Suzanne à Grenoble

BTW, I've moved

2006-10-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry this comes so late, but I've moved here.

Up North

2006-08-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

Unlocking my inner superhero

2006-07-13T18:49:00.000-05:00

This is who I really am on the inside:

You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		85%
Hulk		65%
Supergirl		65%
Wonder Woman		60%
The Flash		45%
Catwoman		45%
Superman		40%
Robin		40%
Iron Man		35%
Green Lantern		30%
Batman		15%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Great Mass Getaduck

2006-06-26T18:46:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a great Ride for MS in Massachusetts. This was one of the highlights of the trip (taken on the party boat on the way back to Quincy from Provincetown. More to follow.

Great Mass Getaway

2006-06-19T12:53:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm doing something next weekend that is very important to me, and I am hoping it will interest you, too. Every hour someone is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic disease of the central nervous system affecting the brain and spinal cord.

What if every day you woke up not knowing if you'd be able to get out of bed or hold your child? For many people with multiple sclerosis, this is their reality.

MS usually strikes adults in the prime of life - between the ages of 20 and 50. It comes and goes unpredictably, leaving people to wonder, "Will I become paralyzed, blind or have trouble walking? Will I be able to raise my family and continue my career?"

Please join me in supporting the National MS Society's mission to end the devastating effects of MS.

On June 24, I'll be participating in a ride from Boston to Provincetown, Mass. to raise money to battle this frightening disease. The ride is 2 days, 150 miles. My original fundraising goal was $400, but I'm going to challenge myself and double that goal. I have about a week to raise $800, and with your help, I know I can do it. You can support me by clicking the link below and making a secure online epledge.

Please pass this on to anyone you think may be interested in supporting this important cause.

Thank you - together we can make a difference!

Yours,

Suzanne

To sponsor me:
Click here

To visit My Personal Page :
Click here

To visit My Team Page :
Click here

For more information about this event:
Click here

For more information about the National MS Society:
Click here

Past 2 Weekends

2006-06-06T12:20:00.000-05:00

A kiss before sailing

Spent a wonderful weekend up at Ryan's family's cabin at Milacs Lake in Minnesota. Once we duct taped me to the mast with my bright orange lifejacket, I screamed out "I'm Sailing! I'm Sailing!" Oh no, wait. That was the 1991 film,What About Bob? Silly me. We also canoed, kayaked, floated on inner tubes, and barbequed in the most beautiful weather imaginable.

Ryan, Flint and Me 2 weekends ago
Originally uploaded by sbp1980.

One of us was recently dipped in holy water... Can you guess which one?

(Flint is Ryan's nephew, whose baptism we attended in Milwaukee). Click on the photos to see more pictures from both weekends.

aidan

2006-05-15T10:16:00.001-05:00

Saw John Corbett Friday night at Joe's on Weed St. Check out that hair. The ladies (including this one) were swooning over his red ruffly shirt and leather vest.

26 has a new name

2006-05-12T00:15:00.000-05:00

Ang Suz shots,
originally uploaded by sbp1980.

There was much mirth and revelry on my birthday last Tuesday. The guy behind me is about to reveal a birthday flan, but I don't know it at this point. Imagine me, that happy, BEFORE a birthday flan. Now imagine me once the birthday flan was put before me. Need I say more?

Click on the image to see more photos from my birthday and other recent events on my flickr page.

Another gem from St. Louis...

2006-05-09T19:11:00.000-05:00

Ry Dairy Queen 2,
originally uploaded by sbp1980.

This is what he looked like BEFORE 2 cheeseburgers (2 for $2 at Dairy Queen). My heart goes pitter patter.

Meet me in St. Louie

2006-05-08T22:54:00.000-05:00

Went down to St. Louis to meet up with Ryan on his way across America on bike. He had a day off so we got to do some pret-ty exciting things like visit the Anheuse Busch Brewery and the St. Louis Arch. Fun was had by all.

Save the Date

2006-05-03T23:59:00.000-05:00

Apparently, this is going on during the month of May. Sounds like a great way to bring family and friends togther. Or at least friends. I can't really see family participating in something like this. It would put an awkward spin on Thanksgiving dinner conversation.

