Larry Flynt's - Deep Thoughts

You may think it slightly lecherous that I actually set foot in The Hustler Club, but it was free and I was helping a co-worker celebrate his bachelor party before he heads back to Hyderabad to get hitched. So there...

My new best friend and I made some interesting observations while mammaries jiggled and poles were ground:

• I am at least two cup sizes bigger than the employees, on average.
• The workers really enjoyed my company and were more than happy to oblige.
• People outside of major metropolitan areas have minimal to no gaydar. (Baltimore is not a bustling metropolis.)
• Lapdances should be conducted differently for men and women. It does nothing for me to have someone bounce up and down on my thighs, most likely because I am not equipped for this type of movement to excite me.

Bring on the crabcakes (again)

Back in Bal'more to help out my client from last year with some software upgrade and testing issues. Yee ha. I am all by myself this week, but next week the partner is coming. I hope he is happy with my work. Also hope I am not stuck in my hotel room watching Law and Order re-runs ad nauseum.

Next week I'll be at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, cashing in my free Regency Club Upgrade certificate (yeay Platinum status!)

Any recommendations for good restaurants/bars?

Happy New Year!

Wow, I can't believe I've had this blog for a year. Thanks to my last trip to Vegas, as well as all the other travelling I've done this year, I hit silver status on Delta for the third year in a row - yeay! Here are my resolutions for this year:

• Lose at least 10 pounds - yadda yadda, everyone wants to do this


• Do something cultural or artsy at least once a month, trying to save up some money to buy a tenor sax. (If anyone has a horn that needs a home, let me know!)


• Travel to Morocco to visit Cybele, Eastern Europe and Thailand.

Speaking of Thailand, please please please support one of these charities, whether it's with time, money, or goods, to help the victims of the tsunami:
International aid organizations:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
United Nations' World Food Programme
Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors without Borders (donate!)
CARE International
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

UK/Europe:
Disasters Emergency Comittee (DEC) - comprises a raft of aid agencies, including the below and others
British Red Cross
Save the Children UK

North America:
American Red Cross
Canadian Red Cross
Save The Children

Anders Jacobsen: Webloggers: Give to tsunami victims and I'll give too! - this is my friend Anders' fundraising effort.

I'm planning on calling the Red Cross in New York to see if there are any local activities to support the relief effort. Volunteering after 9/11 was very fulfilling for me, and I hope I can do something to help the survivors stay healthy and get back on their feet. Also, since I have umpteen million Delta SkyMiles, I plan on donating some to the relief effort as well. It's not only about money, people. Yes, cash is needed, but every little bit helps.

Waiting to Inhale

Getting sick in Vegas really sucks, especially right before the red-eye flight home. My ears still haven't popped. My doctor tells me I have asthmatic bronchitis. Ouch.

Time to pass out, right after I huff on some Albuterol.

Grand Canyon

Roadwork in Nevada and lack of signage made the beginning of our trek from Las Vegas Airport to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon very tricky. The Hoover Dam was interesting, but we made a very short stop due to construction and checkpoints holding up the works. A whole lot of concrete was poured over there. To reward ourselves for finding the way eventually, we had a pig-out at Carl's Jr. Bacon guacamole Angus cheeseburgers, criss-cut fries, and Butterfinger cheesecake make everything better, but my thighs are going to be huge tomorrow.

The drive through Arizona heading north from Flagstaff at night was really spooky. A cop got in front of us and decided to stop short at one point, just to mess with us. It doesn't help put us at ease that there is no cellphone service out here.

Who knew that the weather would be so crappy out here? Everyone thinks that Arizona is hot and arid, yet it has been clammy and rainy for our whole trip. However, the temperature was better suited for our 8-mile hike, 5 miles around the rim, and then a 1.5-mile trek down into the Canyon on the Bright Angel trail, and back up. Plus, at the end of our hike we saw a rainbow. It is much harder than it looks to climb back up. The hotel hot tub was in order.

This morning, since the weather was rainy again, we decided to skip our early rafting trip, which would have involved driving at the butt-crack of dawn over to Lake Mead. Instead, we went horseback riding in the Kaibab National Forest. My horse Roni kept trying to eat pine trees and plants along the way, and kept farting. It was good fun, although not as scenic.

Goodbye PAC

Today was my last day on my current project. This assignment really rocked. The people are so smart and friendly too. Most likely, I will never have another assignment quite like this and everything else will seem anti-climactic.

Originally I was supposed to finish last week, but they needed my data entry skills.

