Nobody puts Jules in the corner

2009-04-14T19:30:00.004-05:00

Day Two - Religion Day!

After our continental breakfast at the hotel, Marcy and I headed over to the Vatican for our tour. Before we left, I had decided to book an official tour through the Vatican because first and foremost I wanted to skip the line, but I also wanted an accurate description of what I was looking at. I figured the tours sanctioned by the establishment would be the best. It was also reasonably priced for what it promised (basically a two hour tour through the Vatican museums).

Since Stacey was not with us, we took a route along the Tiber to the Vatican City, which probably made the journey a little longer than it had to be (Stacey obviously knows the back streets through Trastevere). When we checked the route with the concierge, he was visibly surprised that we would even consider walking there in the first place. Sure, it was on the longer side to walk, but all in all it took us about a half hour. I guess the surprise came from the fact that a bunch of Americans wanted to walk somewhere...

Along the final stretch of the walk to St. Peter’s, we stopped for some water at one of the fountains. I never 100% believed Stacey when she said you could drink from them, but I put my skepticism aside and tried it. Apparently it flows down from the Alps! Turns out it was great water and it saved us quite a few euro over our time there.

We struggled a bit to find exactly where we had to go in order to meet our tour. The ticket I had printed out from the web was in all Italian and I had not remembered that the entrance was all the way around to the side. It ended up being quite a hike from the square, but luckily we were running ahead of schedule. There were also quite a number of cons/inquiries as to if I spoke English along the way. I had read about that, so I kind of knew to expect it, but found it no less surprising. I didn’t remember that from my first trip there, and found it kind of sad when I thought about the people that actually fall for them. Seems kind of hypocritical especially taking place outside the Vatican walls.

As we fought our way to the entrance, I started to get a little nervous that we would miss our tour. As I had mentioned, the ticket was in all Italian so we had no idea where to go. We asked security guards along the way who just kind of pointed, but eventually we found our way to an empty line and skipped all the people. We found our way inside, picked up our headsets and met our tour guide. Since this was a Vatican sanctioned tour, I personally expected a lot, and this little old lady delivered. She also had this incredible knack for fighting her way through the crowds, which there was a lot of. The museum was uncomfortably crowded, but we kept up with her as best we could. The tour guide commented on all the major/important things, but the crowds really made it hard to enjoy 100%. There were times I struggled to even hear her because tours of Spanish teenagers were yelling. Perhaps her best moment was her description of the frescos in Pope Julius II’s apartments painted by Raphael. I enjoyed her interpretation of the contrast between the School of Athens and the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament. She left us at the entrance to the Sistine Chapel, where we were on our own. It was insanely crowded. Security guards further ruined the peace by yelling at people to stop taking pictures, in addition to an automated voice recording reminding people that pictures were forbidden. Kind of made me forget it was a place of worship…

Eventually we had had enough and made our way over to St. Peter’s. We entered through the crypt, which was partially interesting because I got to see the tomb of Pope John Paul II. It was quite beautiful actually and illuminated for all to see. St. Peter’s Basilica itself was as grandiose as I remembered it. My cousin made a comment that it was kind of “gaudy” which at second thought is exactly what it is. It’s a giant monument to the power and wealth of the Vatican. My cousin’s recent travels to Israel made for an interesting dichotomy in her mind I am sure, and seeing it from her perspective was actually interesting. Especially since we followed the Vatican with a trio to the Ghetto and how little there really is to represent this neighborhood and culture. But I suppose that adds to the fact at how oppressed and confined the Jews were for so long.

We didn’t eat lunch in the Ghetto (we had stopped along the way in the Camp de’ Fiori for an incredible Panini), but we did stop for a snack. As we walked down via d’Ottavia, we found this little hole in the wall bakery that had already converted over for Passover. They had two options – biscotti and macaroons. The biscotti were “eh”, but that was the best damn macaroon I have ever had. It was warm and gooey in the middle and for the 75 cents I spent on it, it was WELL spent.

It was later in the afternoon by then, so we headed back to the hotel for a brief siesta (when in Rome!). We met back up with Stacey for dinner and she took us to this out of the way pizzeria in Trastevere that is supposed to be one of the best in Rome. Dar Poeta did NOT disappoint. One of the things I loved about it was that it was impossible to find! But again, I think that speaks to the charm of Rome. You have to do a little digging to find the real gems. The night was crisp, so we sat outside and enjoyed the scene. We shared an ensalata mista (corn, black olives, and mini mozzarella), and then had our own individual pizzas. Nowhere besides Italy is it ok to eat an entire pizza by yourself. I had one with prosciutto, mushrooms, and potatoes. It may have easily been the best pizza I had ever had and I easily finished the whole thing. We then topped things off with a nutella and ricotta pizza for dessert. Delish!

2009-04-09T08:33:00.014-05:00

Day One - Getting the lay of the land

Our flight into Fiumicino was pretty uneventful. On the plane I opted for the the lasagna at dinner which I later regretted. I couldn't wait a couple of more hours for the real thing? When we landed, we managed to get into the fastest moving (and when I say fastest, I mean moving at actual snail pace in comparison to the other lines which weren't moving at all) line at passport control, but our momentum was quickly thwarted when we arrived at the baggage carousel. It took an absurdly long amount of time to retrieve our baggage. But then I breathed and remembered we were in Italy, and poof! The bags appeared!

