Deep Thoughts by Eris Handey

If people keep telling you about how bad a person is, like all different kinds of people and they all keep saying the same things about this person, they're probably right.

Lust, however fun it is, is not love. It's your brain going "ooo, I can reproduce with this person!"

Coffee, however epic it makes you feel, is really bad for you, but it's too late for me I'll just settle for my grande vanilla latte in my travel IV stand.

Cats are fuzzy.

New shoes do make you feel better.

Sometimes absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder, it puts things into perspective. It allows your mind and heart to start communicating and negotiating terms.

For more deep thoughts by the real person, consult within.

DeepThoughtsByJackHandey.com

It's Official, I Work in the Boonies

A bird just flew in from the door opposite my room and crashed into the window behind my desk. He's still alive and flew out once we got the window open, but OMG! Where am I?!

Birds up here just think they can fly through houses as an alternate flight path??

Tuesday Morning

Slowly the caffeine and morning sun are making me feel a little better being at work today, but wow, I felt so weird this morning when I came in. I don't know, it's hard to describe, it was like my body going "wait, you should be in front of the TV having a cup of coffee like you've been doing every morning so far." I think that extra day off made my body get used to sleeping in and lounging around.

Spending Habits

I think I really need to calm down and enjoy the nice weather rather than hitting the mall or an outdoor restaurant every five seconds. Eesh...

*balancing checkbook and reeling*

Yes, I'll be fine. Yes, I'm just complaining because I went over a dumb budget that I made for myself, but still.

Kitteh knows all!

Awwww...

Awwww! >.<

My New Blog: No Corn Syrup

http://nocornsyrup.blogspot.com/

I got sick an tired of things that had corn syrup in them and the fact that there are little to no alternatives out there if you choose to avoid corn syrup. So I'm starting this picture blog dedicated to things that are healthier alternatives and do not contain corn syrup.

I make no judgments, I take no sides; all I'm doing is showing you foods and beverages that do not contain corn syrup.

That is all.

California: The Eateries DEUX

Kerin kindly reminded me of my total omission of one of the best fast food places I've ever been too and that we sadly don't have on my coast, In-N-Out Burger.


First of all, it's so nice to eat fries that actually have the potato skin left on them. OMG! Fast food fries can actually be made from real potatoes instead of reconstituted potato flakes or who knows what else. And the cheeseburger was just perfect: not so big that I couldn't bite into it, not so small that I was hungry afterwards, plus the meat actually tasted like MEAT! Wow!

The prices were all kinds of crazy as well and made me remember what it was like to be a kid again with gas being around $2.00 a gallon and a burger being about the same price. Out here on the east, MickeyD's will set you back about $4 or so depending on where you are in the tri-state.

Thanks so much for reminding me Kerin! I hope I didn't forget anything else. :-(

Los Angeles Photo Set

All the way at the top of my blog, under my pretty blue header you will find another photo button and if you click on it you will see Los Angeles photo goodness.

I do wish my camera didn't run out of juice, but my Crackberry camera sufficed. Not necessarily for the scenery shots, but whatever. It just means I'll have to go back there again and retake photos. :-)

"Sunday mornin'..."

Relaxing before I go over my parent's. Folding clothes while I drink some coffee and catching up on some TV in the process. A nice relaxing start to the week.
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California: The Eateries

I am all about trying new things and when I'm on a trip to some far away land I want to eat at places that I can't back home. For me, I don't understand eating at TGIFriday's if I'm in London that is just call kinds of wrong. The same thing applies with shopping and such, I should not be anywhere near an Old Navy when I'm in the midst of Broadway in Manhattan, that is an epic FAIL. So, my friends graciously took me to cool places that I don't have on my coast and good food was had.



Home - Since this was such a pretty day, Home's outdoor patio kind of beckoned to us with it's great California design and it's fish fountain right in the midst of everything.





Good food with nice prices, I'd definitely go back. Plus, the waiters were awesome and didn't even bat an eye when I ordered a Johnny Walker Black neat at 1PM. Eris was on vacation dammit...it's Scotch time.



Town and Country Bakery & Cafe - A great cafe located on the Sunset Strip, so when you are either about to embark on a shopping mission or have just returned from one this is the place to either start or relax. They have a great little patio set up on the sidewalk so that you can have your coffee and some type of baked goodie while you take in the view. Plus the decor was very 50's California chicky which kind of reminded me of my kitchen. :-)

A Taco Van somewhere in East LA - (picture is a representation, not the actual van) I wish I knew who these people were because that was the best burrito I've ever had. After going to The Getty with another friend of mine, we were hungry since none of us had a proper dinner, so we drive off of the 405, end up somewhere in east LA and my friend decides to park somewhere and ask. We end up at this carnesceria (butcher for you non-Spanish speakers) and my friend rolls in and asks if there is a Chili's or a TGIFriday's.

Granted, that was probably a dumb question, but the answer he gets from the security guard and the cashier was "man, this is East LA, there's no Chili's or TGIFriday's!!" So my friend just goes, "OK, fine, f*ck it, where would you guys go to get something to eat?" And they direct him to the other end of the parking lot where there's this little taco van that's just about closing. So we roll over there, like the tourists that we were and there is this cute little women inside closing up for the night. We ask nicely if she was still open, and she says yes and proceeds to make us the most amazing chicken burritos on earth, for all of $8.50 for the two of us.

I really wish I had their name, but sadly all I know was that this was in some parking lot somewhere in East LA off of the 405. I think maybe off of Indian Avenue??

*bows down* "WE'RE NOT WORTHY, WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!!"

A Break from Vacation Blogs

Enough about California for the moment, I recently went with some friends to check out this great new bar that opened up, 116 Crown which is aptly at 116 Crown Street in New Haven.

