25 March 2010

So Fresh and so Clean Clean

I am kind of a messy person.

I am not dirty, but I have trouble with the whole neatness thing. It has taken me years to accept this, but...well, there it is. Anyone who knows me probably knows this...I had a very messy room as a kid, as a teen, as a college student...my desk at work often looks like a hurricane passed through, and my home often has little piles of stuff here and there. This is my norm, and within these constructs, I am super organized. I know where things are, I know which pile has what, and can usually find things in a timely manner (except keys...and my credit card). I do my best to keep this mess as neat as possible, an oxymoron, I know, but...

Since moving into my place, I have tried hard to keep things clean. This is often hard to do, with the little piles of magazines and what nots laying around, but I've done a fairly decent job. Thanks to my huge windows, dust accumulates quickly, and the wood floors are a color that constantly look dirty to me...no matter how much I clean them. And with the dog, well...things get dirtier at a quicker pace than I can handle. So finally I had to admit defeat, and call in reinforcements.

How I wish I had done this earlier in my life! This place feels like a gleaming castle (possibly the smallest castle ever, but so shiny). Even my soap bottles got cleaned, so gone is the little bit of suds accumulation that had existed on the side. The wood floors, for a day or so, shone with no trace of little paw prints. Even on days when I worked my hardest, using wood cleaner and the power mop my brother gave me, I couldn't get it so clean.

How does this relate to my messiness, you ask? Well, because I don't want this sparkle to go away, I have been more diligent than normal about trying to contain the little piles. (that sounds like such a gross word, doesn't it? Just me? Ok then...) Maybe this was the answer I've needed my whole life? The motivation to hang up my clothes right away? Maybe?

Or...as I look at little stack of shoes that is starting to accumulate, I am thinking perhaps maybe not...

16 March 2010

Lazy Dogs

For two weekends recently, I watched my friends' dog. He is a crazy little guy, who really, really likes to play.

He likes to play so much he climbed into bed with Luca for a nap, but couldn't help himself, and they started a little wrestling (get your minds out of the gutter...they're both boy dogs). But...both dogs were too tired to, you know, actually move from the bed.

13 March 2010

Jury Duty: The Joy!

I have always wanted to serve Jury Duty. Does this make me weird? I assume yes, but, something about the process has always fascinated me, and, also, if I, or someone I loved, needed to sit through a court case, I would want the opportunity to have a fair jury. So when I got called in December, I never even considered trying to shirk the duty.

I called in all week, like a good citizen...and then on Friday, my number got called. I headed down to the courthouse, feeling a little worse for wear after a holiday party the night before. I do have to say, it is not a bad way to go through the selection process! I was called into the selection room, and placed in the front row. The judge got to look at my smiling face the entire time, and I am convinced that this possibly-still-inebriated face is what made them want me on the jury.

The whole process was amazing to watch. They don't show this on TV, but people are asked to reveal A LOT about themselves; I knew about folks' backgrounds, their drug use, their relatives' arrest records...all sorts of skeletons. For a nosey person like me, this was great fun.

Unfortunately, the defense attorney was no Bobby Donnell. I tried to find a picture to better illustrate how ridiculous this guy was...he was probably close to 60, though he looked almost 70. He was about 5'4", wearing a suit meant for a man of about 6'. He had crazy hair, losing most on top but long on the sides, a big mustache...and a speech impediment. It was like he was directly out of central casting. Unfortunately, he was also a bad lawyer, or at least presented a bad defense. It was so hard to take him seriously in the first place, that when he did try to go to hardline questioning, it just...fell flat. All of this could have been easily overlooked if he had prepared a better case (even I, as an amateur attorney, trained well by my many viewings of The Practice, The Deep End, First Years, and Jesse Vasquez's cases on BH90210, knew a better angle for this case...).

At any rate, I was ultimately selected for the jury itself. I arrived that Monday morning, prepared to listen carefully, take notes, and wait for the big proclamations and "objections!" This did not happen. In fact, the case overall was rather boring. I was more fixated on the fact that, on her big billboard on which she presented the facts, the DA had misspelled several things. Yes, this is so me, I know, but it bugged the crap out of me and I couldn't stop staring.

The case lasted just 2 days in total, and not even full ones. But I felt like it was time well spent. And that I got really lucky to be put on such a quick case, and not one like my coworker is on, which is taking her out of work/life for over a month. And I am so glad I got to participate in this process. It is such a great story (in person, I can imitate the defense attorney, which just accentuates the surrealness of it all). It made me feel like such a good American ;-).

11 March 2010

Drink This: Tripel Karmeliet


I love beer. This is no secret to anyone who knows me, or who has seen me, or heard of me. It is good stuff.

I was so lucky to be visiting my friends in Amsterdam, who had a similar appreciation for the hoppy stuff. And, in Amsterdam, taps are flowing with delicious Belgian beers, I think largely made by monks. Oh, lord, I could have stayed there forever and not tasted all of the good stuff!

But my favorite, by far, of them all, was this nectar, Tripel Karmeliet. To my taste, it has a nice finish of sweetness, kind of like my favorite Newcastle, but not as heavy. It is also not icky sweet as some of the fruity beers. It is a nice, light, full-bodied glass of good.

Oh, and the glass? That may be the thing I love the most. When you go to a bar, they serve the beer in a special glass. It makes beer drinking so much classier (and, if that's something you don't know about me...I am all class). What is strange, is that many of these glasses, like this on pictured here, help open up the beer, much like a wine glass. I never thought about beer tasting like that, but it definitely happens with the right glass.

So, you're probably thinking...annie, Amsterdam was close to 6 months ago, why bring this up now? Well...I had some Tripel in my fridge, and finally had the opportunity (or, errrr...remembered it was in there) to drink it this weekend. And then I remembered how good it was, and I needed to sing its praises!! They seem to have it at many bars in the Bay Area, so I highly recommend you give it a try.

09 March 2010

The Annual Ask

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted!

What have I been up to, you may ask (or not, but you're going to find out anyway). The main thing is the organization with which I volunteer, The Princess Project. And thus...my annual ask.

Prom season is around the corner, and it is a pivotal part of high school for many teenagers.

Prom can be cost-prohibitive for many teens; The Princess Project strives to help lessen some of that burden by providing prom dresses and accessories for young women who otherwise could not afford it. With just 25$, you can help us send a girl to prom.

We are throwing a "Grant Wishes" party...check it out!