table for my own house. And a discarded,

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-45060332012636343172011-02-09T23:59:00.000-08:002011-02-10T00:54:39.894-08:00

One of the reasons that I update this blog so infrequently is because my life is consumed by my job most days and I can't talk about my job. I actually cannot. I have clearance.No, really. If I were going to tell you about my day, it would go something like this:First thing this morning I got a briefing back from the Minister on [censored]. So I phoned the private secretary for the Minister

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-65861298791702871452011-02-05T23:25:00.000-08:002011-02-06T00:48:10.581-08:00

Today, I completed the first step in my application to become a New Zealand resident. Here in New Zealand, residence is a multi-step process that broadly resembles an interaction between two schoolyard children with a crush on each other. First, you have to make an 'expression of interest' where you basically stare at the ground and toe the dirt and say, "uh yeah, so, I mean, I kind of want to

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-61196884120380892952010-09-14T02:59:00.001-07:002010-09-14T03:34:51.830-07:00

So, I've been trying to wrap my head around the Christchurch earthquake for over a week now. It's amazing. I've never been anywhere near earthquakes, so I've never seen anything like it. The ground is literally ripped open. Rivers and railroad tracks completely re-routed. Brick buildings have utterly collapsed. The others are leaning. Liquefaction (best word ever, btw) has caused the

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-3364882386801523152010-09-11T06:58:00.000-07:002010-09-11T07:01:05.166-07:00

Nine years ago today, my starkest memory is of being huddled in my downtown DC apartment waiting for the unaccounted plane to crash into the big, white house four blocks away from me. And trying to get a phone line to call my mother. Later, I went to the Front Page to gather with the other DC loners who didn't have family and were, like me, trapped inside the city center. We silently watched

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1228871733359522412010-09-04T01:06:00.000-07:002010-09-04T01:42:56.095-07:00

I went to the grocery store today and everybody was freaking out, buying mass quantities of bottled water and batteries. Never mind how far Wellington is from Christchurch (though reports are that the quake was felt up here).I guess these things just bring home how unprepared we all are for the 'big one' and how it could happen to any one of us. This latter point is not just hypothetical or

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-86891305150727549292010-02-21T19:49:00.000-08:002010-02-21T01:01:14.298-08:00

I never thought I would find myself in a position to ponder the etiquette of throwing one's panties at an icon, and yet here I am.As with many things, I have approached it as a policy analyst. After some consultation (read: girls sitting around a bottle of wine), I have teased out the following general principles:Number one, and this should (but sadly does not) go without saying - They should

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-90361379211667947122010-02-13T00:07:00.000-08:002010-02-13T02:47:31.171-08:00

Oh, Valentines Day, my old nemesis. I have a long and tortured history of truly terrible Valentines Days. Maybe it's karma. Maybe Cupid shot me with an arrow some years ago and I retaliated by cutting him because I'm a street smart city girl. Who knows? What I do know is that it sucks almost every year.Last year was relatively uneventful, but only because I was in hiding after a New Years

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-19606602235237790532010-02-12T02:21:00.001-08:002010-02-12T02:40:45.682-08:00

So I was out for a chat with the girls and the conversation turned to my Dad. In particular one of my good friends was thanking me for a bit of wisdom that my Dad imparted to me and I imparted to her and she has since imparted to others.And then we got talking in general about my Dad - his life and his death and how I went through it all. Surprisingly, it was a really good talk. Productive.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-79755053660039465472010-01-20T01:06:00.000-08:002010-01-20T01:49:12.579-08:00

The recent Massachusetts senatorial election is why I'm not moving home. Not because of the result, although I am disappointed. But because of the dialogue.... and the vitriol. On both sides. Those that won are congratulating themselves and gloating, those that lost are crying that it's the end of the world, and the whole country is split down the middle. No, that's not right. The country's

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-44640884608784962782010-01-16T22:43:00.000-08:002010-01-17T01:43:06.440-08:00

There is an old adage that says you should dance like nobody is watching. I say screw that. You should dance like EVERYbody is watching. And then work it. *snap*No matter where I am, I like to dance like it's Live at the Apollo and the audience includes the Queen, Elton John, Bill Clinton, James Brown, Marily McCoo, Randy Jackson, Debbie Allen and the late Michael Jackson. I like to think my

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-76219352968852505452010-01-03T23:22:00.000-08:002010-01-04T00:05:05.138-08:00

