Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Seriously, Who's Going with me on March 23th?

To the Hunger Games. Anyone? I'll bring the baby bottles of Champagne.
80! New movie stills. Yes, I'm excited enough to go through all of them.

Remember this creep from that movie where she's a murderous child who is (spoiler alert) actually a 40 year old Russian woman?

Monday, February 27, 2012

Friday, February 24, 2012

Happy Friday!


I don't know what's happening here, but I do know that Paul Rudd is a master technician on the dance floor. Man crush AND dance idol. Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Sweet Dee is Famous!


Stefon's Illustrated Guide to the Box

"…and look who just walked in, is that Natalie Portman? No, it’s an old Irish black man that we call Murphy Brown. Plus, if you come this Sunday you’ll meet two-year-old ultimate fighter Drooly Lips Jackson. He’s got fists like little empanadas and he is my best friend."

Thoughts on Pinterest

Have you guys played with Pinterest?  It's fun. I like it. But I also hate it. And it kind of makes me sad. Such mixed feelings!

Here's the deal: it's a bookmarking site that is all the rage with the ladies. Especially with the Mormon ladies, apparently. Essentially, you can create a bunch of "inspiration boards" by "pinning" or bookmarking images and links you find on the internets.

I find this especially useful, since I have no less than 4 computers in regular use in my life, and I am quite obviously a procrastinator, meaning that I find many recipes and links I'd like to follow up on from home during my work day. My old problem was that bookmarking them on my work computer made it necessary to turn on  my work computer at home to retrieve the link. That's against my policy in the case of non-extreme circumstances. I used to email myself links, but it led to a cluttered inbox... and I'm a little OCD about my inbox.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Box: America's New Favorite Pastime?

So last night was weird...and awesome.

I may have had some alcohols. yeah I said it: alcohols. That's what we're calling many drinks now.

Anywho, I ended up in the care of a friend who happens to manage a very trendy restaurant in the lower east side.  Being the cool industry insider he is, he invited us to join him in visiting his friends who work at "The Box".

I have heard of  "The Box". I know it's a crazy New York club that puts on quite a "show".  I had an idea that I was going see some things that Rick Santorum would prefer were illegal. I was fully prepared to be appalled or disgusted.

Totes Amazeballs

Via the Daily What
So apparently this lovely man (the singer for a band I've never heard of) tweeted a joke about inventing a cereal called "Totes Amazeballs", saying Kellogg's was considering producing it. Kellogg's saw the tweet, and made him a single box of his cereal.

First, I'd like to say that despite not eating carbohydrates for the past 45 days (except for after wine fest, which doesn't count), I would totally buy a box of this. And second, everyone start tweeting your dream cereals at Kellogg's. My requests would include Bluth Cornballers and Grief Bacon Crunch.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Celbrate! It's Biscuit's One Year Anniversary of Having a Life


One good thing about Facebook Timeline is that it’s incredibly easy to locate and identify the date of major milestones in your life, stuff that I would normally search through my gmail for exclamation-point ridden emails to my friends and family announcing major life events, in order to pinpoint the date. Though I certainly don’t use Facebook as honestly or as often as I used to, generally something big like a job change or a new puppy will make it on that damn timeline. And due to the ease of browsing through that timeline, I realized that exactly one year ago today, I commenced my last two weeks at Big Consulting Inc., and was a mere three nights removed from the end of my traveling life.

Now, I know I have written a lot about Consulting. Forgive me; it’s all I’ve known since college. And, fortunately or unfortunately, it’s what I’m still doing today. This morning I was sitting in my status meeting, actually engaged in the conversation, not bitterly hating my life, not so tired I could barely concentrate, and I realized what a difference a year outside of that indentured servitude had made on my life. So, lucky you, I’m going to tell you all about how my life has improved since joining a smaller, local firm. Consider it a(nother) cautionary tale for all those young whippersnappers currently dreaming of a job in the Big 4, wanting to be all sexy like Don Cheadle and our beloved Kristen Bell in House of Lies (I really need to write more on that later). This could also be recruiting material for my new company. Maybe I’ll share it with the recruiters some day. If they give me money for it.

First things first. One year later, I feel like I’m finally recovered from a mental illness I didn’t even realize I had.  I realized this today when, despite not being the person talking in my meeting, nor having my laptop and beloved internet, and not being particularly interested in the information being presented, that I was not obsessively doodling, drawing, or fighting off sleep. I was listening, giving input, and actually being present (sorry for the yoga speak) for the full hour. It was weird.
A symptom of mental illness.
Towards the end of my big Consulting run, I literally could not sit in a meeting without keeping myself occupied in some way. Whether that was taking obsessive notes, filling full pages with my patented cross-hatch OCD pattern (see picture), or slyly playing Sudoku on my phone, there was no “down” time. This habit stuck with me for a while in my new job, and my manager chalked it up to my generational identity (us y-millenials, right?). But I don’t need to do it anymore. Sure, like any normal human I daydream a little, but I’m totally fine with downtime now. It’s probably because I’m not in a full anxiety attack 24 hours a day, as I was before. I’m not counting down the days away from home, or dreading that the other shoe is about to drop (the prevailing management technique in the Big 4 – broadcasting consistent feelings of dread).

Friday, February 17, 2012

Bein Quirky!


I'm late on this, but this "Bein Quirky" sketch from last week is pretty awesome. Kristen Wiig as Bjork: Very Entertaining!

Bonus Bjork:


Happy Friday!

Sorry for my continued absence. I know you're heart broken. I just, well, I was required to do a lot of work this week. It really cut down on blog time. Here's Billy Crystal doing a subdued airplane-overbite jig in honor of Friday. I picked Billy in honor of my our second project: our wedding. You'll get it soon.

