It's definitely THAT time of year. The bells are ringing (the random Santas on street corners who stand there with buckets are the main proponents of these), the children are singing (actually, crying their eyes out in shops is probably more accurate) and everyone else is spending far more than they ought to, anywhere they can! Everyone with a screen name on MSN has changed it to something "comically festive" (guilty), and the everyone starts paying each other a lot more attention at work, just in case you end up as their secret santa. HAPPY HOLIDAYS, THE AMERICAN WAY! Actually it [View Full Entry]

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The Thanksgiving long weekend certainly started as it meant to continue. After a rather stressed final day in the office going over details for our December event the following week (for which a midget was top priority), it was nice to go home and think of those four long days stretching out ahead of me. On my way home, however, I stopped to meet Anna at 14th Street. I thought I'd better help out, seeing she was attempting to get home, get changed and then run back out to meet her friend within the space of 20 minutes, whilst all the [View Full Entry]

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There are a number of statements that I was pretty certain I'd never hear in the corporate world. These have ranged from the fairly banal ("hell, we're not that busy. Let's take the rest of the month off...") to the delightfully random ("he did? With a BADGER??"). I'd like to think though, that I'm always prepared for the unexpected and can cater to even the most unforeseen of comments. "What's the going rate for midgets these days?" had me utterly stumped. Picture it. Your boss walks in on a Monday morning, you meet with him to discuss the upcoming fundraiser and [View Full Entry]

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I've got to admit, I wasn't a huge fan of Alanis back in her ranty man-hating days. It was all just a little pessimistic for me. My heart was pretty much intact at the age of 14, I'd never really had any parental issues and I was pretty clear on the meaning of the word "ironic", and it had nothing to do with an old dude winning the lottery before promptly dying (didn't they make a film about that, something about Ted or Ned?). But then there was a little road trip with Ali, when it suddenly all became clear. By [View Full Entry]

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By my second "i'm-going-to-see-everything-this-darn-town-has-to-offer-just-you-try-and-stop-me" day, I'd managed to figure out the ferries and the piers and the times and the locations of the whole thing. So I gave the cruise another shot. With the Circle Line ferry leaving from its pier at 12:30, I had my arrival timed to perfection. The Law of the Sod, however, decrees that when a good idea has been had by one person, millions of others will also have been blessed with said good idea, and so all shall descend upon this same little pier at the same little time in order to bombard the humbl [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so it was a round-trip of Manhattan island, but considering all of the communities and the ethnic microcosoms crammed into that 23 square miles, it's almost a trip round the world. I decided sometime in the middle of last week that I'd been spending far too much time piddling around New Jersey and not enough time actually seeing Manhattan itself. Sure, I spend every single day traveling in and out of the place, walking past the Empire State and the Chrysler buildings, but for some reason I just don't feel like sightseeing at 8:15 in the morning. Or 6pm for [View Full Entry]

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After a bout of freezing-get-your-coats-out-folks-we're-snowed-in-til-March weather, it's suddenly turned really warm again. I can wander freely around the city wearing a jumper and still be warm (note: yes, this is in addition to other clothes. No silly comments please!). This was of course remarkably handy when it was decided that Saturday was going to be a night out on the town, venturing out to 40-40, the favourite haunt of my flatmate Lydia. I'd heard rumours of ghetto-like suuroundings and that I would be the whitest person there, but after having survived the Kings Pharmacy Ball earl [View Full Entry]

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For all of the press it gets, the Empire State Building is an alright building. It's tall, it's more elegant than some of the 1960s monstrosity skyscrapers around the world and there's definitely an air of something special about it. The throngs of tourists alone are a little clue there. But you could quite easily miss it as you walk past. Well, if you can fumble your way though the queues. I've not been up it yet. I'm waiting for a cold winter's day that'll make my cheeks ruddy and raw, but also guarantees bright blue skies. Even if my hands [View Full Entry]

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In a display of astounding solidarity, the like of which hasn't been seen since Opal Fruits became Starburst, the inhabitants of George Washington Flat 903 were able to pool human resources and score 2 'excellents' and 7 'goods' in our flat inspection this month. While the rest of our flat had been deemed 'good', the bathroom floors in both the male and female toilettes were considered 'excellent' - a mildly sparkling example for the rest of the world to take note. A note at the bottom of our inspection sheet declared that the apartment "is looking great". This is, to be [View Full Entry]

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Oh my. I'm so so sorry I haven't written anything in so long, but then I always was hopeless at keeping a diary of any sort. In my defence (with a C, not an S), I've barely had time to sit down and call people, not to mention e-mail or blog, and I kind of wanted to wait until I had some pretty pictures to show you and exciting stuff to say. Now I have both and I can hear the roars of appreciation from you all, so here goes. Over the next few days, I'm going to try and write [View Full Entry]

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