but in the midwest they love to take it slow
I'm heading home for Christmas tomorrow evening! Woohoo Christmas Eve travel. I didn't take any extra time off for Christmas or New Year's, so I only get the days off that my company gives me -- which is to say, Christmas Day, Dec. 26th, New Year's Day, and Jan. 2nd. This is okay, though, because I can carry over the remainder of my vacation days (three!) and save them up for the summer and the BEACH. Or possibly the summer and SWITZERLAND. There is a slight chance I will get to go to Switzerland with work this summer, and if so it will be the most delightful thing in the entire world.
I really, really love traveling. I also am very into packing light. I remember winter breaks early in college when I would drag home two enormous suitcases and a lacrosse stick, and now I am like . . . but WHY? Granted, I used to have a month at home instead of four days, but the principle still stands. I pretty firmly stand by the idea that if I'm doing anything short of MOVING somewhere, carry-on luggage is plenty.
I'm a little bit in love with chowburger's fashion blog, Vulgar Moon, and this post is a perfect example of why: How to Have a Stylish Holiday with Less than 10kg of Luggage!
From rather extensive experience I can say that the best way to travel is with a backpack that's light enough that you're happy getting lost in a city for two hours while wearing it. (Seeing as that is what I do, accidentally or not, upon arriving in every place ever.) I have gone lighter than that, even: memphis86 and dark_reaction can vouch for the fact that this summer I traveled with enough clothing for five days in an oversized purse.
In spite of all this, I have huge lust after a classy little rolly carry-on suitcase. Smallish, probably dark-colored, very business traveler. I have visions of my classy business travels. As I've told walkawayslowly, I sincerely hope I do get to go to Switzerland this summer, so that I can justify the purchase of said suitcase.
I am very taken with this whole idea of being a fancy business traveler. I also very much want to work in Europe at some point. There's a possibility that I could work in Germany in a year and some change -- I'll know more about just how possible this is after performance reviews in January -- and if that can happen, I'd be all over that shit!
I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I finished college, and so I briefly considered working for the Foreign Service. There was an article about the Foreign Service in the NY Times earlier, and how they're now hiring and stuff. I pretty well dismissed the Foreign Service at the end of senior year of college, because I just didn't think it was for me, but the article today had a quiz about that very topic: Is the Foreign Service right for you?
What the heck, I figured, and clicked on the quiz. And the first part is all, these are the awesome reasons you should work for the Foreign Service!!! And I was like, eh. Not that appealing. I was so right not to apply.
Then follows the second part of the quiz, which reads: However, the fantastic features of Foreign Service careers also have downsides that can be unpleasant and stressful to some people. It is very important for your career satisfaction that the upsides outweigh the potential downsides.
So I looked through all of that, which is like, are you willing to live abroad forever? learn foreign languages? work a ton of hours in high-stress situations? And I was like, FUCK YEAH. That all sounds either AWESOME or JUST LIKE MY CURRENT JOB, WHICH I LIKE. I could be all over that shit!
I crack myself up.
Oh! Other big news of the day! I am finally caught up on Entourage!! And I am in love with ALL OF THEM. Turtle dating Jamie-Lynn Sigler! (And apparently Jerry Ferrara and Jamie-Lynn Sigler are dating for real now, too, after having met on the set, which I find completely adorable.) I love seeing E succeed at being a manager, and how he tries completely fucking hard. "Return to Queens Boulevard" has got to be one of my favorite eps ever, because it put me through the damned wringer and then everyone came out on top: Johnny Drama's got his bar, Turtle's got his girl, E's an awesome manager and Vince has his big movie, and it's BECAUSE of E, and did I mention how he and Vince were really in love, and it was GREAT.
I'm pretty sure that Ari Gold is my favorite character in the entire world ever. He's a liar and a bastard and a backstabbing jerk, and yet he LOVES his wife, and his wife GETS HIM, and he totally loves his kids, and even when he's an asshole it's hard not to love him, because in his heart he is a marshmallow, and Lloyd totally knows it! Even when Ari is insulting him all over the place, Ari is completely dependent on Lloyd! The man could not survive without his tiny gay Asian assistant!
The episode where Terrance fires Ari and Ari gets drunk and is certain that his life is over, and then Lloyd convinces him that it's COMEBACK TIME -- that is my other favorite. I spend faaaar too much of my time going ARI GOLD, ILU.
Also, I would do Jeremy Piven in a MOMENT. Gyah.