So I am putting together my list of resolutions. Since I am late to the party and doing this on the 4th, I decided to add 'cleaning out my dresser drawers and refolding and reorganising my clothes' since I did that on the 3rd and can therefore check that off the list. See? I'm already ahead of the game!That process inevitably let to a culling of clothes that have in the past year become '

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-42978957702372275562010-01-02T22:51:00.000-08:002010-01-04T00:12:52.162-08:00

As I look toward 2K10, I can't help but reflect on the year - or even the decade - that was. I always thought that 2008 would live in infamy as the Worst Year Ever, having been punctuated by the cruel occasion known as the Note Incident of Aught Eight. If you'd asked me a year ago, I would have said it would be hard to top coming home from work to find your live-in boyfriend had left without

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-36633072916801875962009-12-21T23:52:00.000-08:002009-12-22T00:15:11.074-08:00

So, Christmas alone in New Zealand. This will actually be my first Christmas completely alone.Last year, I went camping with my partner... and hundreds of other people. (The relationship ended abruptly thereafter, due in no small part to the aforementioned camping and my disdain for same.)The year before, I had just arrived in New Zealand to follow my heart after another broken soul and the

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-9003668842783122042009-12-18T14:21:00.000-08:002009-12-18T14:46:33.659-08:00

A cynic's views on Bob Carlisle's Christmas 'classic' Christmas Shoes:1. My mother was sick when I was a little girl and, by all accounts, I was never dirty from head to toe.* Look, kid, I know you're going through a rough time, but there's no excuse for poor hygiene. 2. I don't think Jesus cares if your mom shows up barefoot. Really. He spent a lot of time barefoot. He understands.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-6900815225157765122009-12-07T23:55:00.000-08:002009-12-08T00:15:32.677-08:00

So, recently I was having a debate about handicapped toilets and, in particular, whether one is required to avoid using the handicapped toilet if one is not disabled. Now, there seems to be a consensus that, if a line is present, obviously you yield to the disabled person to use the handicapped toilet. The stickier issue is when no one else is around. Do you go ahead and bask in the roomy

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-83759525459591222492009-11-21T23:35:00.000-08:002009-11-21T23:51:28.945-08:00

You never know where a blog is going to lead. Or how much you're going to reveal. This one started as a tether to connect me with family and friends when I moved overseas. To share funny experiences and keep in touch.Then my Dad died and the content of what I was willing to share on the internet changed. It became more personal. Sometimes I just need to write and have it read, even if it

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-56893513085571412222009-10-09T23:42:00.000-07:002009-10-10T00:05:21.648-07:00

Ok, neither of those things is true. But it's difficult to find song lyrics that represent 'I was born in an economically challenged neighbourhood in one of America's largest cities, but later moved to a succession of small towns and communities...'Anyway, Baltimore has a number of nicknames. Charm City is only one of them. The other is Smalltimore. So named because, apparently, you can't

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-57502873264421650922009-10-02T21:41:00.000-07:002009-10-02T21:48:55.175-07:00

I think I should rename this blog, 'Observations of a Woman in her 30s'. Or 'Cane Shaking'. Because what I really want to talk about is what the young kids are wearing these days. If I could give one bit of advice, surprisingly it would not be to avoid crazy 'out there' clothes. Cause Lord knows I loves me some 'out there' clothing. No, it would be this: Know Your Body.Today, I came across

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-76048322843932587472009-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:002009-10-02T21:39:20.769-07:00

My employer has just issued me a Blackberry, which I will need in my new assignment. It feels a little bit like a Brand New Service Revolver. I'm also slightly worried I have come full circle back to the life I left behind in the States, tied to an electronic tether. Still, it is shiny....Of course, I can't talk at all on the internet about what I will be doing, as per usual. Suffice it to

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-65398725160144766542009-07-27T01:33:00.001-07:002009-07-27T02:29:27.152-07:00

So, I'm currently in the process of my first yearly review since I began my public service adventure is Godzone. I say 'in the process' because the yearly public service review is no simple exercise. Oh no. It takes weeks. Months. There are charts and guidelines and competencies and some sort of moderation process that I still don't quite understand.This is a new one on me. For all it's

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-87391755846372917512009-07-04T01:39:00.000-07:002009-07-04T02:16:16.924-07:00

I'm going to change my last name to Henderson. Because I need a mean old lady name and there never was a Mean Ole Miss Johnson.Yes, that's right. I've become an old lady. A Mean Ole Lady. And not just because certain body parts are shifting their altitude (though they are, sadly).It all started today when I was catching the bus to go into town (and I had to run for it, mind, you'd think the