Once of the services our hotel provided, which I actually considered pretty convenient, was the ability to book a car service from the airport to the hotel for a flat rate of 50 euro. From what I had read, cabs from the airport would have run us about 40 euro, but would also come with the anticipation of "are they going to rip us off?", and "are we going the right way", etc. Better safe than sorry, and figuring on our state of mind after an overnight flight of 8 hours, I went with the extravagance of the car service. And once we completely cleared customs, our car service was waiting with a sign that said "Yuliana Wurzburger". Close enough! Andiamo!

We arrived at the hotel at around 9:30, and were told that not only could we still partake in the continental breakfast, but our room was ready! Excitedly, and rather famished, we dropped our bags off in the room and ran back downstairs for breakfast. There was a definite Italian barrier that I had stupidly forgotten to anticipate and when the waitress asked what kind of coffee I wanted, I managed to get across that I wanted a cappuccino. At least that was a word I knew she would know. The rest of my first Italian breakfast consisted of a piece of rustic Italian bread, a slice of salami, cheese, and an egg. Yummmmmm...

After breakfast we headed back upstairs to get cleaned up and we headed out to meet up with my cousin. For lack of a better plan at that exact moment, we decided to find a money exchange so that I could change some of my dollars to euros. The closest one was by the Pantheon, so we headed over.

Our hotel was pretty much around the corner from my cousin's apartment, and both were in Trastevere. Trastevere was a part of Rome that I had not toured on my previous visit, and I must say, it is now my favorite part of Rome. Trastevere sits on the left bank of the Tiber, so it had a very local feel to it. There were practically no tourists, and was chock full of little trattorias and cafes. Around every corner and down every alley was a new surprise just waiting to be found if you knew where to look. That was what I liked about Trastevere. It wasn't all out there for someone to skim over and absorb in 5 minutes. You had to really walk the cobblestone streets and visit the little shops and cafes to really get the flavor the the neighborhood. You had to make the time.

Case in point, we stopped into a neighborhood deli on the way back from exchanging money. They had all sorts of delicacies, but we stuck with the pizza on the first try. As we were sitting there enjoying the pizza, we noticed a couple of men walk into the establishment. One of the men had an ear piece, and the other was definitely packing heat. The other was an extremely old man. Since they were all in plain clothes, we kind of shrugged everything off until one of the owners started making quite a fuss. We made Stacey ask what the ruckus was all about and it turns out the old man was a previous president of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. At the time we had no idea who he was, but turns out he is the oldest living Italian president. Pretty cool!

Since Trastevere is not as centrally located as other neighborhoods in Rome, public transportation quickly becomes your friend. And its also quite easy to cheat the system as we came to find. Usually when you take public transportation in Rome, you have to visit one of the Tabacchi stores to get a ticket/pass and then you validate it on the bus or tram by swiping it through the machine, only... no one ever checks if you actually swipe. Not the most ethical thing to do, but it definitely helped save a couple of euro here and there! After our pizza lunch, we decided to utilize the fine free public transportation, and headed over to the Villa Borghese where we heard you could rent bicycles and ride around the park. Maybe some endorphins would keep us going!
This turned out to be a great idea as it was a relatively cheap activity (4 euro for an hour), and the park surrounding the villa was quite beautiful and rather peaceful.

We even got some cardio worked in! No doubt we were tired by the end of things, but it definitely made room for our pasta dinner at a local place back in Trastevere. After a plate of Pasta Carbonara, and a glass of the house red, it was sweet dreams for us as we had made it through our first day!

2009-04-09T07:46:00.005-05:00

Italy - A preamble if you will...

It has been quite a while since I have blogged. I can make a brevity of excuses as to why I haven't, but it mostly comes down to time and inspiration.

I very recently embarked on a Roman Holiday. I have been to Italy before (at the beginning of my sophomore year of high school), so from a base perspective a lot of what I saw wasn't "new". But how I saw it was drastically different. The country really surprised me, in multiple ways to say the least. So suffice it to say, my previous inspiration excuse really doesn't hold. And since I have some time over the next couple of days to document my thoughts... I really have no reason not to share them!

Just to preface, on my previous trip to Italy I was 15, missing what was initially supposed to be the first three weeks of school, and going with my grandfather. At the time, I very much appreciated the experience my grandfather was providing for me, but retrospectively and almost 15 years later, I have realized that I was lacking a certain amount of maturity to really understand what I was experiencing. I just had too much going on hormonally! But I think a lot of what enables us to understand our experiences as adults comes from just living life. And while I was anything but a sheltered 15 year old, I still hadn't yet done enough living.

So what will follow here are some highlights and thoughts on my time in Italy over the past week and a half. Enjoy!

2008-10-03T19:15:00.003-05:00

Spaghetti Cat!

It's been a while since my last entry. No tears please... But I figured I should get back into the habit and what easier way than posting content from something else!

The Soup on E! is one of my favorite shows and in this time of constant political strife, sometimes its fun to just watch nonsense and laugh. The below clip explains itself, but for some reason I just find it HI-larious! Enjoy!

2007-04-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

Wow... Jimmy Kimmel is an asshole...

Not sure who has caught the interview Jimmy Kimmel conducted on Larry King Live last Friday (he was guest hosting) with editor Emily Gould from Gawker.com, but this man clearly has lost his "sense of humor".

