To be or not to be...

I was so anxious today. All I wanted to do was go home, stuff myself with all the cookies I baked, and watch my Tivo'd shows and BSG DVD. Is there any way to make a living just watching TV? There must be studies out there that need guinea pigs. I'd happily volunteer.

Don't worry, my ass is not permanently stuck to the couch. This summer I actually finished four books on my pile, which happens to be an accomplishment for me considering how much television I watch. I'm lucky if I can finish one in a year. Unfortunately, I have stacks more that I need to finish. I recently started reading The Lovely Bones because WH highly recommended it, it's been sitting on my shelf for more than two years now, and a movie is coming out soon. So far it's been a great book. Unfortunately, I can't read it before I go to sleep, which is when I do most of my reading. One night I had a nightmare, but I just thought it was some random stress-induced bad dream. Then I had another one and realized that was not the case. They both related to the book in some way, so now I have to find some other time read it. Note to self: Choose more light-hearted stories for bedtime reading.

Let's see...what other Arts & Entertainment things can I talk about? I did see Hamlet starring Jude Law last night.

As repayment for cat-sitting, my co-worker took me to see the play. Say what you will about Jude Law's personal life, but the man is a phenomenal stage actor. He delivered a great performance and his interpretation of the Prince of Denmark was quite entertaining. It's been a while since I read the play, but as it progressed it all came flooding back to me. Sometimes I get a little nervous when I watch Shakespeare just because it's almost like they're speaking a different language, but it was fine. I'd forgotten how funny Hamlet was for a tragedy. Anyway, I had a good time and like I said, Jude Law was amazing. If you ever get the chance to see him on stage, you definitely should.

Note to DS: It was in the same theater as Equus. It was weird to see it without the circular stage.

Not much else was going on this week and it looks like more of the same for this weekend. Rain is expected on Sunday so I should be locked up inside catching up on new shows. Maybe I'll even squeeze in a Netflix movie.

Puppy Love

My sister sent me a crapload of puppy pictures this week, so I thought I'd share them here:

It's Ninja Bruce!

What are you looking at?

I'm soooooo tired.

Ahhhhhhhh...nice pillow.

That's one big mothereffin Toblerone!

Little Bruce cracks me up. My sister also sent me a pretty funny video of them playing...well, Bruce taunting Mocha and Mocha growling at Bruce.

About two weeks ago we had a little scare with Mocha. For some reason she was breathing harder than usual so my sister decided to take her to the vet. At first they thought she had a collapsed lung, so we started preparing for the worst-case scenario. Thinking that she wasn't going to make it through the night, we all kind of got ourselves ready to say goodbye. But when the radiologist finally looked at the X-rays, he said that she didn't have a collapsed lung. Apparently there was fluid in her lungs signaling the beginning of pneumonia. So my family decided to leave her at the animal hospital overnight where they continued to pump her with medication and oxygen. The next day my sister took her home, watched her and kept her medicated. Within a few days she was her old self again, as you can tell by the pics.

As a kid I never had pets except for a good amount of goldfish, which always died the same week I got them, and three parakeets. When the parakeets died I was a little sad, but that didn't compare to how I felt about the thought of Mocha going away. It's funny how these furry little creatures can wiggle their way into your heart without you even knowing it. Before my sister brought these two home I never in a million years would have wanted a Chihuahua--didn't really like them at all. But now, I can't imagine going home and not having them there to greet me with their excited snorts and wagging tails.

I Am a Warrior

Once again my daily horoscope amuses me:

You want someone who's physically attractive, intellectually appealing and brave enough to handle your warrior spirit. All that needs to happen well before the hopeful applicant can even become remotely close to being invited into your heart. If you've already found someone who's up for the challenge, you'll let them know how much they're appreciated. If you haven't, you'll spend yet another day on the prowl -- but now, you might have some luck.

Too funny! Does this mean my Tom Welling look-a-like is hanging out at my local Starbucks?

That third quality is going to be the toughest one to find in a guy. I suppose "warrior spirit" really means stubborn as a donkey. Anyone willing to put up with my attitude, BS and most importantly, my crappy TV lineup deserves a medal.

It Must Be Love

I took a day off the Friday after I got back from the West Coast so I could go to this year's US Open. This outing almost didn't happen because of my stupidity (didn't get tix early enough), but my persistence paid off and I was able to snag two general admission tix the day before thanks to Ticketmaster and the USTA tennis center organizers. Thank goodness for last-minute tix!

My day started a little rocky with a small morning work problem and tons of traffic in the city, but by 11:30 a.m. JM and I were at the tennis center for a great day of tennis. The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was awesome. If you're a tennis fan, there's nothing like spending an entire day at the US Open. General admission tix are the way to go and such a great deal.

