Ok…so blog challenges are always fun. I’m borrowing this week’s challenge from Sometimes Blonde who borrowed it from Run With Me who borrowed it from Life and Times of Alison & Justin.
Current Book: I’m kind of reading 3 books right now.
The Rushdie book I bought last night and decided to carry it around with me to read on the commute. It’s a paperback…and oddly enough, Rushdie reminds me of how I wrote stories in the 6th grade. No wonder why my teacher was praising my writing back then and foresaw I’d end up being a writer. This book is filled with adventure…and I’m just getting started on it. I think it’s good to read Rushdie every now and again. It reminds me what kind of writer I was and can be…the stuff that makes my professors and teachers exclaim to the class that there is a genuine writer in their midst…but it’s only when I write those kinds of stories…you know, the ones like Rushdie. He reminds me that I need to get back to my roots.
The Son of Neptune is Riordan’s latest in the Percy Jackson stories from the Heroes of Olympus series. I didn’t know this book was out until I saw it on the shelf at Target on Saturday. Since it’s a little bulky and tough to carry around, it’s my bedside table book for now.
I started The Tiger’s Wife a couple of weeks ago, but had to go out and buy it after another patron put a hold on it from the library. I wasn’t able to finish it in 2 weeks, so it’s another book I’ve been carrying around and reading when I can.
Current Playlist: Adele. She’s on repeat, especially “Someone Like You.” I listen to it several times a day.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/hLQl3WQQoQ0]Current Color: Gray, white, purple and pink. Those are the colors I’ve been focusing on as of late because that’s the color palette for my office I’m re-doing.
Current Drink: I’m obsessed with water. My obsession with water went into overdrive in Morocco. I drank two liters of water every single day I was there. I became even more obsessed with water when I didn’t have access to it. That’s one major obsession issue I’ll have to deal with when I get to the desert! Trust me, I may have to move next to the ocean if I can’t get over that obsession.
Current Food: Pad Kee Mao. It’s my favorite Thai dish. If I could, I’d eat it probably every single day.
Current Favorite Show: I don’t watch TV because I don’t have cable. I’m reduced to watching the TV series when it hits DVD. There are the obsessions: Supernatural, The Simpsons, Weeds, The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, Californication, Glee, Dexter and Desperate Housewives. One show I’ve truly come to love lately is Pretty Little Liars.
Current Needs: I currently need to detox my body from it’s sugar high. I am currently on a NO SUGAR diet right now because my body seriously crashed yesterday from the sugar infused holidays. My body needs just the basics right now. I have so many liquids around me…it’s not funny.
Current Triumph: Realizing I’m good at what I do. Someone I had just met told me that I was an excellent writer…that was why the Devils let me cover their team. For years, I didn’t think anything of it, but to have a guy that had been in the business for 20 years tell me that I had achieved something he never could…that speaks highly of what I do. I’m the type of person that just continues to do what they’re doing because they enjoy it, not because they’re looking for self gratification or acknowledgement.
But the true moment of realization that I was good at something didn’t settle in until I was looking at the photos that came in from Snapfish that I had developed from my trip to Morocco. I kept looking at them thinking they were fake somehow…like I was taking credit for doing something that someone else had done. I actually sat there looking at the photos and saying…wow…these are really good…like professional quality good…like stuff that makes me say, “Wow…I actually did this.” That’s what a personal triumph is about…having that “Wow…I actually did this” moment.
It makes me realize that what I look for in a moment can be captured behind the lens…and a lot of times, I’m looking for a beauty in a moment. If I can find it and capture it, that is my “Wow” moment…to me, that’s a personal triumph (especially if I can for once pat myself on the back at a job well done).
It still amazes me that I’ve become good at something, just because my editor told me back in 2007 to start taking photos and don’t stop. I’ve now gotten good at it, because I fell in love with taking photos. Trust me, in 2007…I was a horrible photographer. It’s 4 years later, and I’m crying over a bunch of photos because they are just so beautiful…and I’m trying to tell myself that I took those photos…not someone else.
Current Bane of My Existence: Tourists. Live in NYC…you’ll understand. The tour guides in Morocco thought it was hilarious how I reacted towards tourists. If I saw a tourist group…I’d wait until they were gone or I wouldn’t go over to where they were. My brother even remarked that there were no tourists in my photos. I exclaimed, “That’s because I wait until they’re friggin gone before I take the photo!”