May Day

2006-05-01T11:19:00.000-05:00

Fun facts about May Day(loosely stolen from Wikipedia):

1. It's also called International Worker's Day
2. The day originated as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago
3. Many countries of the world get this day off
4. We do not
5. We used to, before the Red Scare
6. I wish America wasn't afraid of communists so I could get this day off work
7. If I did get this day off, it would come out of the 30 combined sick and vacation days I get a year, and so I would have to choose to take the day off and it wouldn't matter if it were a national holiday or not

Here in Chicago, today kind of sucks though because it's going to rain on all the protesters. Not just the immigration protesters, but the Save Darfur protesters, who, for some reason, decided to protest on the exact same day as another organized national protest, instead of over the weekend, as did other cities such as New York and D.C. I wanted to go to the Darfur rally today in Chicago, but a) I have to work and b) it seems silly to compete with the immigration demonstration. I know, excuses, excuses. I'll be there in spirit.

Speaking of Darfur, it is awesome that people are finally raising awareness of the horrors that are occuring daily, but the situation has been dire for a couple years. Why did it take so long for major public figures to speak out?

Is cruelty to animals the new black?

2006-04-30T11:04:00.000-05:00

There have been two news headlines in the past week involving teenagers doing horrible things to animals for apparent fun. The more recent incident involved two Missouri boys (one teenager and a 21-year-old) feeding vodka to a puppy at a party and nearly killing it. Poor little Daisy!

The other animal cruelty story, from April 28: two girls videotaped themselves kicking a cat wrapped in plastic around a room while yelling at it! What? When did it become acceptable--fashionable, even--to abuse animals?

These kids are giving the Midwest a bad name.

To further upset you, a friend told me a story last week from the road (I think this happened somewhere in Colorado or Utah): he witnessed a man in a motel parking lot beating up a puppy in the back of a pickup truck. At one point, my source said, the man threw the puppy onto the ground. When he and another bystander confronted the man, he said something like, "oh, this puppy deserves what she's getting. She just needs to learn." Then they called the animal police, who were unable to locate any signs of abuse, so the man got to keep his puppy--or should I say, punching bag?

What's going on here? Does it seem like people are getting a lot angrier and finding the most horrible ways to express that anger?

need to learn to wake up

2006-04-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

The only bad thing about trying to establish an exercise routine is that when I break it, I feel terrible. Today I tried so hard to get up at 6 a.m. with the idea that I'd be on the path at 6:30, then back by 7:30 in time to shower before leaving at 8 for an appointment at 8:30.

It didn't work that way.

First of all, I set 3 alarms. But I think setting 3 alarms made me even more anxious, because around 6:00, I had a dream that it was night time and I was just starting to fall asleep when: bi-bi-bi-beep! bi-bi-bi-beep! The first one--my cell phone alarm--forced the realization that I had already been asleep for seven hours. I hit snooze. It kept bugging me every five minutes until I finally turned it off around 6:30 and stayed in bed.

I thought about running, I really did. A vague, foggy voice kept softly telling me, "you want to be out there. This is why you set the alarms. Just get up and you'll see." But I said "screw you" to that little voice and kept sleeping. The second alarm was set for 7 a.m. I don't know why I set the alarms like this. It was like a ticket to stay in bed. The second alarm was really more of a nuisance. It was the radio, which always seems so bizarre coming out of sleep. Like, "who are these people in my room at 7 a.m. and why are they talking about Christina Aguilera?" I hit snooze several times because I couldn't figure out how to turn the damn thing off (it's a borrowed clock radio from someone who has to get up really early all the time. I used to always wake up on time when he had to get up. Don't know why it doesn't work when I'm alone...). I finally turned the volume off on the radio and went back to sleep, realizing that it was too late to run and be back in time to shower.

The third and final alarm was the buzzer at 7:30 a.m. Curse the people who make clock radios with more than one alarm. It really is just a way to delay the inevitable. With one alarm, you realize that you don't have a choice, and you get up. With two, you pretend you're getting up early, but really you're just allowing yourself to sleep in until the last minute anyways. I hit snooze several more times and then finally was somewhat awake, but just lay in bed and stared at walls for a couple more minutes, then pulled my laptop on my stomach, checked my email, spaced out a little bit longer, and then FINALLY, after it was either get up or call in sick, I dragged myself into the shower and got ready to go.

Haven't exercised since Wednesday night (unless you count Irish Step dancing, which wasn't much of a workout because Lisa and I ate Mexican food, including blood orange margaritas, right before we danced, so we were sluggish and ill throughout the class). This can't go on. Tomorrow I will get up at a reasonable hour and take a run and go to my favorite Pilates class.

Don't worry, I'm not turning into one of those obsessive worker outers. I just like how I feel when I'm active. And I look pretty good, too.

