My Baby Takes the Morning Train...

Okay, in my case, it's really the bus, but the awesome song demands 'train' for a lyric, so there ya go. Anyway, I've seen the same cute lil' guy on the bus several times now. He was on again this morning and immediately that song came to my head. He's a short little thing, but oh, so cute. Probably about 23-25. Just a cute little business boy. I think he works at Target headquarters...their building is not far from mine. *And* he let an older lady have his seat today, so I thought that was very nice and classy of him. I hate when kids/younger people don't let old ladies & pregnant women sit down.

That reminds me of my days interning in downtown Chicago. I took the Metra train in to the city from the south 'burbs every morning and usually saw this hot business man every day. I hated that job, so believe me, this was the highlite of my day. He was probably 35-40 and I use to hum that song as I walked 20 minutes to my building on North Michigan Ave. Pretty sad when a 23 yr old is thinking of ways to break apart a family b/c he saw a DILF...

I should find a CD that has that song (Sheena Easton) on it...or join the new millenium and get an I-Pod or MP3.


Sheena Easton - Morning Train

There's been a drum line outside all day. I can't believe how loud they are. It's loud in my office and I'm on the 19th floor...but I like drum lines, so I've been be-bopping at my computer to their rhythms. Do you think the black girls doing their stomping would mind if I joined in??



My client wants to hire one of my candidates, but the candidate suddenly told me that he has another offer and needs the weekend to think about it. Yesterday he was all gung-ho about taking my client's offer. I don't know why I'm so upset about it - candidates play these games all the time; I should be use to it...

Well, folks - here's hoping you have a splendid weekend. I'm not sure what I'm doing. Probably hang out at Jeff's pool tomorrow, though. Summer is quickly slipping away...(sigh)...

More survey fun with Kiddo

I took this from several of you. Pffft! to you if you don't like it, sucka!!

What stickers do you have on your car?
Before my Grand Prix went fo'shizzle, I had a "Winona State University" sticker in the back window...what am I, still in college?? Now I'm driving my dead grandpa's 1992 Cadillac DeVille. I should get a "Pimped Out" or "Follow me to the Ghetto" sticker for it...


Mine is all maroon. Isn't she a beaut??

How/where did you meet your last bf/gf?
What constitutes "boyfriend," exactly? The last guy I was exclusive with, maybe?? Hmmm...I guess it was Josh two summers ago. I met him through my friend, Meg. He is her cousin. We met at Jefferson Pub & Grill in my college town, Winona, MN, where I was living & working at the time. He was very nice. Of course, I managed to run him off too...

What do you hear right now?
Crickets chirping, an airplane, the computer humming.

If you could have a drink of anything right this second, what would it be?
Grape Kool-Aid. **Surprised it's not liquor, aren't you?!**

Does anything hurt on your body right now?
My upper back (shoulder blade area) and my ass -- from sitting at the computer all damn day and night.

What's your job position called?
Technical Recruiter

What size shoe do you wear?
"A 6, but 7 feels so good, I buy a size 8!!" Okay, that's from Steel Magnolias. Really, I squeeze nicely into a size 12 -- sometimes I should probably go with the 13, but I won't do it. I'm a 12, dammit!

What are you wearing right now?
Really short cut-off jeans (pockets and bottoms of cheeks hanging out) and a rainbow tube top. Oh and cork sandals with navy foot strap and silver buckle. And a cowboy hat. Kidding. I was just picturing what my sisters wore in the summer of '82. Really, silver basketball-type shorts and that is all...

Do you own a camera phone?
Yes, I do, but I don't know how to use it. I can take pictures, but can't figure out how to email them. It keeps asking me for a password, I type it, and it goes back to the "enter your password" screen. So I gave up. And I hate calling customer service for *anything*, so I haven't talked to Sprint about it. Glad I'm paying $15 / month for it. I'm a dolt.

What's your significant other's birthday?
Nick Lachey's birthday is November 9, 1973. Does that count?? God, I love him.


Mmmmmmmm.....Nick.


What's your Mom's favorite band/musician?
Hmmm....Glenn Miller, maybe? Or Elvis? I don't really know - she's a big music fan. She was recently wanting a Roberta Flack CD (which I'd like too in case you want to buy a gift for me....hint....) Oh, and her favorite song is "The Boy From New York City" and I must agree - it is fabulous. "ooo wah, ooo wah, koo koo kitty....talk about the boy from New York City...."

