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I never published this post about the Anniversary Party two weeks ago.

the 8th dwarf

Sometimes I whistle at work because I think that people won't notice that so soon as if I belted out a song from my cube a la Ethel Merman. That was not the case today when my two neighbors recognized NKOTB's "The Right Stuff" and called me on it. I should have kept in mind that they were born in the late 70s, also known as the Wahlberg Generation.

Wherefore art thou...

Jake and I are finally using our balcony. During our Spring Cleaning Extravaganza I cleaned it up, fixed the screen door, and scrubbed the windows. This weekend, though, was the first time we used it for it's real purpose - throwing watermelons. Actually we sat out there drinking Creepy Daves on night and talked about typical guy stuff - Danika Patrick, Bruce Springsteen, and varicose veins.

We now have a small grill out there, though we have only used it at the local park. We've talked about getting chairs too, but with Jake out of town this week, it looks like that job will fall to me. It's currently raining, otherwise, I'd be out there right now.

Oh, and we have tickets to see Springsteen in two weeks.

It's Raining Men

I did not think that this was an appropriate song to play at Aunt Ludy and Uncle Harry's 60th Wedding Anniversary Party. However, the DJ disagreed. And apparently so did Aunt Ludy and the rest of her family and friends. The party was a blast. We drank Manhattans (East Coast style) and white wine, a la the party's honorees. And the dancing soon followed the drinking. We did the Macarena, the Chicken Dance, the Conga, and the Hokey Pokey. Many of us were disappointed that the polka was not represented sufficiently, but that wasn't really noticed until the following day. Aunt Ludy was worried that the DJ would not have a certain Rod Stewart song that she and Uncle Harry had practiced dancing to. The family took bets on what classic Rod Stewart song we'd be forced to listen to. Mom took the long shot of "Hot Legs" and thankfully she lost. Some highlights of the party included: -Second cousin Jeff's very open discussion of his pending divorce. -The DJ's dancing on the table. -Possible incest when cousin Stacy told second-cousin Andrew he's hot and then they left the party together. (I told her, "If Eleanor Roosevelt can do it, so can you.") -The gay neighbors really letting loose on the dance floor, and only being shown up by... -The octogenarians dancing. This party was certainly worth the trip back home this weekend. I say this not because of how good of a party it was, but because it taught me about my family. I've never seen us in a party atmosphere like this. Our family is quite static. I've never been to a family wedding (nor a funeral) and I didn't know what to expect. Will these gatherings be silly, too serious, sappy? Fortunately, it was a good balance. The speeches were short and heartfelt. Jokes were told and family stories were told. We ate and drank well. And we danced until they kicked us out.

-Pos

wyomissing

I drove to Reading/Wyomissing today with my mom and cousin, Lindsey. Lindsey graduated from college this year and has a new job in that area. We went to look at her new apartment and decide what type of furniture and decorations she needs. My mom wanted to stop at the Vanity Fair outlets so that she could buy underwear. I just had nothing to do.

We had a fun time. The three of us never spend time together so it was funny to see all of our characteristics come together. I played the wise older cousin role and gave Lindsey all sorts of advice on moving to a new area - such as how meeting people is easier at a golf class than an abs class. We also talked about interest rates, which seems to be more and more common discussion among my friends my age.

I passed the restaurant that I at at last year with Charley and Bronwyn - two people from different worlds in which I once lived. Bronwyn was working; I called her but she didn't pick up. And according to Adina's flickr pictures, Charley is currently out of the country. If either of you have advice for Lindsey's move to your area, please let me know.

Moscow

It's nice to be done studying (for a while). The exam that I took yesterday went relatively well. I only guessed flat-out on 5 of 40 problems. And then another 10 were fairly good guesses. No matter what, I had to have scored higher than I did last November.

To celebrate, I tagged along with Mick and Kate and their friends. We had a good time - mostly because we found a bar with $2 martinis and $1 drafts. The music was good too, but as Mick pointed out, "I have a feeling that the band wouldn't be as good if we were sober." In between sets the DJ managed to pull off everything from Madonna to MJ to Journey to the Humpty Dance.

And did this keep me from my 7 am flight this morning? No way, Jose. I was at the airport with bells on. And two flights and one 5-hour lay-over I am back in Moscow. Unfortunately, not all of my luggage made it with me. I talked to the airline's ticket dealer/ticket taker/baggage handler/runway operator (It's a small airport.) and he said that my luggage will probably be on the next flight. I'm not optomistic. If my luggage can't make it to the plane in 5 hours, I don't see how more time will help.

The reason I'm in Moscow this week is for a family party. Aunt Ludmilla and Uncle Harry are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Aunt Ludy has been listing requests for the DJ. She has made a special one for a Rod Stewart song, for which she and Uncle Harry have been practicing a dance for. This could be my flickr debut, if I can figure out my sister's digital camera.