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-9301870664066529842009-06-29T01:45:00.000-07:002009-06-29T02:10:38.118-07:00

Or, as I now like to call her, Ophelia. Mischievous, vindictive and a little bit mental...You see, since moving to New Zealand, I have really come to appreciate the sheer force and relentless power of Mother Nature. Did you hear that, Mother Nature? I GET IT. All hail your power and glory and bow beneath your will. Point taken. You can relent now.It's hard to describe to Americans what it's

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-21507625790585422852009-06-05T16:06:00.000-07:002010-02-13T02:31:02.314-08:00

Alright, so pictures normally go in the other blog, but this one is about life in New Zealand and this picture so totally sums up life in New Zealand that I could not resist.I took this picture on the sly because, even after a year and a half here, I cannot believe that this is acceptable behaviour.This was taken on Queen Street in the busy central business district in Auckland. For the

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-72444571556536592022009-05-31T22:01:00.000-07:002009-06-05T01:23:11.503-07:00

To Erin (age 24)This morning you are trying on your graduation dress and freaking out about being a size 6 instead of a size 4. Just like you did when you went from size 2 to 4 and from size 0 to 2. I wish I could convince you to save yourself the trouble and tell you it's a waste of time. First of all, you're still too thin. You can't see that now, but someday you'll look back on the

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-60484938643989954592009-05-15T02:10:00.000-07:002009-05-15T03:51:44.110-07:00

The Human Rights Film Festival has come once again to Wellington, and since my entire job revolves around human rights (it's even in my title), I think I'm pretty much duty bound to go. More than once.The first film was about the restriction of free speech among journalists in Belarus after the 1994 elections, which is an awesome topic, but was told from a biased point of view, never found its

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-20158829786896427052009-05-05T04:20:00.001-07:002009-06-05T16:00:08.292-07:00

Today I had to go down to get some passport photos taken to lodge yet another immigration application in my ongoing saga. And of course, like most things in New Zealand, this was not a straightforward process and I ended up having to kill time for 35 minutes (!!) waiting for my passport photos. So, I did what I do and went to the local department store to collect things that I "need". You know

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-6782182264461208962009-04-23T01:54:00.000-07:002009-04-23T03:22:15.846-07:00

I have recently been looking at photos of an Easter gathering that my mother posted on Facebook. I know. World's colliding. There are many who cautioned me against friending my mother on Facebook. They are of the same ilk as those who cautioned me against friending my co-workers and exes. I didn't listen to them, either. I lived for two and a half years on Gilligan's Island in a community

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-40705749096241196342009-04-20T04:38:00.001-07:002009-04-20T04:39:59.536-07:00

So I recently went to Auckland for a conference for work and my first impression was that the weather is so good it’s easy to forget what a soul-destroying city it is. And the inhabitants there walk down the street carefree, completely oblivious to how good they have it, weather-wise, and how truly bad it could be.In Wellington, we are bonded by the persistently terrible weather, inextricably

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-41315130624863055162009-04-10T16:21:00.000-07:002009-04-11T03:59:49.758-07:00

So, the plague hit my office this week, in the form of a particularly deadly twenty-four hour stomach bug that swept through our open plan work environment like a tornado leaving a swath of destruction in its wake. Through this experience, I learned two valuable lessons: (1) I am never eating communal food again; and (2) my worst fear of Dying In The Shower While Living Alone is way less

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-81404091745133901602009-03-30T02:49:00.000-07:002009-03-30T03:01:29.166-07:00

As I do every year, I've gone back to my blog on my Dad's birthday to read the eulogy I wrote for him there, do a little wallowing and pour the virtual beer on the ground in his honour. While I was there, I decided to poke around at old entries and reminisce. Good times.By happenstance, this year against my better judgment I shared the blog with someone in Real Life, who is bugging me to start

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-37178417769086459392007-04-20T03:13:00.000-07:002009-03-30T03:14:31.611-07:00

Well, there's no sense in hiding, I suppose.Welcome, Palauan expat community, to stalk my sparsely populated blog![For the unititiated back home, the blog is a common source of derision here on island and often mocked and ridiculed. Right now, Palau is embroiled in a great blog witchhunt, wherein internet sleuths have been smoking out bloggers from Malakal to North Beach. Recently discovered

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-89552006766951963312007-02-27T03:15:00.000-08:002009-03-30T03:16:22.648-07:00

Alright, it’s been a year since the Hat Trick Of Senseless Tragedy (the deaths, they do come in threes) and, in honor of that, I shall populate the blog so the recent entries aren’t all year-old eulogies.Last week, I was prepping for a big prostitution trial that ultimately got continued, so I was sent at the very last minute to Auckland, New Zealand, for a conference on avian influenza and the

