Do Lunch

I had my first "lunch meeting" today. As in, hey let's meet and discuss all of this over lunch that the company is paying for. My boss Kevin owed me lunch for completing this ginormous evil paperwork project that no one else was willing to touch with a 10 foot pole and radioactive gear. I'd give you more detail but you probably don't actually care. So anyway, we covered all the work related stuff we had to and then just chatted about what I think my future is with TJ's. It was very enlightening. The big things I took away from our talk, the things I'll have to think lots about...

1) Am I going to stay with TJ's long term?
2) If so, do I want to someday Captain my own store? (he thinks if I want it enough, I could be a first mate inside 2 years)
c) Am I set on moving to Milwaukee?

The whole Milwaukee move is actually something I've thought about a lot lately. The new Minnesota store is doing ridiculously well, and the expectation is that MKE will be good, but probably not quite the same. And Milwaukee will never have more than 3, 4 stores max. That's a small pool. We're opening in the southeast next year and that's going to be a huge growth area. Atlanta into the Carolinas and then Florida. Oh goodness gracious will we do well in Florida.

So where do I want to be? Am I really open to moving anywhere? Even if that means florida? MKE would be easy... and safe...

I guess the biggest problem I have at this point is reconciling my dislike of big city life with the fact that stores will always be in cities, usually big ones and their suburbs. Not someplace like Iowa.

I have a new nickname at work... Little One. At first I didn't think it would stick, like so many of the previous ones. It actually works in two ways.

a) There are two Alex's at the store and I'm the younger/smaller one
b) I'm the newest full timer so I'll take this over rookie

and to be honest I kind of like this one. I don't mind responding to pages for Little One.

PS thanks Angie for the pictures of Chicago I used earlier

Never visit Italy

So far I've avoided posting about the World Cup. Mostly because I was busy either working or actually watching games, but also a little because I know a large portion of my friends don't even really care about soccer.

I can't, however, hold this in.

Italian soccer! The players, the fans, the style in general... I'm fed up. They should all be ashamed of themselves. It makes me physically ill to watch them play and sitting here now remembering this morning's game makes me want to throw up. (for those of you who don't know, this morning an Italian player took a dive in the penalty box in the 93rd minute forcing a PK giving Italy the win after being fairly well dominated all game by Australia) Even typing that just now hurt. I'm really at a loss for words. how do they keep getting away with it? Why isn't there more outrage? Did you know that when Italy was knocked out of the World Cup 4 years ago the man who scored that goal... he played for an Italian club team. I say played because his team boss promptly fired him for "insulting Italian soccer and the nation." This poor guy, all he did was play his heart out for South Korea, the host country! And he got fired!

Ok ranting over. I know it's not fair to hold this against an entire nation, but I will... at least for a little while.

go driving

Sometimes I forget that I live near Chicago. I don't think I'm allowed to say I live "in Chicago" what with being out in the suburbs and all, but I also refuse to ever use the term "chicagoland." Anyway...

Last night leaving work I didn't feel like going home and since I had just made an awesome new mix cd it seemed like a good time to just drive. I'd never really done this before since moving to Illinois so I wasn't quite sure where to go. (this is, btw, how I ended up on a gravel road outside of Solon one night last year) So I got on the Edens and headed downtown. Now I didn't plan on going all the way into the city, but I did. And it was well worth the trip. It's just so big. and bright. and alive. and it's almost as if I live too close to be a tourist, but because I've not been here long and am still discovering a lot of places, when I'm downtown, I feel like a tourist. Still a little bit in awe.



I knew I'd finally adjusted to living here when I felt both in awe and a little bit proud. Like, hey look, this is my city.

Paint

ok so I'm off work, bored, and decided to do this. Some songs seem entirely appropriate, others I couldn't rationalize to save my life... also, I fully expect you to listen to all these songs so you know what I'm talking about. I did it for you. I swear.


Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to the question.


How am I feeling today?
What you think about... - St Germain
No lyrics, just straight jazzy groove. That works.

Will I get far in life?
I Summon You - Spoon
Ignoring the line "The law enforcement’s impressed you’ve survived to this age..." I'll just go to "Got the weight of the world/ I summon you here my love"

How do my friends see me?
Junior Kickstart - The Go Team
I don't know what to say, but for some reason it feels entirely appropriate...? Maybe it's the loud brassy parts that make it work.

When will I get Married?
Tomorrow is a Long Time - Nickel Creek
Wow. I had to look up the lyrics to this one and yea, that's about how I feel about marriage right now.

What is my best friend's theme song?
Tug of War - Nikka Costa
hmmm not really sure how this one works...

What is the story of my life?
So Long Sweet Summer - Dashboard Confessional
It's so corny and yet so true. What am I? twelve?

What is/was high school like?
Animals (live) - Coldplay
The angsty version of high school... It probably fits someone's high school years, but not so much mine.

How can I get ahead in life?
Volcano - Jimmy Buffet
Well can you ever really go wrong taking life advice from Mr Margaritaville himself?