Just Braise, y'all

2006-04-27T11:17:00.000-05:00

I just want to give a shout out to my friend, Stacey. I've known her since kindergarten, when (as she often likes to recall), I sported a beehive-like mop of red curls atop my little head. Stacey has a simply wonderful foodie Web site called Just Braise. I was reminded of just how good her site is when I came across this other food blog: http://blog.myyee.com. There's just no comparison. I'm sure this other blogger puts a lot of work into her recipes and photos, but Stacey's work is just, well, better. And Stacey writes fantastic stories to accompany each dish. And her photography might as well be cut from a gastronomy magazine because it's so professional-looking. Take a look, and tell me what you think.

Razoring into the 21st Century

2006-04-26T15:42:00.000-05:00

Last night, my dad (and mom) bought me a new cell phone (early birthday present). This is my first "new" phone in about 3 years, and the only one I've owned that's got really extraneous novelty features, like a mini camcorder and camera, and ability to play mp3s. Unfortunately, it's so fancy and slick that I can't figure out how to use any of these features, and the battery is so thin that it probably won't last a day if I talk more than a couple of times. I have 14 days to return it, and may end up doing so, because what good is a fancy phone if you can't figure out how to use it?
(Yes, that is me at work. Yes, I am posting this from work. Yes, I did take those pictures of myself. Yes, my job is very exciting)

LIVE

2006-04-26T15:03:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday (almost a week ago--sorry, I've been behind in postings) was my Irish Step class's 2nd "graduation" show at the Old Town School of Folk Music. As you can see, I'm an Irish step dancing superstar.

Later that night, I brought my guitar out of its dusty cavern and played open mic night at the Tin Lizzy, 'round the corner from where I live. I was cajoled into going on stage, and probably could have used about a month's worth more practice, but it was a good way to get back into performing. I've been listening to a lot of bluegrass-esque music lately, and decided that this term, in addition to Irish Step, I'll be taking a bluegrass ensemble class. Pretty soon, I'll be speaking with an Irish brogue and a southern twang at the same time. It will be HOT.

Revelation

2006-04-19T15:46:00.000-05:00

I discovered recently that running doesn't have to suck. All my life, I've wanted to be a runner, but couldn't get past the first mile. It made me feel like I wanted to die. But the other day, my cousin Howard (a veteran recreational runner) told me I was probably trying to run too fast and tiring out too soon. With legs like these, boys, my instinct is to use them to their fullest potential and run like a gazelle (I guess that would be more like leaping, but you know what I mean). It always seemed old-mannish to run slowly and not be keeping up with the other svelte yuppies sprinting on the path along the lake. Yet going fast, feeling like you want to hurl, then stopping after a short distance probably aren't as healthy as keeping up a good cardio-building jog consistently for longer distances and building up more speed each time.

This isn't rocket science, but somehow the concept never fully hit me until now.

Now I'm up to almost 4 miles of smooth jogging and it feels grrrrreat. I'm not going to tell you how much time it takes me, but I'll let you know when I get to marathon speed ;)

I guess like the song goes, "nice and easy does it every time."

40's Movie Star

2006-04-15T02:44:00.000-05:00

(Just kidding, it's just me)

Once again, New York City

2006-04-14T00:34:00.000-05:00

It looks like I'll be venturing back to the island of Manhattan in the fall, for better or for worse. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be heading back to school--it's exciting as hell--but I'm not as awed by the Big Apple as I once was. My recent visit reminded me that NYC is a myriad of Stuff to buy, to eat, to do, etc. and it feels like everyone is "on" all the time. The nagging question: how will I constrain the consumeristic self that lurks inside when I'm surrounded by all this Stuff all the time? I guess having little money and being extremely busy will curb the desire to buy, have, and be cooler than everyone else.

Even though you did not ask

2006-04-06T00:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is hard to be stuck inside a question mark—
harder still to not know who asked the question
or what they were trying to find out in the first place.
It is, in fact, in case you were wondering, very difficult
to try to make stuff happen during the day,
for money,
when all you can think about is,
What’s coming next?
Not the Next of tomorrow or this afternoon,
but the Next Phase of your life,
when it’s all going to happen.
When what you’ve been wading through the river of Uncertainty for
and taking your daily dose of SuckItUP
will finally reciprocate and give you something More.

And it is about the Journey--you know that.
You know you’ve got to count your blessings and enjoy the path,
not focus on the Destination.
But sometimes you just ache with Anticipation
when they won’t give you what you want (when you want it).
Sometimes you just want to beat down their door
and ask them to make up their fucking minds already.