What's your Dad's favorite band/musician?
He's dead. But he was a big Beatles and Rolling Stones fan. He loved '60s and '70s music.

What was your highschool's mascot?
"Triiiiiiton -- COBRAS" ick - that just gave me a creepy flashback of my high school gym.

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage?
Probably a Long Island Iced Tea. But I usually order Jack & Cokes.

What's the next concert/show you're going to and when?
I haven't a clue. The last one I went to was Bette Midler. Friend had free tix.

What were you doing at 9 pm last night?
Laundry and watching Sex and the City on TBS. One of them was the episode where that Upper East Side bitch has a party with "no brown foods" for fear of spilling on her white carpet.

What's your favorite Starbucks drink?
Caramel Machiatto. Just had one this morning, as a matter of fact!

Do you exercise as much as you should?
I think we all know the answer to that.....HELL NO. Unless you call walking to the bar and hopping on a bar stool exercise. Then I'm a fucking Olympian.

Did you attend your High School prom?
Yes, and I posted a picture of it. As a junior, my date was Natalie. As a senior, my date was Shelly. She was in college. I had it goin' on....Ha - yeah right, she was my friend and co-worker.

Listen here, Little Mister...

Remember these books?? I *loved* them so much when I was a tad.

They were the Mr. Men and Little Miss books.








Awesome


Hey, hey, hey!! I'm noisy!! Nice shoes and jazz hands.

I wonder if he's ever going to write about the first gay one. He should call it Mr. Sister. I would certainly buy that!

Shout out to ZeppGoddess and Jackie Kennedy O.

Thanks to Matt for reminding me that it's my fabulous (and dearly departed) aunt's birthday. Jackie Kennedy Onassis would have been 76 today...

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
July 28, 1929 - May 19, 1994
United States First Lady, 1961 - 1963

Happy Birthday, Jackie!!

In other news, the equally fabulous, ZeppGoddess, had her birthday yesterday! So y'all give her a shout out, hear?? Here's looking at you, Dolly!

Carrie Bradshaw (Candace Bushnell) was right...

Minneapolis does have some hotties wandering around downtown, on the bus and in the skyways.

All I can say is, God bless working downtown where all the hot metrosexuals in suits & other dress clothes be at...love 'em.

And I'm so happy to have a Banana Republic AND a GAP just 18 short floors beneath my office. Not to mention Marshall Field's across the street. And SAKS 5th Avenue Outlet across another street. And Neiman Marcus across another street.

Why, oh why, was I stuck working in suburbs and small cities for so long. No wonder I was so hostile before this job came to be.


Just one of the hotties wandering around Mpls - Josh Hartnett

Hmmm...what's new?

There really isn't much to talk about. I've become a boring blogger. Or maybe I always was and am just realizing it now!

Since it's Monday, I guess I can talk about my weekend.

Spent Friday evening just hanging out with J.D., the guy I'm seeing. You know - the one who was in treatment -- the trust fund baby? We just ordered some pizza and watched T.V. Then he left at about 10:00 and I met friends Danny and Bridget at the good ol' Gay '90s. We had a few cocktails there and proceeded to The Brass Rail. Nothing really exciting. Then Danny and I went to The 19 Bar and to an after-bar at friend Emily's. I wound up making out in the backyard with her friend, U of MN Erik. You may remember him from other posts. He's a cute lil' 21 yr old college boy who looks like he'd be from Brooklyn rather than suburban Twin Cities. It didn't last too long because the grass is really dry here and it hurt next to me nakey skin. We stayed up way too late and finally cabbed it back to my place.

I took Danny home (he lives in the semi-trendy, artsy, youngly-populated area of Minneapolis called Uptown) and continued on to Saint Louis Park where I picked up Jeff. We decided to catch a bus from my apartment downtown, where we took the lite rail to the Mall of America. Neither of us had tried Minneapolis' new train - it's called The Hiawatha Line and it just opened last fall. There's only one line so far, but I believe plans for expansion are in the works. It took about 25 minutes to get to the mall, which is in a suburb called Bloomington. We sat next to these really annoying teenage girls who were about 17. Obviously the blonde queens of a Bloomington High School, they were very clueless as they continued to flirt with us throughout the trip. Then they got on their cell phones to call boys with the names of Justin, Casey and Spencer....God, I don't miss high school.