Just as a quick background, the main beef was with one of Gawker's cheesy features called the Gawker Stalker Map. Kimmel and his cronies guesting on the show maintain that it helps stalkers and paparazzi terrorize the lives of celebrities. For those that are not regular readers of the site, the map is a (rarely a up to the minute) representation of where celebs are. It's mostly where they have been. Like three hours ago. It's also VERY tongue and cheek. Hardly taken seriously by anybody with some common sense. I find it very hard to believe that a professional paparazzi uses Gawker.com to find out where celebs are. They are ahead of the game. They are waiting outside the celebs home. Don't you watch E! - they are all outside Britney's house in Malibu. Also, they have all sorts of electronic gadgets like GPS, and two way walk-talkies - not to mention cell phones. They aren't checking Gawker.com for leads. And if they are.. they should rethink their vocation.

Truth be told, the map is kinda dumb and I can see the potential danger if used by the wrong people (i.e. people that are insane), but how the interview erupted into an attack on Gawker itself was completely ridiculous. It took a hard left turn from criticism of the Map to how Gawker is full of slanderous and libel content. Ummmm.. its a blog! Its not Time Magazine!

And can somebody please tell me who the hell is Jimmy Kimmel to even try to have this conversation?! He is a completely biased party who apparently has a personal vendetta against the site (they made fun of him back in the summer of 2006). Boo to CNN for allowing him to make this interview into a personal attack on the site.

Perhaps the most mind boggling thing to me is that Kimmel was actually serious in his anger and accusations. This is the same man who no more than 6 years ago was on a Comedy Central program called the "Man Show" where one of the highlights was to have buxom females jump on a trampoline in bikinis for enjoyment.

My personal favorite bits of the interview are -

Jimmy's "experts" are Michael Jackson's lawyer, and Isiah Washington's publicist. Wow.. that's some client list guys. How do you even have time to come on the show? Don't you have your hands full?
When Jimmy Kimmel says he "doesn't understand why anybody would buy advertising on a website"- ummm to reach consumers? Why buy ads on the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show? So you can actually have a show? Idiot...
When Kimmel says it's stupid and silly to think that all celebrities have money. Umm don't they?
When Jimmy Kimmel basically tells Emily Gould she should re-examine her life because she is going to hell in a hand-basket. Good thing he took time to re-examine his and went from a beer guzzling frat boy to a holier-than-thou elitist. Nice suspenders buddy...

But that's just my opinion. Judge for yourself. Just make sure you agree with me. :)

2007-02-15T15:47:00.000-05:00

You're disturbing my oboe practice...

Since I am winding down things at my old job, I am pretty much bored senseless. Therefore I can regale all of you with more tales of my uber exciting life.

I am pretty lucky to live in a cheap, rent controlled apartment with a Soho zip code. The building is a tenement circa 1900 and my apartment hasn't been renovated in a good 10/15 years... if even that. I think the last big addition was the wall that was put up to take the bathtub out of the kitchen. And with my cheap, rent controlled apartment comes others of the like... and that sometimes means student tenants.

I was a student once... but I was a student in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania and lived in an apartment with other students in a building that was made to house loud, obnoxious, drunken students like me. My loud obnoxious habits didn't bother anybody who wasn't currently living the same lifestyle. Unfortunately that is not the case with my current living situation.

Thanksgiving 2005 I came home to my apartment after a long weekend in New Jersey to find the ceiling in my bathroom caved in from a raucous party that my upstairs neighbor had over the long weekend in which her toilet had overflowed thus creating water damage and a caved in ceiling. She was a local NYU college student. Bless her... Needless to say she has since moved out because now I have fabulous new student neighbors. Boy ones that make loud noises when they walk and have parties where young co-eds giggle till 4AM on Monday nights... Wow.. i sound like Mr. Heckles... :(

Needless to say last weekend I got fed up. I was also cranky and jet-lagged but nevertheless they were being LOUD! Every five minutes or so there would be a huge crash upstairs like they were dropping bodies to the ground! I grabbed the broom and rap rap rap knocked the ceiling three times. "Stop that!" It didn't stop. In a furious rage I ran upstairs and knocked on the door. I could hear them whispering amongst themselves saying things like "Oh shit" and "just say we're sorry" and "just answer the door". A very sweet faced youth answered the door and I calmly tried to explain who I was and why I was snarling. Turns out they are in fact students... film students no less trying to make a movie. What I heard was literally a body hitting the floor - they were filming a scene where somebody was falling out of bed. Well I instantly felt bad (those who know me know my passion for movies) and I just asked that they let me know next time they have to do something like this so I don't think they are just being inconsiderate. He amicably agreed and since then its been pretty peaceful. My luck I told the next Steven Spielberg to keep it down! :)

2007-02-14T15:29:00.000-05:00

Neighborhood Hangout....

I have slowly come to the realization that I live down the street from a methadone clinic... At first I just thought some really weird people were living in my neighborhood, but then I woke up and realized, nope! They are just struggling drug users! Oh wait.. I dont think my roommate ever knew this... SURPRISE BRIDGET! :)

My typical morning route to the subway brings me up along Lafayette Street and the corner of Spring Street. To most people that know this area, it’s pretty trendy. The streets are lined with cute little boutiques and restaurants. Furthermore the people that live in this neighborhood are either trendy/artsy hipsters, trust fund babies, or high powered executives (I fit into none of these categories personally… I just got lucky with a cheap rent-controlled apartment :)) So when I began noticing a distinguishable crowd that regularly entered this neighborhood every morning and basically hung out on the corner of Spring and Lafayette I began to wonder. And for the record, when I say distinguishable, I mean these people look like they have come from the hinterlands of Pensultucky. Either that or the trailer parks of Suffolk county…

Anyway, I noticed that they were all hanging out by this doorway that looked to be a doctor's office of sorts. Only the windows had bars and the door was padlocked at night. Seemed a little extreme for the local GP if you asked me. And then one day I heard one of them talking about how if you don't go at the time you are assigned they won't give you any and that right there sealed the deal for me... a doctor's office with bars and a regulated dispensing time?? I mean really...

