Everyone needs to go on over to www.yelp.com --it's pretty damned awesome.

Also, I promise to update more soon. Topics included will be:

1) Assholery in all shapes and sizes
2) San Francisco
3) Weird myspace message

This hasn't been updated in some time and it's time for a fresh start.

Go on over to chasingordinary.blogspot.com for updates on my life from here on out.

I promise to try and maintain the blog this time.

Really.

I may hate doing it...

but seriously? Science fucking amazes me.

Excitement is...

Getting a Powder Alert email for Stowe right after you buy a lift ticket for Saturday.

Super. Psyched.

Will Wonders Never Cease?

Wachussett Mountain is a hill so far removed from society that on the drive there one is greeted with ironic road signs such as, “Famous Ducks” and “Thickly Settled”. It is also not a place anyone should venture to for any sort of Spring snowboarding conditions.

The snow was not so much snow but slush mixed with dirt and ice. Oh yes, and it was raining. This, of course, made for miserable riding condition for those fool enough to get on the mountain.

Of course, I, along with roommate, was fool enough to get on the mountain. But you know what? I’m glad I did because for the first time, I made my way through a run without falling. Not only without falling - without almost falling, without riding switch to avoid a toe-side turn, and without toe-side turn splatting flat on my ass.

I am officially a mediocre snowboarder on the fast track to becoming decent; hell, someday I may even be good. Now my only problem is figuring out how I can spend ever last waking moment of winter on a mountain in Vermont or New Hampshire.

Sick, Sad Thing

I find myself bopping along to Shakira's new single, "Hips Don't Lie" whenever it comes on.

because i was tagged.

Four Jobs I have Had
1. The World’s Worst Secretary at the BU Physics Office.
2. Lifeguard.
3. ESL Instructor.
4. Ice Cream Server. By far the best job ever.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over (and have)
1. Center Stage. “whatever you feel, just dance it.”
2. Gone with the Wind. Because Scarlett O’Hara taught me how to bring drama to the next level.
3. Hamlet. The one with Kenneth Brannagh.
4. Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealers. No explanation necessary.

Four Places I Have Lived
1. Kingston, New York.
2. Boston, Mass.
3. New Paltz, New York.
4. Dublin, Ireland. Alas, only for a semester.

Four TV Shows I Love (or have loved)
1. The Office. Both British and American.
2. Coupling. Just British.
3. Gilmore Girls.
4. Undeclared. Judd Apatow is the funniest man alive.

Four Places I Have Vacationed
1. Spain
2. Morocco
3. Canary Islands
4. Bermuda

Four of My Favorite Dishes
1. Drunken Noodle with Tofu from The Thai Place.
2. McDonalds Chicken Nuggets with Sweet & Sour Sauce.
3. Sandwiches.
4. Potatoes. Any kind of potatoes.

Four Sites I Visit Daily (other than email, news, work, etc.)
1. Gawker.
2. kayak.com
3. Livejournal
4. craigslist

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Snowboarding.
2. Sleeping.
3. Dublin.
4. London.

Four People I am Tagging
….I’m not.

Making a Mountain Out of a Molehill

It is 8:45 on Saturday morning and Kelly Clarkson’s belting it out from my cell phone. I’m not down for getting up, but begrudgingly do it anyway. 20 minutes later, Fel and I are out the door and strapping in on the side of the bunny hill (thanks to the awesome slopeside accommodations).

We’re awake!
We’re invigorated!
We’re…falling?

Apparently all the fresh air in the world can’t help you toe turn.

This is where Skyler comes in. Skyler is our 4th (FOURTH) teenaged snowboarding instructor. He is 19, into baseball, and his stance is Goofy, just like me. (Finally. All the others have been Regular, the unoriginal bastards.) As a result of Skyler’s Goofy footedness I excel quicker in this lesson than I have in others, finally linking turns and stopping with my toes and my heels vs. my ass. (That’s not to say I didn’t fall – I DEFINITELY took some diggers – but they were fewer and further between.)

This was the lesson where I finally GOT it. The lesson where it seems to have finally clicked. I’m more comfortable on my board now.

I can stop.
I can turn.
I can hop on my board.

I can make it down without falling. Glorious!!!

….now, who wants to go snowboarding with me on a real trail?

We called the Crusades the Dark Ages for a reason

I think I'm going to be sick.

P.S. George, you're the President first, a Christian second; and my body cannot be part of your religious agenda.

