July 2004 Archives

[Editor's note: This entry is from yesterday -- could not publish due to some now-resolved site issues.]

Manhattan User's Guide is a great site -- it has tips on everything from good moving companies to where you can get your knives sharpened; news on weekend events and new restaurants; and general items of interest for people who live and work around Manhattan. The site is updated every day, or you can subscribe to their daily e-mail.

Today's item is an excellent suggestion that everyone -- even non-New Yorkers -- should read: the "Go Bag." Basically, it's a bag for your home with important items you may need in case of a terrorist attack: documents, water, extra keys, cash, etc. The link discusses these items, plus more essentials, in detail.

With the increased talk of attacks, it doesn't hurt to have something like this available. Mind, if you can't get home to get your "go bag," that's a whole 'nother story; I, for one, have a modified version at work already. (After last summer's blackout, I learned the importance of having comfy shoes and a flashlight!)

Okay, people, this is just fucking bizarre. I post one offhand entry about a pool noodle, and suddenly my blog's getting more action than it has in weeks! (Huh huh huh -- I said, "action." Huh huh!)

So here it is -- click the lil'picture and you can get a big picture of the pool noodle in all its green glory. You also get to see my fabulous Ikea couch and my UglyDoll, Oxy. :)

And why, exactly, do I have this object in my abode? It's part of my physical therapy -- I have cysts (benign) and fluid around my knees, and my leg muscles are also unbalanced. I've got one set of muscles that's vastly stronger (and tighter) than the other set, and it's making my kneecaps go awry. Part of my therapy is to lie on the pool noodle and (swear to God) rub my upper outer thighs back and forth on it, basically massaging my upper quad with my body weight to try and loosen it up.

While this sounds vaguely sexual, it's not -- it's fucking painful, in fact. I've got a love-hate relationship with that pool noodle -- and that's no piece of strudel.

Results, baby, results:

Oh My Goth! You Goth, Girl. There is a good chance
you're bi. Freakiness pumps through your viens,
but you can still laugh at yourself.


how goth are you?
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Because nothing, but nothing, beats a black-clad, Gothy woman striding through her neighborhood after midnight...

...carrying a large neon green pool noodle.

In soccer news, Greece made it into the Euro 2004 Finals today. Being the non-sports girl that I am, I wouldn't have even known what that meant, except my entire neighborhood went collectively batshit.

See, Astoria's population is about 25% Greek. And we've got loooots o'Greek pride going on here, oh yes. So when I came off the subway today, I was greeted with an unofficial parade of cars driving up and down the street with Greek flags draped everywhere (on the hood, on the trunk, on the roof), flags waving where they weren't draped, people hanging out the car windows, horns beeping, people shouting, "Cat in the Hat" hats on heads but in blue and white (Greek colors, don'tcha know), flags hanging from storefronts, from people, from strollers, even, everyone walking around with shit-eating grins, and here's little old me in the midst of it all saying "What the fuck did I miss?!"

I knew it was something Greek, or to do with Greece, because if you're in Astoria for more than 24 hours you will be able to recognize the Greek flag on sight for the rest of your life. :) Idiot woman in the Chinese food place standing next to me thought it had something to do with Canada. I gently reminded her that Canada's flag has, oh, a maple leaf on it. "Oh, yeeeah," she said. "Oy, vey," I replied in my head. The next guy in the Chinese food place was only too happy to explain.

The final is on Sunday. If Greece wins, this place will be one big jumping mass o'joy!