Next week - Grand Canyon and Las Vegas!

yawn

Nothing exciting going on. Here's a snapshot in the week of a life:

Monday: Work, gym
Tuesday: Work
Wednesday: Work, gym
Thursday: Work, happy hour
Friday: Work, hang out with friends
Saturday: Work out, nap, go out with friends, crash at someone else's place
Sunday: Wake up, go home, putter around, read the NYTimes, watch original series on HBO or Showtime

bla...

Work work work

This is looking like a long summer. No vacation for me. My cousin and I are supposed to go to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas in October. Counting down!!!

J is still just, well, there. Not sure if there is any boyfriend potential. I guess my pattern of dating one guy a year and then dating dry spell is holding. Ho hum...

Happy 229th Birthday, USA!

What a weekend! Stomach was totally on the brink after my birthday party. I love Delta's policy of changing shuttle tickets for free for Medallion members. Latease's wedding in Boston was beautiful. Silly me, I was in such a hurry to be on time for the wedding that I forgot to pay the cabbie on the way to the church. Luckily I arranged for him to pick me up after the ceremony. He was a nice Moroccan guy; I guess talking about my trip to Oman made him trust me.

Christina's annual 4th bash was a lot of fun on the beach. Unfortunately, one of my friend's attempt to set me up with her fiance's best friend was a miserable crash-and-burn. The guy barely said "hello" to me when we were introduced. Whatever, loser, I'm a catch...

After Christina's gig, went to J's house for more barbeque action. It was interesting, to say the least. Not sure about him, but I guess time will tell. Anyone is better than Ross at this point.

The Big 2-5

Wow, my birthday just came and went - June 29th is the actual day. I guess now everyone will start trying harder to marry me off. Ho hum...

At least the party last night was fun. Picture this, Egyptian hookah bar in the East Village, 20 of my friends seated on floor cushions around low tables, two flavors of tobacco - Ali Baba and Canteloupe, fruit shakes whose name sounds like something Arab porn stars utter while in action (say fakh'fakhina five times fast), and me belly dancing on a chair in a fez. Don't believe me? Check out the pictures.

Now I just have to scrape myself out of bed to make the Delta shuttle to Boston for Latease's wedding. UGH!

"25 years of my life and still trying to get up that great big hill of hope for a destination..." Bonus points to whoever names the band that sang this.

Congrats Becki and Jeremy!

Two of my college friends got married in Millerton, NY. It was very nice and low-key. I got to see a bunch of my sorority sisters; it seems that we have a mini-reunion every year at someone's wedding. Just like being at a crush party except you have to bring a gift.

Since we have friends in nearby Sharon, CT, my folks hung out with them for the day. My father actually went with them to see "Fahrenheit 9/11", of which all he had to say was that it's "liberal propaganda". For dinner, we went to the West Main Cafe for dinner. YOWZA! Fantastic, creative food - loved loved loved it. Monica and Jerry had their wedding there almost two years ago, and it was fantastic then.

Go figure

I'm not single for 24 hours and I meet another guy. Let's call him J. We didn't meet under the best circumstances - I'm rebounding, and ended up getting really drunk because he kept buying me drinks. I'm hesitant to get involved with anyone so soon, especially after all the crap I put with while with Ross. Time will tell, I guess...

Good riddance

Ross and I broke up. About time. That is all I have to say...

Favorite Restaurants in Midtown Manhattan

There is hope yet for the neighborhood that really has no name. Yes, it's touristy because of the Empire State Building and Macy's, but so far I have managed to avoid the out-of-town hordes. Here are the PAC Project's favorite lunch spots:

• Minado for important milestone lunches


• Grand Szechuan for roll-on or roll-of lunches, it's a hike but the xiao long bao rock


• Chipotle for both take-out or eat-in, it's worth the schlep to 8th Ave


• Chennai Garden or Dimple for curry if you're not in a hurry


• Blue Smoke for the carnivores

My new fave is Bonobo's. Yes, raw vegan cuisine sounds scary and paradoxical, but the gazpacho kicks @ss and the napa cabbage sandwiches satisfy without putting you into a food coma. So far, no one will come with me, but I still love it to death!

My new (sort of) car!

Just as luck would have it, I found another VW Cabrio. This one is a 2002, silver with gray leather interior. Slightly more mileage and wear-and-tear than Filomena, but I still love it. Got a good price too. Bayside Volkswagen's credit and sales departments are a little shady, but I bitched enough to get them to straighten up. I think I will christen it Adele, after my maternal grandmother :).