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-33734440227275869682006-09-13T03:17:00.000-07:002009-03-30T03:18:32.645-07:00

The front page of last Friday’s paper bore my favorite headline so far of my time in Palau:“Machete wielding lawyer threatens PRA.”What makes it most awesome is that, apparently, it is true. According to reports, this past Labor Day, a government lawyer became so frustrated with a downed computer server that he grabbed his machete, walked into the computer store and threatened to cut off the

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-89759009543262997412006-09-05T03:19:00.000-07:002009-03-30T03:19:59.566-07:00

One year, by the numbers:Months in Palau: 13.5Months overdue for a “year in review post”: 1.5Dives: 91Near death diving experiences: 2Life-changing diving experiences: those 2 plus a good handful of non-mortal divesDiving-related injuries: scores of bruises, but no broken bones or holes in my lungs (yet)Non-diving-related injuries: 2 broken toes and a flesh-eating bacteria (unrelated)Pounds lost:

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-89880147349475175862006-06-07T03:20:00.000-07:002010-02-13T05:02:00.573-08:00

Well, it’s been over a month. I suppose it’s time.My father died on April 27, 2006, finally succumbing to a years-long battle with early onset Alzheimers. He was diagnosed when I was just out of law school, though he’d been deteriorating substantially for two years before that. For years after that it took his wit, his memories and his speech until he was just a shell in a chair. After having

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-47605219995762173392006-03-21T03:22:00.000-08:002009-03-30T03:23:45.049-07:00

In the screenplay of my life, there will be a scene in which I attend the memorial service for my uncle, my mother’s youngest brother, who died tragically close to my stepfather, their demises separated by only five days. And while we are sitting on the deck trying to forget why we are there, the widow, my aunt, will ask me too casually how my father is doing. And against all protocol and social

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-23681307153481545292006-03-16T03:24:00.000-08:002009-03-30T03:28:00.388-07:00

R.I.P. Ronald J. GrossAugust 26, 1949 - February 18, 2006Many of you know this already, but my stepfather died on February 18, 2006. My greatest condolence in all of this is that I had the opportunity to be there with my mother when it happened.My mother and Ron met too few short years ago. He was my stepfather, even before they made an honest woman of her, but he always knew his role. Even

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-27382757220913672322006-01-01T03:33:00.000-08:002009-03-30T03:36:16.371-07:00

So, long time no updates. Lots has happened, including the holidays and the requisite bottom-level depression accompanying being 10,000 miles from home listening to Christmas carols on your iPod.In answer to multiple emails, yes there is Christmas in Palau. It’s actually a very conservative and religious society in which gangs of SDA, Baptist and Mormon missionaries duke it out on the streets

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1124417300757091012005-08-18T19:06:00.000-07:002005-08-18T19:08:20.763-07:00

ATTENTION! Due to the difficulty posting to blogger from Palau, I've moved the blog to:honinterrupted.baltiblogs.comCome on over.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1124087528723375672005-08-15T14:53:00.001-07:002005-08-14T23:32:08.723-07:00

Grrr. See? See what I mean?Trying again with a link that works and the correct date, I've had to give up on blogger, at least while I'm in Palau, because the pages never load and I can't edit my posts or delete extraneous ones and the pictures now won't post at all now unless I link from somewhere else. I'm sure this has nothing to do with blogger - if anything, it's too good and complicated

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1124087136906274062005-08-15T14:53:00.000-07:002005-08-14T23:25:36.913-07:00

See? See what I mean? Blogger is maddening. Trying again, the new site is Hon, Interrupted.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1124064528753523602005-08-15T09:05:00.000-07:002005-08-14T17:08:48.760-07:00

Yesterday was my Palauan monthiversary and I can tell you that if Ihad a nickel for all of the things I wish I had known about beforecoming out here, well, then that huge paycut I took wouldn't be nearlyso bad. Hell, make it a dollar a pop – it'll enable me to live thelifestyle to which I would like to become accustomed.Take shoes: I wish that I hadn't spent all that money on closed-toe,

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1124086455366880462005-08-14T14:53:00.000-07:002005-08-14T23:14:15.370-07:00

OK, folks. I have given up (temporarily) on blogger. It won't load here and now it's stopped posting pictures for me.So, until I can get it resolved, please check out the NEW Hon, Interrupted. The picture quality of somewhat suspect, though I think that may have more to do with operator malfunction than with the site. I'll keep you updated if it moves again, folks.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1123572190508762072005-08-09T16:19:00.000-07:002005-08-09T00:23:10.516-07:00

So, my mother has commanded that I update more frequently. And you don’t want to disobey 5 foot, three and a half inches of pure mettle. Not unless you want to set yourself up for a guilt trip the likes of which has been unrivaled in modern times. (Think Mary to Jesus: “Oh, so Mr. Big Shot’s got time to part the seas and doesn’t have time to visit his own mother. No, don’t worry about me.

