quick hits

• I’ve been working and resume-writing a lot. I have a “Life After Americorps” workshop on Friday where I’ll get my resume critiqued. The idea of the job search is already freaking me out. I can’t believe my service year is more than halfway over. 
• Went out to dinner with some friends on Friday. If you’re ever in Hamden, CT, go to Mikro. They have a great selection of beers on tap and great food (I had the Kobe beef hot dog and it was to die for). The menu’s a little pricey, but you get a lot of good quality food for what you pay for.  And the beer is AWESOME. Only problem is that you have to get there early to avoid the Quinnipiac crowd. 
• Trip to Worcester to see my sister this weekend. We still haven’t worked out whether or not to see the Hunger Games again.  I’m also going to meet up with my partner in strangeness on Saturday for a couple hours. Long story short: I am excited for this weekend!
• Titanic is coming out in 3D. I usually hate 3D, but I am jumping at the chance to see Leo in 3D. 
• They’re coming out with a sequel to Clash of the Titans. The first one was so bad it was funny. Did it really need a sequel?
• 32 more chapters of Trapped in the Closet are going to be released this fall…and Kells is releasing his autobiography in the summer. I am in R. Kelly heaven. 
• Mets. What else is there to say?  I am probably going to pick up a copy of R.A. Dickey’s autobiography at some point because he’s a pretty awesome dude. 
• Wisdom teeth are finally coming out on April 19th. Welp. 

may the odds be EVER in your favor

So this is a quick reaction to the Hunger Games movie!  I went to the midnight showing, and I gotta say, I was really impressed. THG was one of the better book-to-movie adaptations I’ve seen. When a movie makes me want to re-read the books right away, that’s a good sign.  I almost never re-read the books before seeing movie adaptations  (helps me separate the book from the movie, and also helps me from remembering all the detailed little plot points left out, etc), so that may have played a role in my liking the movie so much.

I am ashamed that I was so resistant to reading The Hunger Games at first. My good friend Carrie was listening to the audiobook a lot last year and some of my fellow bandos were also fans, so I guess I just didn’t want to read another overhyped YA series (I’m looking at you, Twilight).   I used to read a lot of YA, but then I gradually stopped and only kept to my tried-and true authors–e.g. Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, Ann Brashares–because I got tired of reading repetitive, boring stuff.

I gotta give props to Barnes and Noble for getting me to read it.  I got a Nook Color for graduation, and the Hunger Games was super reduced (I feel like I paid around 4 bucks for it). I am notoriously cheap when it comes to buying books because I burn through them so quickly, so I’m kind of embarrassed that  the price point was the only real draw for me.  Anyway, I finally read on vacation when I ran out of other books to read. Really glad I jumped on that bandwagon.

I just also gotta say that Jennifer Lawrence was an awesome Katniss. I loved her in X-Men First Class, and I loved her again in THG.

Now plans for the next week: trip to Worcester to hang out with the sis!

st patrick’s day

As many of you may know, I worked at the campus dining hall in college as a Kimball Captain. You may also know that I attended Holy Cross, and that St. Patrick’s day is one of the most holy traditions to the HC student body.

As a result of my Kimballholism (read: constant state of poverty during college), I ended up working on St. Patrick’s day dinner for three years in a row. St. Patrick’s day dinner is one of the worst shifts to work at Kimball (aside from Spring Weekend). The best way to describe that shift is “shit show.” One year I actually ended up cleaning vomit off a table (I thought it was tomato sauce). Okay, the first two years I worked St. Patty’s dinner totally by choice. Sophomore year I was desperate for cash to finance my study abroad trip to Luxembourg and junior year I got guilted into working by my boss. I ended up working that shift on senior year because my friend Patricia and I accidently signed up for the Thursday dinner shift. St. Patrick’s day fell on a Thursday that year. Do the math.

Anyway, I enjoyed spending St Patrick’s day away from the drunken masses. I baked some Guinness and Bailey’s cupcakes (pictured above) and spent some time with some good friends.

Still, I found myself yearning for the rush of St. Patrick’s day at Holy Cross and Kimball…

unrelated: Mad props to Lehigh for beating Duke in the NCAA tournament and doing the Patriot League proud even I though wish it was Holy Cross instead