New York City? - Outdoor Adventures

Since I started my new job, I've been able to really enjoy weekends. Last Saturday, two of my housemates and I went to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. We had a quick stop first to drop off an old cable box and found a birdwatching nature trail nearby.

Dustin and I try to find some birds from this great vantage point.

Also on our way to the nature refuge we saw this amazing Starbucks. It has two floors with outdoor patios on both, a fireplace inside, and it overlooks a Venice-like canal. Amazing!

Once we got to the nature refuge, we were in awe of the beauty. We were still in the New York City limits, yet everywhere we looked we saw all kinds of plant life, birds and water.

Oh wait, there's Manhattan in the distance....

It was a great day trip. We even had dinner at an Olive Garden and didn't have to wait two hours (since it wasn't in Times Square). Yay for weekends!!!

Random Fun Fact #5

In my home state of Arizona, first cousins can get married if they are both over 65 years of age, or if they provide the state with proof that one of them is unable to reproduce.

*http://phoenix.about.com/cs/weddings/ht/marriagelicense.htm

Pink eye

I haven't had pink eye since elementary school, so isn't it fitting that I would get it on my 5th day at my new job. I woke up Wednesday morning with a swollen and goopey eye. I figured it was pink eye because it felt like what I remembered and one of my roommates had it last week. Indeed my eye did look pink in the mirror. I used some of my roommate's eye drops and went to work anyway. I didn't want to look bad by calling out sick so soon, especially since I felt fine. One of my co-workers, however, asked about my glasses since I usually wear contacts. I admitted that I thought I had pink eye, and she backed away like I had the plague and said, "That's highly contagious. I could get it just looking at you!" So she told my boss who told me to go to the doctors and not come back :-) What a way to start your first week!

The doctor gave me a prescription and said I could go to work the next day, which I did and stayed busy with everything that piled up while I was away. I'm looking forward to finishing with the drops so I can start wearing my contacts again. I feel ridiculous in these glasses because I bought them just for before bed and picked out the cheapest pair. The experience has inspired me to really get a move on buying new ones. I've been meaning too for a long time anyway.

Random Fun Fact #4

When a jockey is sure his horse is about to cross the finish line first, he may lower his hands and let up on the reins to win hands down.

-American Museum of Natural History, Horse exhibit

Book Review: Stiff

Title: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Author: Mary Roach
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (May 2004)

My rating: ****
I picked up this book based on the recommendation from a friend. It was surprisingly funny and very informative. Roach, who is a columnist for Salon and Reader's Digest, provides interesting details about what happens to human cadavers from burials to ballistics testing. I often found myself laughing out loud at Roach's wit and unique point of view; I was also struck at the way she tempers gory details with both humor and respect. She shows reverence for human life and death while sharing fascinating and well researched facts. I highly recommend this book, unless you have a weak stomach :-)

Random Fun Fact #3

Before the use of cadavers in car crash testing, researchers used pigs because of their similar organ setup to humans. Animals are still used for pediatric impact study because child cadavers are not donated to science.*

*Stiff by Mary Roach

Random Fun Fact #2

If the population density of New York was the same as Alaska, only 25 people would live in Manhattan.

Answers

1) Brooklyn, NY (will also accept New York City as an answer)

2) Leah, Tracey, Krista, Celia, Laura (I have other friends that I would accept as possible answers, but these are the closest)

3) Macmillan and Gap (or Mesa Public Schools)

4) No

5) Michael or Mike
Bonus: Arizona State University or Campus Crusade, Fall 2002

6) Mom and Dad are both living in Scottsdale, AZ

7) Reading, running, watching movies, scrapbooking, painting pottery

8) 27

9) Arizona State University

10) Shawn
Bonus question: Shawn and Parker, both because we mutually realized the other person wasn't "the one"

Random Fun Fact #1

When a person chooses to donate their body when they die, there are many uses for it. Interestingly, "donated skin that isn't used for, say, grafting onto burn victims may be processed and used cosmetically to plump up wrinkles and aggrandize penises."* Not exactly what I had in mind when thinking about donating my body to science ;)

* Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

I'm getting married! Are you invited?

As my fiance and I prepare and plan for our wedding next year (May 23, 2009), we're trying to keep it as fun as possible. He recently sent me a link to this CNN article: "Should you be invited to my wedding?" I thought it was pretty funny. Though I would never base our guest list on a serious inventory of people's answers, I wanted anyone out there who is interested in giving the quiz a try just for fun a chance to take it. I will post the answers in the next blog so you can see how you do.

1) Name the city I'm living in now.

2) Name at least two of my closest friends.

3) Name my current employer and my past employer.

4) Do I have any kids?

5) Do you know the name of my fiancé? Bonus question: Where and when did we meet?

6) Do you know where my parents are and whether they are still alive?

7) Name at least two of my hobbies.

8) How old am I?

9) Where did I go to college?

10) Name my last boyfriend before this engagement. Bonus question: if you can name the last two and why we broke up. If you get the bonus question right, that might automatically get you in.

Scoring helps determine whether you get invited.

If you score 50 percent or below, you definitely are not getting invited.

If you score barely over 50 percent, you are on the waiting list. If someone who scored better than you cannot attend, you might get an invitation. This barely acceptable person who might be invited may get you a great gift because of their guilt for scoring so low.

If you score over 60 percent, you get an invitation.