Let it rain, rain down

When I was working in New York City I used to have to take the shuttle between Grand Central Station and Times Square. On rainy days there would be a woman with an acoustic guitar selling her wares through, what else, song. She would belt out her song in a shockingly gorgeous voice and her pimp aka "Chocolate Star" would sell CDs burned on what I can only assume was a laptop.

I missed Chocolate Star and his woman with the acoustic today for two reasons: one, I miss knowing the weather in the city before I ever surface from trains and subways. Two, it would have meant that I was on a subway that did it's job and got me to my stop without making me WALK from Fenway to St. Mary's today.

This walk on a typical day is not bad at all. Nay, it is downright pleasant. Today however, in the near hurricane that was gripping Boston, it was hellish. I was soaked well and through by the time I got close to the stairs at Fenway; I could set up a tiny swimming pool in my shoes by the time I reached St. Mary's. My hair, jeans, shoes, jacket - all soaked.

I looked worse than Mojito after a bath. It's a good thing my own personal Hot or Not judges weren't around; with their jackass, fuck-all rating system surely my score would have gone down... and my predisposition for a negative body image would have significantly increased.

Just so we're clear, raters: Women are sensitive about their looks. I don't care who the hell they are, what they look like, and what they say when you give them their NUMBER (no matter how high or low) - we all care. We care because society is so fucking focused on how put together, pretty, and skinny our gender is we can't help it.

Clearly, you know nothing about women.

You know even less about the people you call your friends. Have fun being ridiculously smug cunts together.

...for even the most discerning music snob

go here: www.pandora.com.

We're not gonna pay rent...

I'm seeing Rent in 20 minutes. I do not have high hopes.

...review to come.

"It's like someone is doing the 'Maniac, Maniac on the Floor' dance on your chest."

Sometimes, you get disappointed when you find out that your crush has a girlfriend.

...and then there are the times when you find out that the crush who had a girlfriend is now single and living in the middle of the country, blissfully unattached. These are the times when you contemplate telling said crush the truth about that time you almost kissed in the rain outside your car but don't because really, what would it do except either embarass or frustrate you to the point of bursting shards of shrapnel from your broken heart into your gut?

Please excuse me, I'm going to listen to some Dashboard Confessional and cry myself to sleep.

Creation, Vacation, Mucho Masturbation

The topic of dessert conversation tonight: masturbation.

More specifically, where and how often does everyone do it? Tonight I learned that the shower is a popular area for men, those horny horny bastards, because it is also something that is done daily and it has a minimal embarassment rate (i.e. being walked in on). This, to me, seems a logical place to get yourself off. In fact most guys living with family and/or friends with a tendency to barge in unannounced will utilize the shower as a time to do it... or they do it out of sheer laziness. It's warm, wet, and you're already naked - may as well whack off while you're at it.

Guys, don't feel alone here. Plenty of girls get off in the shower too. As a matter of fact, if you walk into a girl's bathroom and see that they have one of those fancy shower heads that can easily maneuver you can just as well bet your bottom dollar that they're getting off with pulsating jets of water. True story. It's just too easy and convenient (sometimes, we're lazy too).

Now, my question to a friend with siblings as to where and how he relieves himself led to a reciprocation of said question. It was only fair I answer with the truth: I don't habitually do it because, when I get the yearn, I have generally been on good terms with a gentleman fellow who will gladly do the deed for me. This answer got a shocked expression akin to something one would expect if she said she slept with a different man everytime she got the urge for a little lovin'.

Now, my friend who so abruptly and hastily exited the car, the rest of my answer:

'tis true, I would much rather have a man venture down there. It's more enjoyable, there's no awkward angles, and, lets face it, you would rather have a girl doing your job for you every morning if you had the opportunity. Now - here's point number 1 (A number 1, if you will): I don't have a desire to do it every morning like most guys I know. Don't know if you do, but I don't. Hell, I don't have the urge every week even. My needs come sporatically and when they are there, they get satiated.

Watch out, here comes point number 2: if you hadn't shut the car door before I was done speaking, you also would have learned that when the mood strikes at midnight I don't head out to the bar and pull a guy into the ladies room for a little satisfaction. Everyone does it every once in awhile. Hell, Britney Spears even has a song about it.

And finally, point number 3 (C number 3!!!): OK, so I don't really have a whole other point. I needed an odd number and that seemed good enough as any.

Now, The Question is all cleared up.

Bill Lumbergh

No lie, the real life incarnation of Bill Lumbergh is one of the VP's at my company and, lucky me, he sits about 3 cubes away.