How did I ever confirm my suspicion you ask? Well weirdly enough I was at a work dinner with one of my salespeople who confirmed it for me. I maintain that the confirmation she offered me was because of the fact that she used to live in the neighborhood and not because she herself was a client of that particular clinic… yeesh… :)

2006-12-15T15:40:00.000-05:00

Abercrombie ruined Hanukkah!

That's it! I am sooooo done! I am starting a boycott of that nasty, racist, no-good craptastic company Abercrombie & Fitch. Who's with me? Screw the eyecandy and the six pack abs! May they all have a flabby gut and saggy man breasts!

I wanted to get my brother some stuff that I thought was WAY cute, and since there is no abercrombie kids in the city, I decided to save time and order online. WHAT A MISTAKE! I checked the order today for the status since it hadn't shipped out yet which I thought was odd considering I had only ordered TWO items. When I called customer service I got some brat named James who cleverly reminded me that this is indeed their busiest time of year, that it would probably ship tomorrow, and that there is a guarantee that I will have it by Christmas. Well Earth to James! There are other holidays besides Christmas (which I cleverly reminded him) and having it by December 25th was not going to help! I pleaded for any help in that matter and he said "There is nothing else I can do". I was SO mad at that point that I yelled "Happy Holidays!" and hung up.

When I told my mom what had happened she said you should have asked for a supervisor and cancelled the order. What genius I thought! I am a supervisor at my job! Maybe we could talk man to man! Sup to sup! So I promptly called back sure I could explain my situation, cancel my order and be done. Well of course no such luck!

When I got somebody else on the phone ( I was really nervous I would get James again after I had hung up), they informed me that my order has been packaged and they cannot cancel the order at this time. WHAT?? "How convenient", I snarled. When I asked to speak to a manager he gave me the same BS excuse that "Idiot James" had and wiped their hands of the situation. But I am a fellow sup!! Man to man!! *crickets*....

He said I am more than welcome to return the gift to the store when I receive it to which I replied... "If I had known that the experience of ordering online would have been so sub par to just walking in the store, I never would have ordered in the first place." That got nuthin. I tried everything! Shipping it faster? No. Cost off my order? No. Smug bastards! So my next logical step as my friend Allison as taught me... I wrote a scathing letter...

I have NEVER experienced such POOR customer service than I have this holiday from abercrombie kids and abercrombiekids.com. In the interest of saving time and trying to add a little more cheer to my brother's Hanukkah, I decided to order two items from this website. It has taken 4 full business days to package my order of 2 items. I can understand this problem if I had ordered 10/15 items, but I ordered TWO!

As of today it has yet to ship and when I called customer service today to inquire about what happened they had absolutely no explanation beyond an extremely blunt, "Sorry its our busiest time of year","There is nothing I can do to help you" and my absolute favorite, "You should have it by Christmas"". I would just like to point out that there are other holidays in this world besides Christmas and sometimes people need their gifts before the ever popular December 25th.

When I suggested that then maybe there should be some verbiage on that site that says shipping time could be lagged due to the busy holiday season and that saying that your order should arrive in 7-10 business is not enough, I was told that they are not going to say that just for one time of year...which coincidently is your busiest time of year as I was told 10 times.

Furthermore when I requested to cancel my order, conveniently enough I could not because it had already been packaged. When I asked if my order could be send via a quicker method, they said it was not possible.

I find this extreme disregard for customer service so unacceptable from such a large corporation. I have had absolutely NO problems from any other corporation this holiday season and I find my experience dealing with your rude customer service so lacking in compassion for my situation that I am seriously considering the further purchase of anything online or in-store from any Abercrombie facility ever again.

I have yet to hear back....

I am so OVER Abercrombie! Who's with me??

Sorry Maxxie..You will just have to settle for a different company that pays Indonesian children 5 cents an hour to make your clothes. Abercrombie ruined Hanukkah...Bastards...

2006-11-10T09:59:00.000-05:00

Do I look Bosnian to You?

Most mornings on the subway to work are uneventful. Yes, there is a occasional shoving match or yelling fit induced by a cranky commuter, but most people mind their own business and never interrupt the morning space. The Morning Space is what I like to refer to the numb void of time in which I usually exist between commuting from my apartment to work. I either read a book or listen to my iPod, but its mainly a mental exercise to cut out everybody around me until I have had at least one cup of coffee.

This morning started out the same as most. I caught the W at Prince Street, grabbed a seat and rode along reading my book. The train was unusually crowded today. I find that most people avoid the W because they are unsure of where it goes, but today it was wall to wall people. When we arrived at 42nd street most of the crowdedness had subsided and there was room to sit. I decided to put my book away since it was boring me at that point - Mistake #1. You should always have something to distract you during the Morning Space. If you are distracted by something people are less likely to talk to you.