Yeah…the guys in Morocco thought it was hilarious that I would wait until the tourists were gone…yet, I’m a tourist in Morocco. They just found the irony to be hilarious.
Current Celebrity Crush:
Jang Dong-gun (from Warrior’s Way)
Wonder what my man looks like? Why, he looks a lot like Oded Fehr.
Something about those desert nomads…even if it is one that looks like the one from the Mummy. 🙂
Ben Barnes…that’s all I’m going to say.
Current #1 Blessing: Finding Love. You know how you go so long waiting for the love of your life…the one you’re going to spend the rest of your life with? Then when you find that person (for me, I had to go to the most remote part of the world to find the perfect guy for me), it’s like you’ve known them all along. I found love in the most random places in the world with the most random person I could find that is so different than me, but our souls are so alike. That kind of happiness is a true blessing.
Current Indulgence: Well, if you asked me over the weekend what that was…it was Oreos, cookies, chocolates, Twinkies, Cheetos, cupcakes, vodka infused gummies…yeah…this is why I’m detoxing right now.
Current Outfit: Today, I’m wearing my brand new Josie Natori cashmere/silk top that was a gift from my boss. Underneath, I have a black Banana Republic long-sleeeved tee and Gap black pants. Accessories: Bauble Bar cuff and necklace. Shoes: Gold Glitter Ballet Flats. 🙂 Bag of choice today: Marc by Marc Jacobs tote that was also a gift from my boss.
Current Excitement: The Winter Classic begins this weekend. 🙂
Current Mood: Thinking about all of the things I have to do and get done in this very moment.
Current Favorite Holiday Decoration: This time of year…I love the smell of cinnamon. Cinnamon pine cones and cinnamon candles.
Current #1 Item on My Wish List: Well, it was a Marc Jacobs bag…until yesterday. I think on my bucket list…it’s to go to Turkey! Moving to Morocco will make it a little bit easier (and cheaper) to travel around Africa and Europe. After all, tix from Paris to Casablanca were only 32 Euros each way.
Current New Year’s Resolution: Well, I have 10 of them up on Losing 100 Pounds of Unhappiness. But for this site, I wanted to add:
- Smile More.
- Greet people first with a smile or a hello.
- Make effort to make others happy before you make yourself happy.
- Recycle/reuse more.
- Stop using plastic bags, etc.
- Be more green (greener than I am already).
- Finish everything that you start. In other words, stop sabotaging yourself. Finish what you started…and then start on something new.
And from Oprah.com…35 Little Acts of Kindness that are also part of my New Year’s Resolution…
2. Pay the toll for the driver behind you.
3. Take a minute to direct someone who is lost, even though you’re rushing.
4. Write a letter to a child who could use some extra attention. Kids love getting mail.
5. Offer to pick up groceries for an elderly neighbor, especially in extreme weather.
6. Give a homeless person your doggie bag.
7. Say “I love you” to someone you love.
8. Put a coin in an expired meter.
9. Help a mother carry her baby stroller up the subway stairs, or hold a door open for her.
10. Each time you get a new item of clothing, give away something old.
11. Take someone’s shift as the car-pool parent.
12. Bring your assistant coffee.
13. Out of the blue, send flowers to a friend.
14. Say “please” and “thank you”—and really mean it.
15. When you’re on a crowded train or bus, offer your seat to an elderly, disabled or pregnant person.
17. Let a fellow driver merge into your lane.
18. Offer to baby-sit for a single mom.
19. Put your shopping cart back in its place.
20. Call or write to a teacher who changed your life.
21. Bring a box of doughnuts to share at the office.
22. Forgive someone a debt–and never bring it up again.
23. Listen with all your senses.
24. Write a note to the boss of someone who helps you, and explain how great a job that person is doing.
25. Simply say “I’m sorry” when you’re wrong.
26. Throw away your trash—and someone else’s—after a movie, picnic or visit to a park.
27. Encourage someone who seems despondent.
28. Volunteer to take care of a friend’s dog while he is vacationing.
29. Help a friend pack for a move.
30. Ask someone “How are you really doing?”—and then really listen to her response.
31. Offer change when the person in front of you at the register comes up short.
32. Before a friend moves away, give her your favorite recipe or quote and a photo of the two of you together.
33. Leave a generous tip for a pleasant waiter.
34. At work, offer to transfer a caller who needs help from another department.
35. Pass along a great book you’ve just finished reading.