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1122872063624836252005-08-01T13:51:00.000-07:002005-07-31T21:54:23.633-07:00

I keep coming back to blogger, wanting to post but unsure where to begin. I had every intention of chronicling my twenty-four hour journey across the globe because, before I left, it seemed like such a big deal. 24 hours! 4 separate legs! 15,0000 miles! But I didn’t chronicle it, for a number of reasons. First, I had delusions that the coach seating on an international flight would be

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1121750104111530892005-07-19T13:58:00.000-07:002005-07-18T23:47:43.270-07:00

You know that saying: Friends help you move; real friends help you move a body. Well, whoever said it first got it totally backwards. Because moving a body only takes one trip.It’s been a solid week since moving and I can say that if I never have to lift another thing ever again, it’ll be too soon. Of course, my boxes of crap’ll be arriving shortly, so…You know, when you make a move like this

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1120158338812638092005-06-30T12:01:00.000-07:002005-06-30T12:17:55.516-07:00

Attention. For those of you that like to believe I am a successful and confident woman completely in charge of her life and emotions, content in the fact that she is about to begin her thirties in earnest on the adventure of a lifetime, well, you can just move on along. No post to read here. Go look at McSweeney’s or something.I must ask though, have me met? Are you sure you don’t have me

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1119933243912359132005-06-27T20:47:00.000-07:002005-06-27T21:38:02.310-07:00

Damn. I'm supposed to be updating to preserve the pre-move for prosperity. So, how do I feel about my upcoming journey? In a word: Overwhelmed. In another word: Terrified.But good terrified, you know? Like the kind of terrified I imagine skydivers get right before they jump. Of course, you'll never catch me jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, so I wouldn't know.And also, if I'm

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1118689477851002692005-06-13T11:12:00.000-07:002005-06-13T12:08:40.486-07:00

Today marks the "less than one month" point in our countdown to Palau. Terrifying. I should probably be packing or something right now, but I'm not. Inertia will be the death of me.There's been a lot of crying lately. I fear my new adventure has rendered me an emotional cripple. Or, perhaps just a tender soul with a penchant for hyperbole. Potato, po-tah-to.In the last week, I have cried about my

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1116344212774857682005-06-01T08:36:00.000-07:002005-06-17T09:11:58.163-07:00

Well, I told my mom about the blog, which is surely the first sign of the apocalypse. Her only reaction is "what does 'hon' mean?" And it was then that I realized truly how long I'd been in Baltimore (even if the calendar only says two years) and how much it has infected my soul. In a good way.Trying to pin down a definition of a "hon" is like trying to catch a moonbeam in your hand.According

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1118685787186620702005-05-27T22:51:00.000-07:002005-06-13T11:04:33.456-07:00

It’s when I'm sitting on an airplane on my way to Las Vegas for the long weekend that I start to remember how much I hate flying. Really. Right now, the 20-bajillion-hour flight from Baltimore to Palau looms large and menacing on my horizon.The truth is, I probably hate being bored more than I hate flying, per se. I hate being cooped up and cramped and unable to cross my legs because airline

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-1117149529752769842005-05-26T16:08:00.000-07:002005-06-15T15:23:37.630-07:00

Well, thus commences my chronicle of the journey of a lifetime. I'm picking up everything I own (that I haven't or am not giving away) and moving, literally, across the world to live in the South Pacific. Palau, to be exact.The crazy, she runs in my family.I thought I'd wait until I got there to start. You know, use this space for my family and friends to keep up with the doings. But hell. Whose

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12969600.post-46986998602526916712001-02-13T02:00:00.000-08:002011-08-17T03:19:28.750-07:00

What some don't realise is that every blog title is a song lyric, or group of lyrics, that have some relevance (however tenuous) to the subject of the post. I don't know why, it's just a thing a I do. Most of them I know by heart; I have only occasionally had to resort to Google to express myself through song. By request, I have started providing the sources. 17 August 2011 - Walking in a

E.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08662156176309620254noreply@blogger.com0