It is the perfect little bar: top shelf next to the standard, modern interior layout without being too fussy, a moderately priced menu along with splurge items and with an amazing bar staff. I have to say I think I've found my bar.

Sadly the web site doesn't have any pictures up of the interior design of the bar, but trust me it is gorgeous.

Cootie Alert

I'm in kindergarten again where fighting equals flirting, I think the next step will be bubble gum in my hair and me shouting "I'M TELLING!!!!"

But, it's still cute though, I have to admit. :-) I just hope it leads somewhere.

Los Angeles Photo Set

Here's my Flickr photo set from my trip to Los Angeles.



(headed with a cool shot of the sidewalk) :-)

And for the executive summary, here are some special shots from the set:

California: The Shops

I finally get a chance to blog about my time over on the other side of the world (well, it was for me at least). My jet lag is starting to ease away and I'm finished with unpacking, so here are some of my itineraries separated into nice chunks of goodness.

Also, before any raving can happen, I must give a big ups to Kerin who gracious let me crash at her place while I was there and showed me around her awesome city of LA. Thank you, thank you. Plus to Jeff for showing me around The Getty and being awesome as well.

The Shops a.k.a The Places That Made Me Wish I Brought An Additional Bag (but really, I'm glad I didn't since my wallet would have needed major resuscitation, much more than the economic stimulus package could ever dream to)

Le Pink & Co. - A cute little "beauty apothecary" which has a little bit of everything you could want and a little bit more. I'm a sucker for anything that includes jasmine in it and this place delivered. They also have any type of makeup and body lotion and have a custom order scents section, plus they offer a full spa treatment and waxing service. This store made me wish I stayed for a longer period of time just so I could get the full spa treatment.

Ragg Mopp Vintage - An awesome vintage shop that has everything from vintage purses, shoes, clothing and pretty much anything else. I ended up snagging some Pucci inspired handkerchiefs that I'm going to end up framing and hanging up on my walls. And I fell in love with this tooled red leather purse, but it would have thrown me overboard with my expenses, so sadly I'll have to wait until my next trip over there.

Serifos - A unique gift shop that has the best gifts for those that are hard to buy for plus an always changing assortment of items, so definitely a place I'd check out regularly.

Back on My Coast

I am back and have much blogging to do. Here's the executive summary until I find some time to expound a bit more:

- shopped at some awesome places
- ate at some awesome places
- saw some great things
- took many pictures of palm trees
- saw some great people

To be continued (and properly linked and supported by appropriate pictures)...

The Sunset Strip

This is but a quick blurp about an amazing strip of road, full report when I'm back home and have photos and links handy.

For one thing, talk about differences in architectural...jeez...it's basically what I expected from the movies and then some. Very heavy 50's and 60's influences, stucco up the whazoo and enough boutiques and vintage shops at reasonable prices to keep me happy for my whole stay here.

Again, full report later on, I want to give proper shout outs and display actual pictures so you can see what I'm talking about.
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LA Drivers

As a side note I have to express my admiration for all drivers that dare venture on the roads in this city. You people deserve a medal of honor.

One of the first things that made me reminisce about home was the traffic and the absolute need to parallel park. *wipes a tear away* It really made me feel at home.
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Palm Trees and Movie Stars

Well, I'm here and it's really been a trip in more ways than one.

LAX is in the midst of palm trees, so as soon as you leave and are awaiting pickup, you get hit in the face with palm trees and a taste (literally) of what to expect on the highway. I now know that I will never do any driving in this city and I am very happy about that. *bows down in admiration*

And as with any foreign land I find myself in, I'm enamored with how similar and with how different everyday culture is in this place. I love doing the "everyday" things wherever I am, to me I get a kick out of shopping in strange places and picking up a quick bite at strange cafes. I don't need the song and dance of a tour, just roam around with me and that's all that I need (along with my trusty camera for recording purposes).

So for today I have foreign fast food joints such a Taco Loco and Jack in the Box on the agenda as well as various millings around the cities' boutiques.

Updates to follow...
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Waiting at BDL

As my Twitter states, this is such a cute little airport!

I'm here at the bar enjoying a double (the bartender hooked me up) Jack & Coke to dull the flight a bit and just kicking back a little before I depart.
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Off and Away!

Alrighty, I'm off to get a new beach pass for my car since the only time to get one is during the day and I'm normally at work and can't do it. Then I need to drop off my rent check and grab some munchies and joe.

Then off to Bradley airport to start my trip to Cali!

Sunny Lunch

Interesting day back to work. A lot of running around getting things ready for people while I'll be away. I already got those calls of "um, can you leave me a list of the things you've been working on (and I'll try not to muffle my scream as I go through the 4 page list of stuff I have no idea about.)"

Damn, I need to right down more lists of what I've done in a day or week because it totally both scares me and makes me proud at the same time.
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Everyone Needs a Hardhat

That's right, even Foxy...


He he he...we just got in a bunch of promotional items for a tradeshow that we're attending and one item in particular is this tiny little hard hat keychain that also doubles as a little flashlight. And is exactly what Foxy needs when he goes on site.

Economic Stimulus Package FTW!

Even though I think it's dumb anyway, I'm not going to complain about it too much.

A Great Quote to Live by

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity."
- Christopher Morley

First Lunch Outside

Glorious weather today, even though they were forecasting rain (those weather bastards) so I'm soaking in all that I can before rain will supposedly take over.

And near my job I discovered this park/hiking trail that has little picnic area! YAY!

So this will be my secret little summer lunch lair when I want to runaway from the office.

*frolicking...tra la laaaaa*
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