All of a sudden the person sitting next to me starts talking to me. In a thick eastern European accent I hear the words -

"Excuse me, how many languages you speak?"
Me-"Ummmm excuse me?"
Subway Man-"How many languages you speak?"
Me-"Ummmm I dunno... why?"
Subway Man-"You look like somebody from my country... Bosnia. Dis is how I can tell if you speak other languages... are you from Bosnia?"
Me-"Ummmm no..."
Subway Man-"Ah, so you from here? You're parents born here? You live here?"
Me-"Yes..."
Subway Man-"Ah ok cause you look like girl from my country, you look European. You speak other lanuages?
Me-"Ummm yeah... I can speak other languages, but not very well..."
Subway Man-"Interesting.. cause you look like you're Bosnian."

At this point I was not about to go into my entire patriarchal history which does include the fact that I am a first generation born American Wurzburger and that my father's parents including himself were all from Eastern Europe. Plus this dude was a far cry from Luca on ER. I was also not in the mood to continue talking since he had already clearly interrupted the Morning Space, so I decided to get off a stop early at 49th and walk the rest of the way...

Me-"OK well... ummmm... thanks... This is my stop... I have to go... sorry..."

Jennifer Garner I have gotten... Bosnian? That's new...

2006-10-13T15:28:00.000-05:00

Thank you JJ Abrams...

Even if you are not a regular viewer of the series LOST, I think most people I know will enjoy this clip. It sure as heck left me with the chuckles for a bit. :)

2006-08-30T10:36:00.000-05:00

New Pet Peeve...

I think I officially hate the phrase "friendly reminder". Has email etiquette in the workplace become so sensitive that we have to clarify the tone of the reminder? I mean really... What other type of reminder would it be people? Where did this tirade come from you ask? I received the following email from the office admin today...

"Friendly reminder I will be out starting tomorrow August 31st returning on September 5th."

If anything I think it sounds smug. Oh but wait you say - Jules, its a FRIENDLY reminder! There is no animosity intended. She has totally caveated her tone! She wasn't in anyway trying to perhaps rub everybody else's face in the fact that she doesn't have to work and we do!

And I say pish tosh! Bitch is laughing at all us suckers that have to work tomorrow. I should write back and say "This is a passive aggressive reminder that I don't care".

Ok, fine. I'm a little cranky today...
Stupid weather.

2006-06-19T12:47:00.000-05:00

Return to Junior High....

As most of you know, I have a little brother named Maxx. And while there is nothing extraordinary about that, we have an unusual age difference between us - 14 years (yes same parents - that's usually the next question). Needless to say, we don't have a typical brother/sister relationship. I mean lets face it - its hard when there are that many years between us. As a 21 year old, I didn't really have much in common with a 7 year old - while his B may have been for Barney, my B was for BEER! :)

However, the last year or so has been the most fun so far - since he was a baby anyways. We finally can have discussions where we can both relate whether it be about bullshit from our parents or him asking me for girl advice (I know - TOO CUTE!). Perhaps this recent ability to relate is also due to the fact that he is finally at an age I can remember being! But its scary how easily you can get wrapped up in the drama that was junior high buy just listening to all the apparent drama my brother tells me.

Maxx is currently finishing up seventh grade - the same year I moved to the town I eventually spent the rest of my adolescence in. Do you remember what Junior High was like? I sure do... It sucked! I had just moved to a new town where most of the kids had known each other since kindergarten, and I was definitely the odd one out. All I wanted was to be popular and hang with the "cool" kids. But no tears! I turned out just fine thanks! Except for the one scaring incident where... nevermind. :)

But needless to say from what I have been told, the age difference between Maxx and I is seen as somewhat of a cool thing amongst his friends. I do spoil my brother more than I should I suppose (i.e. iPod Nano for holiday gifts, Abercrombie clothes, etc), but I guess when it comes down to it I am just not mean to him like his friends' siblings must be since they are in fact closer in age. I obviously don't see the need to torture and torment him like most other people did their siblings when they were younger and I guess that makes me cool in the eyes of his friends. That and the fact that I can drive them around while they blast the radio...

My brother is definitely one of those "cool" kids I sooo wanted to be. He's athletic, popular and outgoing. Hotness is simply implied since we are in fact from the same gene pool - I mean really... But the cutest thing ever is that Maxx has a girlfriend (squee!) who apparently happens to be one of the "hottest" girls in school.

I have only officially met Maxx's girlfriend once at one of his games but I have seen her a bunch of times at other games that my brother was playing in (she and all her friends all come and root the boys on - SQUEE x 2!). I usually don't say anything to her because I don't know her, but just last night I found out that apparently she thinks I hate her! Helloooo junior high! Here's what happened - Last night I was at my parents house and my brother was on the phone with her (oy the 2 hour conversations) and she flat out asked him to ask me if I hate her. I was so dumbfounded that I didn't know how to respond. I haven't been asked a question like that since... well since JUNIOR HIGH! Meanwhile Maxx is mouthing to me "Say NO! SAY NO!", I was like, "Maxx - I don't even know her, how can I hate somebody I don't know", and that apparently wasn't the right answer because then Maxx proceeded to say back to his girlfriend "well she doesn't know if she hates you cause...". You forget that we are talking about 13 year olds here! I quickly recovered and yelled, "MAXX!! No I don't hate her"! I swear I felt like I was back in 8th grade passing notes - Circle YES or NO - do you like me?

So does this mean that the coolest girl in school wants me to like her? Finally, I am deemed cool by the 13 yr olds! Now where's my New Kid's tape... :)

2006-05-31T14:20:00.000-05:00

Don't they have Starbucks in Nebraska?