Boulder

Took a training course which is pretty easy. According to the New York Times, the sun shines 300 days a year. Unfortunately, I happened to show up when it was anything but sunny. No hiking or outdoorsy stuff this time around. At least this is Quizno's home turf. Have also eaten at Hapa Sushi and Sherpa's Adventurers, although I OD'd on the fried appetizers at Sherpa's and the service was somewhat pokey. Pearl Street is pretty cool too. Driving back to the airport (which takes more than half an hour, especially on the non-toll road) was fun with the snow and lack of visibility. So was de-icing the wings.

RIP Filomena

Long story short - drive new guy home, after fighting no less, back on Southern State Parkway, WHAM!, hit and run, I'm ok, car is not. :'(

Guess I'm not taking any roadtrips for a while....

Working in Midtown now. People seem cool so far. Have been very flexible with my recent trauma. Going to Boulder, CO Wed-Fri.

Au revoir!

I miss Paris already. Thursday was a little crazy - Beverly and Monica left early for maximum Carte Musee usage, and got separated at the Musee d'Orsay (which isn't too hard considering the maze-like layout of some of the rooms). My mom and I hit the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, had a drink off Place Dauphine where some guys were playing petanque (I think the same square was on Sex and the City - need to check). The evening was a little chaotic as we were trying to reunite, but all was well, and after a group hug we went to Chez Omar, which was brilliant. The fantastic food and service made up for the rude Arab waiter at Leon Bruxelles on Boulevard St Germain de Pres. The owner even welcomed the Americans back to Paris (I'm sure he missed our wallets). Had a lovely dinner to close out the trip chez Emilie et Olivier, where they worked wonders with a tiny kitchen. It was so nice to have familiar people with whom to sightsee and dine or get drinks. Luckily we did a considerable amount of walking so the calories have not adhered to my hips.

Back to Baltimore next week for one final hurrah. Wonder where I'll go next.....

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Bon vivant

Paris is magnifique and exhausting! We are walking everywhere and have seen Notre Dame, Saint-Chapelle, the Left Bank (although we got sidetracked by shopping and never made the DaVinci pilgrimage to Saint Sulpice), the Rodin Museum and the Picasso Museum, with the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower tomorrow. I really wanted to go to the Pompidou, but there's always next time. The thought of another museum may cause me to pass out.

Waistline be damned, I am eating everything and anything I want - rack of lamb, croissants, cafe au lait, bière blonde, you name it. The walking to and fro and climbing four flights of stairs to our flat is keeping my jeans from bursting open. The food here is absolutely incredible. The Marche across the street sells this great, inexpensive Côte du Rhone - I plan to bring home several bottles. Plus there is this great Moroccan food stand, from which emanate the most tantalizing smells. We served a tagine and a roast chicken from a rotisserie around the corner when Monica's friend Emilie and Andy came over for dinner. How do French people stay so thin?!

The only edible that has freaked me out so far were the live snails. Monica ordered them at a small restaurant near Emilie's house; someone told her they were cockles. After I tried one, I heard someone mention that they were not dead yet, but I chose to pretend the wine was hitting me hard and ignore it. I don't think I will ever eat mollusks ever again.

Tonight we went to this amazing Spanish tapas place - Caves St. Gilles. (forget Barcelona, this is the best!) I think we are still drunk. My Spanish came in handy with the waiter, even though it couldn't get us a table. No worries, being relegated to the bar didn't make a difference after a couple bottles of wine and once two platters of food arrived, one hot and one cold assortment. We practically licked the plates.

Salutations de Paris!

Just a few thoughts in my jet-lagged head:

• Long-haul flying is made all the easier with Ambien, especially when in coach. It's all about better living through pharmeceuticals.


• Paris has dog sh*t everywhere!!! Don't people believe in picking up after their pets so they don't mess up their chaussures? Dragging our suitcases from the Métro to our apartment was like walking through a minefield.


• In France, all dieting must be suspended. The food is too good to pass up, plus walking everywhere cancels the calories out. Visions of pain au chocolat, crepes and wine have been cancing in my head for weeks.

Even though I can barely stay awake, I am still giddy about being in Paris for the first time. Le Marais is a really awesome neighborhood. We searched for a two-bedroom apartment on Vacation Rentals by Owner, which is a really awesome site, but the one we ended up with is only listed on ParisForRent.com - fantastique! Le Marché des Enfants Rouges is a really incredible outdoor market right across the street from us. Waiting for Monica and Bev to arrive so we can do more exploring, especially in the old Quartier du Temple (old Knights Templar Quarter for all the DaVinci Code fans out there).