I bought a shirt at J. Crew and a pair of jeans at GAP. Jeff got a couple shirts and some cologne. We decided to grab something quick to eat at the hellacious food court and that was a mistake. I forgot what kind of people populate the Mall of America food court -- yeah, the type who take a VACATION just to see the largest mall in the U.S. (I think it's the largest, anyway). Freaks. Of course, I was wearing white/cream pants and some dumb bitches made me spill orange soda all over them. I looked at them with fury and said, "jeeeesus christ, lady!!" Because she stopped in mid-stride and I had to stop abrubptly, causing my cup to tip over - of course it tipped over toward me and not on her. I lost my appetite and spent the rest of the meal time swearing and getting a headache.

Jeff and I later went to The 19, then met Danny and Jordan at The Brass Rail. We then went to the bar for the gay Minneapolis hotties and the trolls who love them, The Saloon, where I met a nice little Jewish boy named Mikey. We kissed on the dance floor and he gave me his number. He was a cutie. I don't know if I'll call him. Should I feel guilty?? I mean, J.D. and I aren't exclusive...

Yesterday we ate at Perkins and I forgot my cell phone there. J.D. came over for a while and I fell asleep.

All in all -- not a bad weekend!!


A Hiawatha Line train in Minneapolis


A small corner of the Mall of America. No wonder I don't go very often...at least we can shop at Macys and Bloomingdales there.

Back to life

I know, I know....I've been a bad blogger for the past few weeks. I'll get back to it again on a more regular basis, I swear!

Well, kids, I got a job! I actually started working on Thursday - I had three offers in one day last week, so I guess the old saying rings true: when it rains, it pours. I took the job downtown at the IDS Center. I'm finally a full recruiter after spending a total of about 3 years as a junior recruiter! I love working downtown again - it's so nice to walk 3 minutes to the bus and have a 5 minute bus ride to work. My office consists of myself, an accountant/receptionist (I like her), the president (my boss), who seems pretty laid back/easy going as long as you're getting work done and one other recruiter who's 25 and also "family." He's a cool guy and we're already getting along well. As Annie would sing in Annie, "I think I'm gonna like it here..." (Or however that goes)

Working in this building is so convenient. There is a retail area, my bank, dry cleaners, convenience store, etc., on the 2nd level, which is nice. Then the skyways leading away from the building go to lots of shopping and food. I can do my banking, pay my Marshall Fields bill, go shopping and get lunch without stepping foot outside! And I don't even have to fight traffic to get here, so SUCKS to my last company - bastardos!!

In other news: Jeff is doing okay. He got out of the clink last Tuesday. He said he never even got a phone call until 7:00 monday night and they never told him when he was going to preliminary court until Monday night - he said he thought he may have to be there a week. And, I know he's in jail for a crime, but still -- they never even offered to give him something to read or anything in the cell. Not even the bible. I mean, other jails let you watch TV & everything, don't they?? He was in solitary confinement. Oh well. He goes in front of the judge on Friday and will most likely get some jail time and lose his license for 6 months, not to mention all the fines. Yikes. I feel bad for him.

In other, other news: Remember the guy I was kinda seeing in the spring who turned out to be hooked on muscle relaxers? Yeah, well he got out of treatment in June and we've been hanging out again. He lives in a sober house in St. Paul right now and is doing well. His grandma let him back in the trust fund and he finished his skin care degree from a cosmo school and just got hired at Rocco Altabelli, so he's doing much better than he had been. We'll see what happens, but I do like hanging out with him. At least it's made my huge crush on Jeff subside.

Okay - I need to get busy at work!! I'll start reading/commenting again soon!!

Don't bother me, I'm reading...

Wow. I've got some catching up to do on reading the blogs! I got some pictures back from my birfday - back in March - that I'll have to post. Before that, I have to get reading!

Still no job -- I'm going on interviews, though. I thought I had one nailed, but they offered it to someone with a couple more years experience. He apparently has a couple other offers, so maybe he won't take the job I want. Otherwise, I interviewed downtown today in Minneapolis's tallest building, the IDS Tower. It would be cool to work downtown.