Fate is cruel to little girls with big dreams
who know they’ve got It but don’t know what It is just yet.

Phew!

2006-03-20T20:27:00.000-06:00

Got into NYU! (the School where I messed up my GRE scores). Very excited. Nice to know that some schools are forgiving of slight application errors.

The program is an M.A. in French Studies and Journalism, which sounds cool. Maybe the universe wants me to go back to France or have some connection to French language and culture--I don't know. One more school to hear from, and then I'll make my decision.

boo who?

2006-03-16T00:04:00.000-06:00

Did not get into a certain local school that has a very good reputation for journalism. I want to call up the woman who was supposedly "helping" me and yell at her perky blond ass. I wish I could go back in time and fix my stupid bureaucratic mistake. Fucking assholes. I'll just take my $30,000 and spend it elsewhere, thank you very much. And when I become the youngest international journalist to win the Pulitzer, I will call up Ms. Perky Admissions Associate and tell her where to shove it.

When you assume, you make an ass out of u and the woman sitting next to you...

2006-03-14T22:43:00.000-06:00

At the Atwood Café, in Chicago's Burnham Hotel, looks can be deceiving.

To the average customer (average being over 55, eating alone or with a partner, drinking fine wine and relaxing after a long day of work), two tall, twentysomething ladies who sit giggling loudly at the table by the window as they share appetizers, might not have anything "important" to say.

So muttered the woman at the table next to us as she stood up to leave after her meal. She had been dining alone--reading the paper as she sipped on white wine--but was not for lack of conversation. Throughout our meal, we could hear this woman breathing comments impossible to decipher, but harder still to ignore. I thought she was a little light in the loafers, having some kind of discourse with herself. But after she paid and brushed past us, we finally caught wind of the subjects of her commentary: us.

My partner was rattling off an anecdote in her casual, youthful manner, and the woman in question mumbled something that we understood a couple seconds after she was out of sight:
"Stop saying 'like!'"

We were in shock. This lady had not only been listening to our private conversation, but had a beef with the way we were speaking, and couldn't keep it to herself. Now I don't care if you have a problem with the way I speak. I use "like" as a filler word, and so does most of my generation. It's fairly accepted, if used informally. But the fact that the woman was listening in on our conversation about fairly serious issues--love, relationships, and the pursuit of happiness--and could only comment on the most mundane of linguistic habits really irked me. It was as if she assumed that we were unintelligent because we have a tendency to speak in something less correct than the Queen's English.

But wait: the story is not over yet.

After Wig Lady left (I call her that because she was, in fact, wearing a badly highlighted brown spiky wig--not to be made fun of under normal circumstances, but she had already broken the rules of common courtesy), we kept saying that if we'd caught her in time, we'd have given her a piece of our minds. Boy, if I ever saw her again, I told my friend, I'd ask her to repeat her passive-agressive commentaire. So we finished our way-overpriced glasses of fancy red wine, stuffed our bellies with warm goat cheese & sweet confit on crackers, paid, and got up to leave.

It was then that we noticed that the Atwood had been sponsoring a charity donation program with Community Shares Illinois for the evening, where 30% of every patron's bill went to the organization, or any of its partner groups. There were two women chatting in the lobby of the hotel outside the restaurant, wearing Community Shares buttons, and one of them was Wig Lady! We passed by and I pointed behind her back and silently indicated to my friend that this was the one!

We walked by, glaring at Wig Lady, and then, just as we got to the exit doors, I stopped in my tracks and declared, "we're going back."

I didn't know what I was going to say, but I wanted to find out what this woman was all about, because it was clear she was more sane than we thought.

So, we walked back to where the two woman were planted, and my friend started asking about their organization. It turned out that the organization is a really good thing, and we felt bad that we had assumed the worst of Wig Lady. BUT, she must have felt pretty bad too, because in the course of our introductions, both my friend and I got a chance to present ourselves and the work we do in our most refined, elegant, eloquent language. She saw what we were made of, alright. And then some.

P.S. The reason we were at such a fancy place was in celebration of the fact that I found out I got into one of my grad schools (the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University)! It's a huge relief, and I feel really good that somebody somewhere thinks I write real good.

what the deuce?

2006-03-07T20:45:00.000-06:00

Still no word on the grad school front. Last time I checked, universities do not send their notification letters via pony express, so what the deuce?