Study Update

I just took my second practice exam. I scored 45% correctly, which will probably put me on the cusp of passing. And that doesn't even count the number of questions that I would have guessed on. I would hope that I could get another fifth of those guesses correct.

I'm not going to take anymore practice exams. I think I'll do individual problems from previous exams, but really, I'm so sick of studying. There are topics that I don't know. I'm not sure if I should look over those, or if the knowledge of what I don't know will just make me more nervous. Ugh. 24 hours from now my May sitting will be over. I can't wait.

Not funny

Recently at work there have been quite a few jokes about my quitting and/or being fired. The latter doesn't concern me so much because I feel that if they tease me about it, then the idea of it must be absurd. And it's usually done in a very light way. For example, when my swipe card stopped working they're cutting costs by not using pink slips; I'm supposed to just take the hint.

What does bother me, though, is jokes about my quitting. This is because it's certainly a possibility, or possibly a certainty. It's a question of when, not if. And it's definitely uncomfortible in front of a larger group of people. For example, at yesterday's staff meeting I mentioned how I would be out of the office for two weeks for my exam and a trip home to PA. A consultant jokingly asked if I had purchased a return ticket back to Milwaukee. I didn't tell them that there's a good chance I'll be talking to my dad about whether he plans on my ever working for the family business. To be fair, morale in the office is low and most people talk openly about quitting or applying to other firms. I'm not the only one who people suspect; I'm just the most likely candidate.

This also follows an episode I had with the office manager the other day while driving to a client meeting. We were talking about the restaurants of Milwaukee and when he mentioned the only 5-star, which happens to be down the street from me, I said that it is "one of the places I want to try before leaving Milwaukee."

"You're planning on leaving Milwaukee?" he asked.

I'm not sure if my reply was intelligible with my foot in my mouth. Oops.

Linguistics Question

In other languages where most nouns have gender, what do people do if the nickname of a person has a gender different than the sex of the person. This wouldn't really be a problem for nicknames based on adjectives or animals whose genders can change. But what about nicknames based on inanimate objects. For example, Tom Delay is known as "the hammer." If hammer is feminine, wouldn't that cause problems? (I wish I knew of a good example, where the gender and sex do not match. The Hammer in Spanish is El Martillo.) Let me know if you have an answer or a good example.

Ya got trouble, my friends

With a capital "T"
And that rhymes with "P"
And that stands for Pool.

I swim every day before work. The gym is close to my apartment, so I'm usually in the water within fifteen minutes of waking up. I'm usually groggy. And I never have my glasses on. I normally don't talk to the other regulars for this reason, as well as I'm not there to make friends; I just want to get my workout and get out. Because I don't talk to the other people, I don't know their names. Actually most of them I wouldn't recognize if I saw them on the street. I usually recognize other swimmers by their swim suits or their movements - their gaits and strokes. Few of them have I been close enough for my near-sighted eyes to make out facial features. Most of them I have nick-names for, such as "Mr. Red Speedo", "Swims with Closed Fist", and "Little Napolean."

However, this has begun to change. One of them introduced herself to me. She's very nice. I always knew she was thoughtful, though; she's a good lane-sharer. Now I feel like I have to greet her every morning though. And it's a slippery slope. She must be the society glue of the 6:30 pool, because she seems to know everyone else's names too. And she uses them. And I think she's trying to get all of us to use them. This sounds fine on paper, but I don't really want to be chummy with my fellow swimmers. Besides the fact that I'm not there to make friends, the gym provides many awkward moments in the mornings. For example, I don't want to chit-chat about the weather with Mr. Red Speedo after he's taken off said speedo.

I don't mind pleasantries. I'm good at banter. But my main goal while swimming is to breathe, not stop and ask how the knee of the guy in the lane next to me is doing today. However, I'm worried that if I continue my solitude among all of the other regulars, I will come off as stuck-up and rude.

I don't wanna rock, DJ.

Jake is out of town for the week.
I'm in full study mode. Life contingencies rock.
The weather is beautiful, but I'm inside.

Sometimes I dance. And I ignore the walls of floor-to-ceiling windows and I give the people in the building next to me a free show. MJ is in heavy rotation. (It don't matter if you're black or white.) But today I also played a favorite mix CD which included Robbie Williams and Outkast.

SPF

Today I received my first sunburn of the season. I took the day off from work to study. I actually did study for 6 hours. Two of those hours were at a picnic table in the park. Some days my job is very stressful, but any day that I get paid to study math and enjoy the outdoors is a good day.

Eboni

One of the check-out girls at my grocery store has acquired teeth! Well, she now has gold(-plated metal) in her mouth where teeth used to be. I don't know if the bling will be more distracting than the gaping holes.

Study Break

I am supposed to be studying. I'm being paid for 4 hours of studying today but I've only actually clocked about 3. I'm taking a break and thinking about going for a walk. But first I thought I would do some recognizance work, and look at the site I found! Wisconsin - what a state! How can I not go for a walk now and counter all those spent calories with custard?