Yes folks, its Summertime. And with summer comes mosquito's, even smellier subways, and oh yes... Tourists from Sheboygan. Where is Sheboygan you ask? Well apparently somewhere where people don't have the normal routine of breakfast. Confused? Lemme 'splain...

There is but one decent deli and Starbucks in my direct path to the office when I come out of the subway. I typically don't like to veer off a direct path to the office, so if I am stopping for coffee or breakfast, it has to be on the way. Call it OCD, it is what it is. I don't go around the corner for eggs.

Since it has become summer, I have switched to iced coffee, so I have been stopping in the Cafe Metro (yes the same one where I forgot my oatmeal). Everytime I go in there, there is a family of 8 trying to order "breakfast to stay" in line in front of me. As they take an hour to decide if they want their bagel toasted or their eggs scrambled, or if they want turkey or regular bacon with their pancakes, I try to make eye contact with the grill man behind the sneezeguard, secretly pleading for him to take my order first. At least I KNOW what I want. I get the same damned thing everyday. The guy just looks at me as if to say "Stupid Gringa, get here 20 minutes earlier and you wouldn't have this problem. At least you aren't the one taking the order from these pendejos."

And PS - who the hell gets pancakes at cafe metro anyways?? Hit the diner across the street for chrissake of you want a whole spread. This place is for egg sandwiches. MAYBE an omelet. But its seriously as if these people have never ordered in a deli before. Don't they have eggs and toast in Iowa??? I mean really.

Paying is a whole 'nother problem too. Of course there are two of the slowest people behind the registers, and they have to go through the entire order with the people paying to make sure they have everything straight because god forbid you ring up that egg white omelet WITHOUT the cheese! Just give my me ice coffee with skim please!!! No - I said SKIM!!! This is made with 2%. No seriously I can tell... skim is not creamy. Ugh.

2006-04-12T08:15:00.000-05:00

Celeb Sighting Alert!

Ok I know I am late with finishing the recap of my trip, but work has been really busy. And since I haven't joined the 21st century (officially anyways, although I did join Netflix yesterday!) and I don't have a computer at home, work is the only time I can really post. However this celeb sighting trumps Europe for the time being...

I was coming in early to get some work done and I made my usual stop at the tourist ridden Starbucks on 55th and 7th (this daily ritual has enough fodder for a whole other posting... trust me). As I made my way down 7th Ave to my office I noticed a bunch of movie trailers parked along 55th and on 7th. As I wondered to myself what they were filming, while simultaneously crossing over 7th avenue to get to the east side of the street, who do I see walking towards me but Drew Barrymore with like 5 people in tow. I couldn't believe it was her!! Granted she looked like she had just rolled out of bed, but she was definitely fabulous, and one of my best sightings to date. :) I was so star struck that I forgot my oatmeal 5 minutes later when I left Cafe Metro. Hee hee...

2006-03-31T14:10:00.000-05:00

European Vacation - Part Deux

The weather in Paris was not sunny - in fact it rained for the majority of our stay. But it really just added to the magic of the city. It really is amazing seeing sights in person that you have only read about in books or seen on TV and in the movies, and that is pretty much what my entire trip to Paris was - amazing sights.

Our first morning in the City of Lights, Bridget and I found a nearby boulangerie where we successfully managed to order two croissant without incident. I really wanted a cup of coffee to go with it, but apparently there is no such thing as a "cup of coffee to go" in Paris. Its all about the cafe experience, sitting and absorbing etc. So I had to go without.

We decided to begin the day at Notre Dame. We purchased our Carnet (pack of 10 Metro tickets) and set out on the 4 line to Cite. This cathedral really is quite beautiful. The stained glass windows were extraordinary despite the gray skies. We even climbed to the top to see the views and the gargoyles up close. Claustrophobia almost became an issue since the entrances up and down the stairwells are one in the same. But it was definitely worth the view in my opinion, and the sore legs from climbing the stairs. :)

After Notre Dame, Bridget and I headed towards the Louvre. On the way we found a boulangerie selling baguettes. Since my return, people have asked me what my best meal in Paris was. The baguette that I bought in this boulangerie was by far the best thing I ate there. I never knew ham, cheese, butter, a freshly baked bread, and little lettuce could taste so good. I dunno if I was just so hungry, or if it was that good, but regardless it was Heaven.

When we arrived at the Lourve, the rain was just tapering off, and a little blue sky managed to peak out. I am pretty proud of the picture I got (pictures to come, I promise) that captures the moment. This is a museum I have always dreamed of visiting, and the setting as we arrived really matched the moment. I couldn't believe how big the museum was! I don't think I ever realized how massive it was. We must have spent 5 hours in that museum, and didn't see everything... Even though it felt like we did. And as cheesy as it sounds I honestly got goosebumps when I saw the Mona Lisa. :)

Later on, Bridget and I dragged ourselves to a restaurant in the 5th arrondissment that was mentioned in Frommer's Guide Book that ended up being really good! Some locals and a lot of ex-pats made the atmosphere feel like we fit in, yet that we were definitely in Paris. The staff was also very jovial and were very nice and helpful to us. The fois gras and the wine was fantastic, not to mention the apple tart we had for dessert. With the little energy we had left, we dragged ourselves back to the hotel and fell asleep. ;)

2006-03-30T17:29:00.001-05:00

European Vacation - Part One

Monday night's flight out of Newark was delayed over an hour due to our fabulous Vice President being in town. Apparently all the planes had to be grounded until security did their thing. We eventually got off without a hitch and landed without incident. Bridget and I picked up our packs from the baggage claim and headed towards central London.