So, what was the first thing we did? Hit up the Grey Goose stand for our liquid breakfast. This is the special honey deuce drink created just for the US Open:

It's made of Grey Goose vodka, lemonade and Chambord. They even added three honeydew balls that looked like tennis balls. It was so good--I didn't even taste the alcohol. I just strolled around the grounds watching tennis and sipping my drink. Of course, it later came to kick me in the ass when the sun started beating down hard. Thankfully, JM, a lobster roll and some waffle fries got me through, otherwise it wouldn't have been a pretty picture. I have an iron stomach, but not when it comes to alcohol.

Walking the grounds was fun. Just hearing the sound of tennis balls going back and forth was like music to my ears. I really wanted to get on the courts and hit a few balls, especially after being beaten the week before in doubles by JG and SJ. Don't even get me started on that one. I'm even embarrassed admitting I lost. No doubt JG is going to chime in because he'll take any opp to gloat. Bring it on...next time I'm kicking your ass!

Anyway, back to the main event. Here are some pics:

I forgot what court this was, but this is Marin Cilic during a changeover.

This is Na Li vs. Maria Kirilenko in the Grandstand. I read an article where Patrick McEnroe said the best place to watch a match was the Grandstand, and he was right. You get the feel of a big match in a small, intimate space. It's awesome!

This is Taylor Dent serving to Ivan Navarro in the Grandstand. See how close we are?! After the previous match we moved down to the second row. We could feel Dent's 140-something-mph serves. I thought some of the old guys sitting with us were going to have a heart attack.

Tennis legend Nick Bollettieri signing JM's visor.

Kim Clijsters defeating Kirsten Flipkens in the Louis Armstrong Stadium. Clijsters has been amazing during this whole tournament. Didn't look like she took a 2-year hiatus from tennis. She was in top form.

The brackets. It was cool how quickly they changed this thing. Here's one of the guys updating it.

I meant to get a pic of the moon in this one because it looked cool, but the clouds started moving in and blocked it.

Goodbye, US Open. It was so fun! I had an awesome day and can't wait to do it again.

Before leaving, I did manage to pick up a souvenir or two. When we saw this T-shirt, we knew I had to have it, so JM got it for me as a belated bday present:

She also got one for her hubby and I purchased one for my sister. If you've seen me or my sister on the court, you know how fitting this is.

This was the slogan for this year's Open, which I really liked, so I had to have it in T-shirt form. I also went home with my Grey Goose US Open honey deuce cup (which lists all the previous champs), a bag for my mom and a cap for WH.

Like I said, it was a fabulous day and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Set Me Up

A funny thing happened last week. I received a text message while I was on vacation from an old co-worker, HT. He asked if I'd be interested in meeting one of his new coworkers. My first reaction was, no. I mean this is HT...the last time he set two people up they became office fodder. Needless to say, it didn't go as planned and the news spread like wildfire in that office. But then I sat there for a second and thought, "What the hell? It'll give me something good to write about." So I said sure and planned to call HT when I got back to town.

Now, I'm not opposed to a set-up, but I do have a few requirements. I tossed the long "must-have" list a while ago because it was pointless, but there are still a few things I can't let go. Here they are for those of you who ever feel the need to set me up:

1) Must have a legitimate job.*
2) Must be a nice guy.
3) Must have a sense of humor.
4) Must be taller than me when I wear heels.

OK, that's it. Not too bad, right? Well, apparently HT never received the memo. If he had described the guy as a Filipino Colin Farrell then maybe I would have reconsidered. (LOL...sorry, little inside joke. Couldn't resist, NG. I swear, that still makes me laugh.)

Anyway, fast forward to last night. I gave HT a ring to find out what this whole set-up was about, but the minute he started describing the guy, I knew he wasn't for me.

Here's part of the conversation:

HT: Well, I'm not sure he's your type, but he might be your type, but I'm not sure. He might be shorter than you. How tall are you? He does the photography for our company. He's Filipino, has long hair, some facial hair...did I lose you already?
ME: Honestly, you lost me at the beginning. I'm short but I'm somewhat of a height snob. He has to be taller than me when I'm wearing heels.
HT: I can't guarantee that.
ME: Well, thanks for trying, but this isn't going to work out. I'm curious...does he have an accent?
HT: A slight accent.
ME: Is it a Brooklyn/Bronx/Staten Island accent or something else?
HT: Something else, but it's very slight. Sort of.
ME: Thanks again...so how are you?

Of course it didn't go EXACTLY like that, but you get the gist. Now, if you know me, you'd know that this would never work in a million years. He may be a perfectly nice guy with a job, but the fact that HT couldn't guarantee he'd be taller than me was a dealbreaker. I once went out with a guy who was the same height as me, which is short since I'm 5'2", and I just couldn't get over the height thing. I hated that I had to wear flats and the whole time I felt like a hobbit couple. Call me shallow, but size really does matter.

The list of things I don't want in a guy is much longer than that itty bitty "requirements" list above, but we all have preferences...we can't help who we're attracted to, right?

*Due to the current economic situation, I could let this slide based on his plans. Actively looking for a job? Sure. Sitting at home on his parents' couch watching Oprah every afternoon? Uhhhh...no, thank you.