Too Soon?
Also, R.I.P. Whitney Houston. The Bodyguard was my favorite movie of all time as a 12 year old.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Make it all better, Jon Stewart

When I saw the Liz Trotta "what did they expect but to be raped in the military" clip yesterday, I was so angry, and I wished Jon Stewart was there to make it better. I had to wait a day, but he did. Love you Jon.
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
V-Jay Jay Day
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Monday, February 13, 2012

Biscuit without Biscuits: Paleo Adventure Season Finale

If my Paleo Adventure were a weight-loss reality TV series, then Saturday was the Grand Finale Results Show. And you know what, guys? I wasn't the Biggest Loser. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The four of us met with our Nutrition Lady for final measurements and body fat testing. Here are my results (in terms of difference before and after):

Friday, February 10, 2012

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday y'all! Hope you're brushing up on your sweet dance moves for the big day in November!

Also, bonus gif!


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Biscuit Plans a Wedding: Part 2

The scene of the future crime: we're like Minority Report over here.
Something strange is happening to me. I'm crying happy tears about 4 times a day. I mean, I have always been a wedding crier. I cry when I watch 4 Weddings, for god sake. But now, literally every detail of this wedding, when I imagine it in place the day of, is making my eyes well up with tears.

For example: I just listened to a potential DJ's sample mix of 90s-2000s R&B and rap, and cried. It was just so perfect. And the thought of all my best friends and family from the many different parts of my life being in once place, dancing together, and hopefully having a grand old time was just too much for me. Then I realized that I was on the verge of crying tears of joy to a soundrack of Ms. New Booty. Not normal. On the train yesterday I was reading a post  on a practical wedding (my new favorite) about writing our own vows, and I thought about what I'd say to my mister, and I started crying. I feel insane. What is happening to me?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I want all of these

Though I have exactly the amount of rhythm that you'd expect from a 5'9" white girl, everyone knows that my secret dream is to be  professional hip hop dancer. So it's kind of obvious that I would like to surround myself with "how-to's" for the world's greatest dance moves.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Traveling for Work: Not Sexy

This is not what you look like after a 6 AM flight on Monday.
I’m coming up on my 1-year anniversary with my new company, so I’ve been pretty reflective lately on how much my life has improved and changed in such a short period of time. Remember when I wrote about all the things I learned in Consulting? Well, somehow in the course of spilling my guts about the soul-crushing, spirit-killing culture of Big 4 Consulting, I managed not to mention perhaps the single worst part of the job: the 100% travel schedule.

In the course of almost four years with the company, I was staffed in: Orange County CA, Wichita KS, Santa Fe NM (with weeks in Framingham MA, Tampa FL, Vienna VA, Montrovia CA, and of course NYC), and Walnut Creek, CA. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “that sounds awesome! Free trips around the country! Expense accounts!”
But it is not awesome. Traveling for work is NOT like traveling for pleasure. You spend more time in airports than in your own bed. You live in creepy hotels (all hotels are creepy). And let me assure you, a conference room in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, looks exactly the same as that conference room in your home office. And, think about where offices of large corporations are generally located. Unless you’re really lucky, you’re in an office park just outside of Boston or DC. And the client spends thousands to bring you on site – you’re not leaving that conference room at 5 PM. You’re working until 7 PM on a good night, and you’re not going to see much outside of those office walls. Still not convinced? Here are a few more things that suck about traveling for a living.

You will have no life: Consultancies will tout a 3-4-5 schedule in their recruiting activities. You’ll hear, “you know, I travel for a living, but it’s quite reasonable. We follow a 3-4-5- schedule. That means 3 days on the client site, the fourth night at home, and the 5th day in your home office.” Meaning, you fly out Monday morning, fly home Thursday night, and are expected to be in your company’s home office on Friday. Sounds reasonable to a young go-getter, straight out of college, right?

Monday, February 6, 2012

Biscuit Plans a Wedding: Part 1

Hi everyone. You can breathe again, I have restored external internet access at work! It was a long, arduous 1.5 days in the office, but I survived and I feel stronger for it.

So, wedding planning. Wow. First of all, let me say that I feel like a complete impostor calling myself a "bride," calling Mr. Good Hair my "fiance," and in general discussing anything wedding related. We've been together for almost four years, lived together for two, and have talked about this seriously for more than a year. But for some reason, I feel like I'm pretending with this whole thing. It's weird. Does it ever start being real?

Anywho, once again perpetuating female stereotypes, I went full type-A on planning last week and did not rest until we had secured a venue we love, on a Saturday, in this calendar year, and not smack dab in the middle of the Holidays. What did that entail? Well, I think I read the entire "here comes the guide" website, opened myself up to the possibility of any affordable venue in Northern California, asked HB to talk me down at least twice, sent my parents approximately 100 emails/day, and called or emailed at least 40 venues. 

Friday, February 3, 2012

Happy Friday!

So, you know what was fun this week? My client installed a security patch that made it impossible for contractors to access the internet! Translation? Most boring week ever.

Supposedly there will be a fix Monday, so cross your fingers for more bits then. In the mean team, enjoy this amazing feat of costumery and coordination. Let this be known: I wouldn't be mad if this showed up at my wedding.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Biscuit Without Biscuits: Paleo Diet Adventure Part 5

Ten days to go.

I'm still not sold on this whole Paleo thing. Yes, my stomach is 100% less bloated. I have been sleeping like a rock (or like a caveman in my cave, as it were). And I think I'm looking slimmer. As an aside, does anyone else have a condition in which they lose two pounds and think they're suddenly Giselle?  I'll consider myself blessed that at times I completely irrationally think I'm as good looking as Beyonce, but what the shit.  My mind is a strange place.