And Dance By the Light of the Moon

Christmas 20(!!!) years ago. This was taken in my old kindergarten teacher's classroom when I was in 1st grade. I didn't want to take it, but Miss Nancy said I'd be glad I did it when I'd get older. I think she was right. :)

Fast forward to the present. All the presents are wrapped. The food's done getting cooked and I'm getting ready to head out while "It's a Wonderful Life" is on. I love Christmas! Have a good one!

Santa and Me!

Well, not really. But that's the name of the site on which this picture appears that features vintage photos with Santa. Browse for some holiday photo fun.

On a side note, why do I always find the perfect gift for someone once I give them something else. Oy, my credit card is tired...

Buena Vista Social Club

I love, love, love this CD. Afro-Cuban jazz at it's finest. I first came upon Buena Vista Social Club while listening to an online radio station a while ago. The song Chan Chan started to play and from the first few chords I was drawn in. Then this achingly beautiful horn solo comes out of nowhere and my ears just about melted in sheer pleasure. Other notable tracks: El Cuarto De Tula, El Carretero and Dos Gardenias.
Check out the Amazon link above to stream some of the music and this PBS site for more info. If you like what you hear, let me know and I'll send along the songs. :)

---
Round 2 in the interview game was yesterday. Well, first I had to stop off at the place where I had the 1st interview to do a 33 page personality test. I don't know what is up with this company. How many more damn tests do I have to do? Then I rushed over to the second company, and met with a senior manager and project leader. Lo and behold the senior manager says "Not to put you on the spot but I have some problems I want you to work on." and pulls out a pile of papers. Another "test"! Turns out I had to write 2 essays and do three math word problems in 15 minutes. I felt like was taking a final for school and I hadn't studied at all! I think I squeezed out some decent answers but we'll see. I really liked this company, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I can't wait til this is all over...

This Sums Up My Weekend

Awwww...

Who Do You Look Like?

Today I came across this site from My Heritage.com where you upload a pic of yourself and have the site search it's celebrity databases for a facial match.

My top 5 matches:
1. Reika Hashimoto
2. Halle Berry
3. Ninet Tayeb
4. Zhang Ziyi
5. Bipasha Basu

Quite a multicultural bunch eh? Can't say that any of them look close to me.
Give the site a try, who knows who you look like?

Let It Snow Damnit!

Listening To:
Be
By: Common



Please, please, PLEASE may it snow A LOT tomorrow!

My boss says if it snows a lot, there's no way she's coming to work and to be fair, we don't either. Yes! As soon as I heard that, my mind was made up that I wasn't going to work the next day. Hmmm, the news keps reporting how the city is preparing for the snow tomorrow. Dangit. But if I see a three hour travel time for the outbound Kennedy, awww hells no am I going to work. It better snow loads tomorrow so I get my snow day wish.

Around the House

6 Hours at Woodfield

SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP

And It's Not Even Officially Winter Yet

Usually I can be home from work in twenty minutes with no traffic, but today the trip took almost 2 1/2 hours. Hello winter! Don't you wish you could have snow days with work? You would turn on your TV while you get ready for the day and lo and behold your company's name is scrolling at the top of the screen along with a message saying they're closed for the day. Then you would spend the day playing in the clean snow or putzing around the house in your pj's with some hot chocolate in hand...

Back to reality: here's a quick snap of the outside world (with some Christmas tree lights twinkling back) as viewed from my front door. Stay warm!

Minimiam

Whoever said "Don't play with your food" obviously has not seen the photos of Pierre Javelle & Akiko Ida. Minimiam combines tiny plastic figures and food to make some delicious photos. By manipulating scale and composition, whipped cream becomes an immaculate snowcovered field for sledding and tart pans become ice rinks where miniature skaters effortlessly glide. Who knew cauliflower would look so good?

Ouch

Oh man...I am so glad that "interview" is over...

The interview was slated to start at 9am.
I didn't come back 'til 3:45.
That's how long it took.

I took three tests. 1st test: basic math, no calculators. Not too bad but when was the last time you had to long division by hand with long ass numbers? Second test: 2 pages of columns and columns of numbers in teeny tiny print and I had to mark which columns had the same numbers. Weird. Third test, logic and word questions. At this point I'm thinking "Wtf?".

Afterwards I was grilled twice by a panel of three employees who were all managers and directors of research and development of various products. Horror of horrors! It's like this: I easily get all jittery if I'm on the spot and at that point, word vomit just spews itself from my mouth. I cease making sense and I mumble and it's just awful. Well at least they took me out to lunch. Butternut squash ravioli at Feast was good but really I was in no mood to enjoy it. I thought this was over, but I have to go back again for ANOTHER damn test. A personality one this time. Don't know how I'm gonna sneak out of work this time. I'm totally out of vacation time. Looks like it's time to be *cough, cough* sick...

You know what made me feel better though? M sent along this mp3 of a prank call from Roy Wood Jr. Freakin' HILARIOUS! Please play it! Find it here and click on any of the Barbara's Checks links under prank calls and enjoy!

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

Stupid Blogger has been having hiccups as of late...

So how was your weekend?

Mine can be summed up with
1. Kids at the hospital sharing how their sisters passed gas.
2. Empanadas, lomitos, and mangotinis...oh my! ATC was right. Argentinian food rocks! Thanks for the suggestion - my stomach was very happy. :)
3. Driving through the winter wonderland that is Wisconsin on Sunday. Again. Hopefully this is close to the last time. Made for some pretty scenery though.

So what will this week bring? The Christmas spirit is getting infectious and I'm running on happy juice. As I write this, the tree is getting assembled downstairs while an old Christmas record (yes, record - old school baby!) we've had since I was a kid is playing. Somehow it isn't Christmas without hearing Johnny Cash singing Little Drummer Boy at least once during the season, haha. Being the procrasinator that I am, I haven't started shopping of course and I don't even know where to start this year. Twenty more days to go...plenty of time! I really need to go on a (picture) shooting spree. Haven't felt right being postless on flickr. That will come soon, I just have to take care of some important stuff for the time being. Speaking of...my break is over...back to work I go...

Because You Don't Hear It Often Enough

Beauty can be found in the most unexpected places...

Sometimes you need a little (or BIG) reminder that "You Are Beautiful" too.

Check out the The 2005 Year in Review and the Installations links in the YAB site to see what I mean. Better yet, get yourself the stickers and a camera and participate in the project too.