I also saw Slumdog Millionaire last night, which is a BEAUTIFUL movie. The colors and filming are fantastic, and the music was awesome, too. It's a fairy tale of a movie, but with some definite Brothers Grimm elements mixed in with the Disney. I'd say it's definitely worth checking out.
I really, really love traveling. I also am very into packing light. I remember winter breaks early in college when I would drag home two enormous suitcases and a lacrosse stick, and now I am like . . . but WHY? Granted, I used to have a month at home instead of four days, but the principle still stands. I pretty firmly stand by the idea that if I'm doing anything short of MOVING somewhere, carry-on luggage is plenty.
I'm a little bit in love with chowburger's fashion blog, Vulgar Moon, and this post is a perfect example of why: How to Have a Stylish Holiday with Less than 10kg of Luggage!
From rather extensive experience I can say that the best way to travel is with a backpack that's light enough that you're happy getting lost in a city for two hours while wearing it. (Seeing as that is what I do, accidentally or not, upon arriving in every place ever.) I have gone lighter than that, even: memphis86 and dark_reaction can vouch for the fact that this summer I traveled with enough clothing for five days in an oversized purse.
In spite of all this, I have huge lust after a classy little rolly carry-on suitcase. Smallish, probably dark-colored, very business traveler. I have visions of my classy business travels. As I've told walkawayslowly, I sincerely hope I do get to go to Switzerland this summer, so that I can justify the purchase of said suitcase.
I am very taken with this whole idea of being a fancy business traveler. I also very much want to work in Europe at some point. There's a possibility that I could work in Germany in a year and some change -- I'll know more about just how possible this is after performance reviews in January -- and if that can happen, I'd be all over that shit!
I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I finished college, and so I briefly considered working for the Foreign Service. There was an article about the Foreign Service in the NY Times earlier, and how they're now hiring and stuff. I pretty well dismissed the Foreign Service at the end of senior year of college, because I just didn't think it was for me, but the article today had a quiz about that very topic: Is the Foreign Service right for you?
What the heck, I figured, and clicked on the quiz. And the first part is all, these are the awesome reasons you should work for the Foreign Service!!! And I was like, eh. Not that appealing. I was so right not to apply.
Then follows the second part of the quiz, which reads: However, the fantastic features of Foreign Service careers also have downsides that can be unpleasant and stressful to some people. It is very important for your career satisfaction that the upsides outweigh the potential downsides.
So I looked through all of that, which is like, are you willing to live abroad forever? learn foreign languages? work a ton of hours in high-stress situations? And I was like, FUCK YEAH. That all sounds either AWESOME or JUST LIKE MY CURRENT JOB, WHICH I LIKE. I could be all over that shit!
I crack myself up.
Oh! Other big news of the day! I am finally caught up on Entourage!! And I am in love with ALL OF THEM. Turtle dating Jamie-Lynn Sigler! (And apparently Jerry Ferrara and Jamie-Lynn Sigler are dating for real now, too, after having met on the set, which I find completely adorable.) I love seeing E succeed at being a manager, and how he tries completely fucking hard. "Return to Queens Boulevard" has got to be one of my favorite eps ever, because it put me through the damned wringer and then everyone came out on top: Johnny Drama's got his bar, Turtle's got his girl, E's an awesome manager and Vince has his big movie, and it's BECAUSE of E, and did I mention how he and Vince were really in love, and it was GREAT.
I'm pretty sure that Ari Gold is my favorite character in the entire world ever. He's a liar and a bastard and a backstabbing jerk, and yet he LOVES his wife, and his wife GETS HIM, and he totally loves his kids, and even when he's an asshole it's hard not to love him, because in his heart he is a marshmallow, and Lloyd totally knows it! Even when Ari is insulting him all over the place, Ari is completely dependent on Lloyd! The man could not survive without his tiny gay Asian assistant!
The episode where Terrance fires Ari and Ari gets drunk and is certain that his life is over, and then Lloyd convinces him that it's COMEBACK TIME -- that is my other favorite. I spend faaaar too much of my time going ARI GOLD, ILU.
Also, I would do Jeremy Piven in a MOMENT. Gyah.
I also saw Slumdog Millionaire last night, which is a BEAUTIFUL movie. The colors and filming are fantastic, and the music was awesome, too. It's a fairy tale of a movie, but with some definite Brothers Grimm elements mixed in with the Disney. I'd say it's definitely worth checking out.