Went out for a while with Jeff last night and he *sigh* got a DUI. I feel so bad for him. He's still in jail and he hasn't called anyone. It's his 2nd one, but his first was more than ten years ago, he said. I had to ride in the cop car with him b/c I was in no shape to drive either. The dumb thing is that we had intended to cab it back to his place...but we after-barred at his friend's house who lives really close, so we just had the stupid idea to take his car home. I still had a cocktail in my hand and put it under the seat once the cop pulled us over. Thank god he didn't see it b/c I would've gotten an open bottle ticket. This is a lesson to us all to quit drinking & driving! I never do anyway, but my friends do. I got in trouble for that already a few years ago and it would be an even bigger nightmare to get another. Minnesota really cracks down on that and I think I would lose my license for 6 months and have to pay thousands of dollars. Not a good deal.

Anyway - here's hoping that Jeff doesn't get the book thrown at him. And that I get a job downtown. I interned in downtown Chicago and miss that busy environment - working in the suburbs is boring...

Don't drink & drive!!

Back to Civilization

Our trip was oh, so fun!! I love North Dakota! Okay, I wouldn't go that far, but we did have a really good time in Jeff's hometown, Garrison. I was pleasantly surprised at the scenery. I was thinking North Dakota would be all flat and brown, but it was green and a lot of it was rolling. There are parts of flat prairie, but that is pretty in its own way too. The area around Garrison has a lot of fields of yellow flowers -- I found out later that they are canola fields. So, everytime you have popcorn, popped with canola oil, it probably came from North Dakota.

Anyway --- Danny and I were able to leave at about 2:00 on Friday. Traffic leaving the Minneapolis metro was horrendous - tons of people on their way to the lakes up north. It took us two hours to get to St. Cloud, a trip that would normally take about an hour. So, that was a nightmare. Once we got past there, we were able to maintain good speed and finally made it in to Garrison at about 10:00. Right before that, Danny and I stopped to buy beer at a town called Washburn. It was a bar called The Captain's Cabin that also has off-sale (you can buy cases of beer, etc.). The record did pretty much scratch when we walked in. The ladies working were like, "Ohhh....good lookin' strangers!! Hey, Linda - we just found our dates for the night!!" So, that was kinda funny. Anyway, we got in to Garrison to discover the streets are really weird in that town - they have avenues and streets running parallel, so we were driving around forever before we found Jeff's parents' house. Yeah, tell me how dumb Danny and I felt basically getting lost in a town of 1300 people. Oh well - we managed not to strangle each other. Immediately upon our arrival, being stressed from the ass-backwards streets of Garrison, Danny and I demanded relaxing with a couple beers before heading downtown to the street dance and bars, where we finally got to meet Jeff's fabulous sister, Trina (she's a year older than he is). It was fun, but nothing really exciting happened that night. We stayed up drinking at his parents' (Wade & Connie), then Jeff, Danny and one of Jeff's old friends wanted to go the little Garrison airport, where some sort of town breakfast was being served. Trina and I stayed up talking and I think I finally crashed at about 5:00. She told me to quit having a crush on Jeff; that he didn't make good boyfriend material!

Trina and I woke up on Saturday at about 11:00 to find Danny and Jeff still up *and* still drinking!! They were just hammered. Jeff was walking around in a white, flouncy buttondown and really lowcut black swim trunks with a pink bandana around his shaved head (he always wears bandanas)! What his dad must of thought of that little ensemble, I can only imagine. Then he started dancing in front of his dad (he's a gruff, but really nice, traditional small town North Dakota guy) to Britney Spears' Toxic. This is about the time we were like, "Jeff, get to bed!!" They are just a crazy family - it was pretty funny. Jeff and Danny finally went to bed, so I hung out on the deck talking to Trina, Connie, Shawna (Jeff's roommate) and Audrey (Jeff's aunt). Trina and I decided to start in on ghetto mimosas - this version was Bacardi "O" with orange juice. We all kept drinking and talking all day -- Jeff and Danny got up that evening. Later we changed and went back downtown to a packed bar called The Office, where a ton of people Jeff went to high school with were hanging out (he was class of 1989). Nothing really eventful again, but still fun.

Drama ensued later when Shawna was being hit on by and flirting with Jeff's high school crush, Doyle, whom he still likes. Jeff has also always thought that Doyle is a closet case. Turns out he's not, because Shawna wound up going home with him -- after Jeff told her five times that he wouldn't be mad. Well...he was mad. So, I wound up having to talk to him and calm him down at his parents' house that night. *Then* he was livid at his sister for "always wanting to be the center of attention." He didn't really like it when I said, "Hmmm....kinda like you??" Anyway, he just went to bed and that wasn't the best night we had there.