What is the best thing about me?
Another Night - Real McCoy
Obviously this one is less about the actual song and more about my collection of ridiculous 90's dance/pop music. It's ok, I know you're just using me for my Ace of Base collection.

How is today going to be?
Step on it - Teddybears STHLM
ummm this is a very angry song and I didn't even know I had it... I downloaded a bunch of stuff from the band because I love "Little Stereo" and apparently everything else they've done is crap.

What is in store for this weekend?
He's a Rebel - Crystals
Hmm yea, another "I have no idea what the connection is" song. Check back with me monday and maybe it'll all make sense.

What song describes my parents?:
Firesuite - Doves
So this is totally the part of the survey where I think it falls apart. It's a great song, amazing instrumental and I love it, I just don't have an explanation.

To describe my grandparents?
That song from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. You know, the "dun dun chika chi kah oh yea" song

How is my life going?
Faithful - Common
It feels right... plus it's a song that is very "now" in my life. If that made any sense at all.

What song will they play at my funeral?
Get it Together - The GO Team
Actaully a song I would be ok with them playing. It's far too upbeat to be appropriate however.

How does the world see me?
The Game - Jurassic 5
"I'm a rebel with the ghetto finesse..." Yea that sounds about right. See J5 songs are like cheating because I could pick and choose to fit a lyric. Like if I wanted to sound super amazing "I'm sought by most recruiters and heavily recommended..."

Will I have a happy life?
Let Forever Be - Chemical Brothers
I think this means, don't worry about it.

What do my friends really think of me?
Too Much - Dave Matthews Band
Hmmm yea, I'll let you all weigh in on this one...

What should I do with my life?
Papillon - Twilight Singers
French for butterfly, also the title of a Steve McQueen movie about escaping from prison... I'll let you draw your own conclusions

Will I ever have children?
Hey Ma - Camron
No lie. I don't really know what to say. I am slightly embarassed to have to admit I have this song. And that I really do kind of love it.

What is some good advice for me?
Can't Get Next To You - Temptations
I choose to focus on all the things this song claims I can do: turn a grey sky blue, make it rain, build castles from sand, fly, live forever, turn back the hands of time, make the seasons change,

How will I be remembered?
If I Ruled the World - Nas, featuring Lauryn Hill
Like Junior Kickstart, I don't have any explanation, but I still like it.

What is my signature dancing song?
I'm in love - Audio Bullys
I do love the Audio Bullys and really any electronic/dance music would be appropriate here.

What do I think my current theme song is?
This Time - the Verve
Slightly depressing, slightly fitting, slightly optimistic

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Rebel Rebel - Seu Jorge
haha oh team zissou. I'm ok with this.

What type of men/women do I like?
Beautiful Soul - Jesse McCartney
This is the point in the survey at which I was ready to cheat. a) I have to admit I have this song. b) if you already knew I had it, you probably know I secretly kind of love it. c) it's painfully corny. Like I thought the dashboard song was corny, but this just absolutely topped it.
Thankfully it's also the end, so I was spared the private shame of cheating at a blog survey.

So this is my dog. And she's getting old and falls down a lot. Well actually she has always fallen down a lot, but lately has had trouble standing back up. It's sad and a little bit scary. You hear this big thump (not new) and then the little whimpers. Stupid hard wood floors that I fall on too...

Play Ball!

It's baseball season! From now until October, there will always be something to watch on tv. How great is that!

shame, shame, shame

At work we have XM radio. Most of the time we listen to the rock station or the classic rock station or even the 90's, but every once in a while we flip on 20 on 20. This is the top 20 songs on channel 20. And everytime we do I'm left in awe. The top 20 songs... suck. Of the 20 songs, 2 or 3 are decent and/or tolerable, 9 are awful whiny rock songs, and the last are horrible rap songs. I think this is part of what is wrong with people my age. If this is your taste in music, what sort of other life decisions are you screwing up?

That's right, I'm a bit of a music snob. I find humor in the fact that I've been listening to 2 of the top 20 songs since early last summer. Generally speaking, I think I have better taste in music than you.*


*you doesn't include the obvious people... you know who you are...

Socks... rhymes with smocks...

...and smocks is almost my favorite word. My favorite word being smock, in the singular. Say it. Isn't it fun to say? smock. smock. smock.

So apparently I do have things to blog about. I just don't immediately think to blog about them....

I have a new favorite thing! It's one of those little things that can make your day.... new socks. I buy socks in bulk, on the cheap, generally from Target. And I wear them out. Which is a mistake. I recently rediscovered the joy that is brand new socks. The feeling of how your foot can slide in a shoe and how smooth they are on hard wood floors. Of course I have such amazing balance and proprioception* this doesn't cause me any problems at all.

So go out and buy yourself some new socks and share in my joy.



* I've noticed lately that I seem to bump into things a lot and decided it's either dodgy peripheral vision or wonky proprioception. I prefer wonky proprioception to the theory that I might be losing my sight. That's kind of scary.