When we arrived at Victoria station via the Gatwick express (very speedy) we headed onto Kings Cross/St. Pancras station (and yes I did find Platform 9 3/4) to check our packs so we could further explore the city a bit until we were due in Kettering to meet Kat. We found a great pub for some lunch down by St. Paul's Cathedral (truly Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece) - Bangers and Mash for me and a pint, and then walked around St. Pauls a bit. We then headed up towards Covent Garden where I found perhaps the BEST cookie bakery anywhere on the face of the Earth (Ben's Cookies), and Bridget found the best Exchange Bureau in all of London!

Afterwards, we headed back to King's Cross to meet the train to Kettering (pronounced Ket-Ring). I must admit, the train systems in Europe made me nervous. Yes they are reliable and excellent in terms of operations (save maybe the Eurostar but its still new and more about that later), but Europeans are psycho about their trains and very strict about your comings and goings. What would be considered their commuter rails i.e. NJ transit are much more limited and have so many more restrictions. You have to know well in advance of your schedule or else you pay dearly for it... In pounds... :) You can't just buy a ticket and go.

Visiting the countryside was beautiful. Kat picked us up, and took us home to her house in Desborough where her and Alan treated us to a dinner of fish and chips (I even had it with the Malt Vinegar and ketchup! YUM) and we passed out on the couch while Alan watched the Liverpool/Chelsea match. The next day whilst Kat was off at work, Bridget and I amused ourselves with a local town that was about a mile walk from Desborough. Yes, we looked a little funny and stuck out, but we had a great time. There was a lovely tea house called Windmills where we were the only patrons. We sampled a pot of their cream tea (English breakfast tea and milk) as well as some of the snacks. The last time I was in England, I definitely don't remember the food being as good, but this trip has definitely changed my mind about British cuisine. Scones, clotted cream and strawberry preserves may just be the best thing ever!

Thursday we headed to back to London. The day was perfect, nary a cloud in the sky. After we checked our packs at Waterloo station, we had quite a bit of time to kill before our 6PM train to Paris. We decided to visit the Tower of London which in my opinion is one of the best attractions in London. If you get a good tour guide (the cheekier the better) your tour will not only be informative, but entertaining as well.

Once 5PM rolled around, we headed back to Waterloo to check into Eurostar. This was probably the part of the trip I was most looking forward to. Not only going to Paris, but traveling via one of the fastest trains in the world, and via the Chunnel. Check-in was virtually snag free, and we boarded the train and arrived in Paris 2:20 later. Navigating the Metro was fantastically easy (luckily Bridget's co-worker and given her two Metro tickets to get her started), so we popped right on the 4 line and headed to our hotel in Montparnasse.

The neighborhood we stayed in was a bit far out of things, but literally across the street from a good metro line, so that made up for things. Still, the next time I go, I would much rather stay in either the 5th, 6th or 7th arrondissment. These neighborhoods are much more "Parisian" in my opinion, and although Montparnasse is more unexplored and untouristy - that's why I was in Paris... To be a tourist.

More tomorrow... :)

2006-01-18T10:07:00.000-05:00

Terms of Endearment

Most of you know that my current client is a Japanese automotive company. For the most part though, the only Japanese people that are stationed in this American subsidiary are very senior, and I usually do not have much contact with them. The day to day people that I deal with at this company are for the most part American.

However, there is one Japanese man in particular that does request information from me directly every month or so. This past month, I had to do something over and above what I usually do, and I suppose that helped him out a great deal because I subsequently received an email back from him addressing me as Juliana-san and thanking me! How cool is that??

Totally made my day... :)

2006-01-18T09:47:00.000-05:00

Life Altering Moment...

For those of you who know and love my dad you may be shocked to find out the following. He shaved off his mustache Friday....

For those of you who don't know my dad from Adam, let me explain...

My dad has had this mustache for almost 25 years. It's like his trademark! In the past he has always threatened to shave it off, and my family usually screams in horror, "NO"! When asked who would play my dad in a movie, my family always, automatically and without a second thought says Cheech Marin. CLEARLY, we cannot use this reference anymore... Whenever my dad and my uncle Jeff (who has always been taller and leaner than my dad and who also has a mustache) are ever in the same room, my cousins, brother and I always called them Mario and Luigi! CLEARLY that opportunity has passed...

I (to my best recollection) cannot even remember a moment in my life where he has never donned his infamous set of facial whiskers. My mother often recalls for me this one time circa 1981 (that I clearly do not remember) when he decided to shave it off and I being a mere two years old saw him emerge from the bathroom clean shaven and immediately burst into tears. Apparently I didn't recognize him and wouldn't go near him until he had grown it back. Yeah I was a cutie, wasn't I?

And now with less than six months till Maxx's Bar Mitzvah, my dad has decided to make this bold and outrageous move. Will he grow in back in time? In my opinion, all the pictures from this event will not capture the true Michael Wurzburger if he has not grown back his faithful friend.

I hate change... Sigh...

2005-11-17T14:11:00.000-05:00

4, 8, 15, 16, 23 , 42...

Myrna, the assistant planner in my office, is a fan of the hit ABC TV show Lost. She watches it every week with her husband David. We discuss it every Thursday morning. I asked her if she watched it, she says yes, to which I reply - "I have absolutely no idea what is going on, and I love it."