We got up and started drinking again on Sunday -- I tell ya, they can throw 'em back there! The parade was going past their street, so we sat on the curb and watched the horses, firetrucks and class floats go by, screaming for candy. Trina was really funny there, running around picking up candy (she's 35, mind you). We just all hung out listening to CDs and drinking until it was time to go downtown again. We all went to a bar called Gordy's and got really crazy. At one point, it was just Jeff and I on the dance floor and some country/rock song came on..."The Devil went down to Georgia..." During the part when the fiddle takes over, both of us kicked off our shoes and did a country jig...this is when the whole bar turned around to watch us. The country jig turned in to a dance line routine, ending with kicks. I'm surprised we didn't get run out of town on a rail after that little number. Anyway - it was so funny and everyone kept reminding us of it the whole next day. I wish I had my camera with that night!!

On Monday, we were all feeling a little ragged, but we had to go to some family reunion of Wade's at a town about 45 minutes away. Upon arrival, they told us that everyone was at "the lake." So, we had to trek over there and literally drive through a prairie (on a red dirt road) to get to the campsite. This is where we decided to try having a few beers to celebrate Jeff's birthday (the next day). We didn't get back from there until about midnight and went to the bar for last call. Then we just hung out in the garage all night. Jeff made it until about 7 a.m., but Trina and I stayed up talking. Then Trina's uncle showed up at about 8 in the morning looking for beer (he was with a carload of others). We just wound up sitting in the garage talking to these people and I finally dozed off, then went to bed, at about 9:30 or 10:00 (Tuesday morning). Trina stayed up until noon!

Danny woke up me at about 1:30 and we left for home at about 3:00. Connie gave us each a southwest style blanket as a token of friendship (she's a full blooded Native American), so I thought that was very nice. Trina didn't want us to go and Wade told us to come back anytime and that he thought we were the best people. Danny and I didn't want to come back to reality either -- but, the time came and we had to start the long drive back to Minneapolis.

We left Garrison about 3:00, ate a quick bite in Bismarck (the ND capital) and got home at 10:00. Jeff and Shawna are driving back today.

I'll post pictures when I get some -- I have 2 rolls of film at Target and need to bring 2 more there someday soon -- so, eventually, this blog will be picture mania.

All-in-all, we had an absolute blast in North Dakota -- Jeff's family is awesome -- and I hope to go back soon!!

We're Off to North Dakota - seriously

Sorry I've been a bit of blogging bum lately...I'll get back into the swing of things when my life less resembles a trip to hell.

Speaking of hell -- I'm going to North Dakota tomorrow for the holiday weekend. Just kidding about ND being hell - I've been to Fargo and Grand Forks and it's really not a bad place. Just don't go in winter -- if you think MN is cold...North Dakota in January?? Yikes!


We'll be by Minot -- way up by Canada, eh.


Anyway -- We're going to Jeff's little hometown called Garrison. It's about 1200 people. It's the town's centennial, Jeff's all-school reunion (everyone who graduated from GHS is invited) and also his birthday on the 6th. Jeff and his roommate Shawna left Thursday and Danny and I will be leaving on Friday late afternoon. It's an 8 hour trip...not including the hordes of people leaving the Twin Cities for their summer cabins - we'll all be traveling north. So that should be fun. I've already figured out some state highways we can take to avoid the freeway.


"Celebrate good times, c'mon! (du du du dun du dun du du) YA-HOO!!"


So, Jeff says that everyone comes back home for the 4th (the town celebration) and that it's a lot of fun. Plus, I guess his family is a little on the wild/crazy side (I don't doubt this if they're anything like he is).

I'll be interested to see how the locals react to three gay boys strutting down Main Street in their little summer outfits (probably with some Abba song playing in the background, no doubt). I'm thinking it will be like a movie scene when the record scratches and everyone stares in silence. We'll be half in the bag and probably won't even notice.


Part of Main Street, Garrison -- the lovely Kota Theater

Danny and I are headed back to Minneapolis on Tuesday. If you don't hear from me on Wednesday or Thursday, send a search party, for we've probably been lynched...

Anyway -- happy 4th of July everyone!! Read my story about July 4, 2003!!



"Try burnin' this one, asshole!"