Today she told me a quick story today about how David plays the lotto every week, and how recently he played very special numbers... The Lost numbers.

Needless to say he did not win, but can you imagine the number of people nowadays that play these numbers in the hopes that they too will be the next Hurley? Well when I googled the numbers today, I learned that David was not the only lotto player to have taken a chance on these cursed digits. According to a Wisconsin lottery official, more than 840 people across 5 states played the Lost numbers in a recent October 19th PowerBall drawing for $340 million. Note that 27 states, including the District of Columbia participate in Powerball. If you prorated the number of players to account for all 27 states, that would have meant that over 4,700 people actually had the gusto to play those numbers. Say that the Lost number had won. The $340 million pot would have equaled about $36,000 in David's eyes once the other 4,500 people got their share, and of course half is taken out for taxes.

This would however make for an amazing PR scandal. Say Powerball and ABC got together and rigged the outcome of its next huge payday. The media would have a literal field day on this!! I can see the headlines now - "Man wins $350 million using ABC's hit show's most cursed figures!" Aside from this being totally illegal, it would from a PR standpoint be very cool.

2005-11-04T16:30:00.000-05:00

"Sweet" Sure Ain't What it Used to Be...

Not many people are familiar with the phenomenon that occurs when the song "Pour Some Sugar on Me" comes through the airwaves. But fear not! I am here to shed some light... Believe it or not when this song plays, most women cannot control their urge to dance like a stripper.

Don't believe me? Walk into any bar across America where this song is playing and if the crowd is dancing, take a look at how the female contingency is moving because they will inevitably be moving like the new girl at Stillettos- swaying their hips back and forth and doing that "up, down crouch" move. And the more liquor in their system, the more dirty the dancing!

How do I know? What makes me the expert you ask? Well not only have I been witness to it on many an occasion, I've done it myself! HEY! No judging! You try attending a Big Ten school and not dancing like a slut at least once! It's hard! They practically pull you aside at orientation and give you a pamphlet...

C'mon admit it! If you are of the female sex, every time you've heard this song played - whether it was back in college, in the car, or at some fratty bar on the Upper East Side - you get the undeniable urge to find a pole and start dancing. If you are still shaking your head no, well now you are just lying to yourself.

I don't know what causes this phenomenon, I just know that it exists. Perhaps there are some sort of subliminal messages worked into the song, i.e. "Take your clothes off and dance like a ho"?. Or maybe its just the lead singer's melodic voice singing such eloquent lyrics as "You got the peaches, I got the cream; Sweet to taste, saccharine; 'Cos I'm hot, say what, sticky sweet; From my head, my head, to my feet". Yeah that has nothing to do with it...

So the next time you hear this song playing observe the people around you. Be sure not to call attention to the theory because that will undoubtedly curve the results. Just keep a keen eye open and some small bills on hand. ;)

2005-11-01T13:18:00.000-05:00

Halloween Rant

What the hell is wrong with people today? The costumes women are wearing on Halloween these days have really gotten out of hand. I was at the West Village Halloween Parade last night, and it was astounding how many girls I saw there parading around in their underwear, butts hanging out... What is this - 19th century Paris? I don't recall buying a ticket to the Moulin Rouge! Put some damn clothes on!

I remember when Halloween was an excuse to don a cute little costume and go get some candy. Maybe even do a little mischief, watch a scary movie - basically have the chance for one day to somebody you are not. Why would anybody want to purposely be slutty? Is that an attribute people seriously consider desirable in a woman? I mean beyond the Frat house? Does anybody ever say - hey I am sure glad my mom is slutty! No, of course not!

I can't even begin to tell you how many Slutty Little Bo Peeps I saw, or Slutty Cops, or (and this really blows my mind) Slutty Rainbow Brites! Rainbow Brite is NOT supposed to be slutty! She is an icon of my youth! She and Starlite used to ride the rainbows of Rainbow Land and end the mischief cause by Murky and Lurky!! .... ... Where was I?

Look, I really have no problem with slutiness on its own. Let it be your way of life if that is what you want! Just don't use an otherwise fun time of year as an excuse to be one. Look at Paris Hilton - she doesn't limit herself to one holiday. Why should the rest of America's female population let it? If you want to be a slut - be a slut! Let your inner whore shine! But if you are just doing it to get attention and otherwise contribute to the degradation of today's woman, try using your imagination instead. You may be surprised what you will think of...

2005-10-31T09:10:00.000-05:00

Pop Ploy?

Is it me, or does the "all new" Regular/Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper tastes just the same as Regular/Diet Dr. Pepper? I see no taste difference between the two. Are my taste buds really that worn out? Have I outgrown my abilities to distinguish between flavors?

I definitely agree that Diet Dr. Pepper tastes more like regular Dr. Pepper that it did before, and as a diet soda drinker I am definitely grateful for that. But what if Dr. Pepper's parent company Cadburry Schweppes for some reason is unable to create any other flavor except the Dr. Pepper flavor? Maybe they are just dicking with us now... MAYBE in an attempt to widen their market share, they say have created this brand except they are really filling all their cans with Dr. Pepper and just calling it by a different name!!

Or maybe I just cannot tell the difference... :)

2005-10-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

America's Next Top Model?

Sometimes when I am walking amongst the streets of NYC listening to my iPod and its playing a really cool upbeat song, I suddenly find myself pretending I am a model walking in a runway show. My gait becomes a little longer and I put this "I'm so sexy" face on.

Thank you Tyra Banks... :)