Balloon animals

Because I work on the K-Y® Brand, I have no censor anymore about what is appropriate cocktail party conversation, and what crosses the line of too much information or too embarrassing for other people, because for me, this all is now everyday conversation. For example, the above commercial, which I find really cute, the rest of the United States viewing public would probably would find offensive — which is why it would never be allowed to air on the networks in the US. 

What are your thoughts? Is this too risque, or is it cute? I am curious to hear people's opinions, given that I am no longer able to be very objective anymore.

Pretzels for breakfast

The first focus groups started this morning at 10am, so as expected there was an array of breakfast-y foods for us to eat while we sat in the dark, taking notes. I expected some cheese and meat sandwiches (check), some decadent looking sweet roll type things (check), but I did not, in a million years, ever expect to see pretzels sharing space with croissants on the breakfast table. Which meant that of course, I just had to one. I mean, how often are your proffered with the suggestion of eating a baked pretzel at 9am? And when in Rome (or Germany in this case), ... Looking around the focus group room, I noticed that more than half of the women had chosen pretzels as their breakfast option, as well. 

I love Germany.

Hi, Mr. Sneaker!

Sometimes, I wonder if maybe I picked the wrong profession, I mean, I could be a New Balance sneaker mascot...how fun! But then I thought about it for more than a nanosecond, and realized that maybe wearing a giant sneaker costume would be really annoying, and I would end up hating everyone, because they tried to hug me. His costume was awfully cute though, and was not scary like when you see Mickey walking around Times Square near the Disney Store. I mean, I could see why someone might want to hug him, if hugging a giant sneaker was not so weird.

Am I crazy?

This morning I woke up to the sounds hockey being played on the Russian ESPN channel, as I had fallen asleep watching television at like 2:30am, due to being trapped in some weird time zone that actually is neither here nor there. That being said, oddly enough, my hotel room at the Frankfurt Grand Westin has ZERO channels in English. How is it that I go to Moscow and can watch 24 hours of Animal Planet in English, and come to Frankfurt, and the only thing decent on television is the Russian women's figure skating finals, on Russian ESPN, in Russian? Can someone please explain that crazy logic for me, because I just don't understand it.

Sponge Bob Schwampkopf

I was having problems getting my television to work this morning - was only getting two channels, which were showing the equivalent of Little House on the Prairie, in Russian. The TV tech came and she fiddled with something and now I have all sorts of fun channels, all in German. Including Nickelodeon. It was a toss up between Two and a Half Dads or Sponge Bob, both in German. It was a close one, but I chose Sponge Bob because the episode was a riff on the Pied Piper, which I found rather ironic when watching it in German.

A Tuesday in Moscow

Some pictures taken from the taxi window 

on the way to the Johnson + Johnson Russia office.

Hello from Moscow

The ceiling of the Chekhovskaya Station on the Moscow Metro.

Changing trains from Tverskaya Station to Chekhovskaya Station.

The public space in front of the Kremlin. 

I am sure this has a name, but I have no idea what is is called.  

Standing in Red Square.

St. Basil's Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible and built on the edge of Red Square between 1555 and 1561. Legend has it that on completion of the church the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, to be blinded to prevent him from ever creating anything to rival its beauty again.

Posing in front of Lenin's tomb

Some church in Red Square that I am certain is famous.

The entrance to Red Square, thronged with guys selling fur hats and matryoshka doll vendors selling Barack Obama doll sets

A matryoshka dolls vendor just outside the Teatral'naya Metro Station.

The inside of Mayakovskaya Metro station. 

Believe it or not, this was the subway platform, 

not the entrance.

Today, I woke up at noon, and decided to brave the 0ºF weather to see some of Moscow. I was a little nervous, since most everything is written in Cyrillic, which I had some problems reading for obvious reasons. That being said, I noticed a few points while I was wandering around:

1. Every single person wears at least one item of fur. It could be a hat, a coat, a coat with fur trim, boots, mittens or any combination of the above. I even saw a homeless man sleeping curled up on the subway steps, wearing a fur hat. You know its very cold, when even homeless people are wearing fur. PETA would go nuts here, except that it is really necessary, and I actually considered the practicality of purchasing a fur coat before I left. 

2. No one smiles. 

3. People really don't have any concept of waiting in line for their turn. It seemed very normal to step in front of someone in line to get to the till first.

4. Customer service is sort of a foreign concept.

5. McDonald's is incredibly popular; the line was so long, it had filled the entire restaurant when I went into to get a hot chocolate; so I left.

6. Sbarro is literally in every single mall in the entire world.

7. The Moscow Metro is the most beautiful subway system that I have ever seen in my life. And surprisingly, very easy to navigate and very easy to use. One ride to anywhere on the entire line is only 22 rubles, which at 62¢, has to be perhaps the cheapest thing in all of Moscow.  

8. It is really freaking cold.

Dreaming on the way to Moscow

I had the strangest dreams while flying from Amsterdam to Moscow this afternoon, surely induced by my complete lack of sleep from the night before. In my dream, the plane was flying so close to the highway, and the highway was so super winding and rollercoaster-like, and the plane was flying like it was a rollercoaster itself, so much so that I remember griping onto the seat with all of my strength. I thought that certainly if I even moved a fraction of an inch, it was going to cause the plane to crash. But while this was happening in my dream, I was like, wait, I should be taking pictures, since we are flying so close to the ground, and I managed to get my camera out, despite feeling like I might throw up from the sudden drops, etc. and take an endless stream of photos. In fact, in one series, I captured a car that had veered off the road and crashed over the guard rail.

This is still all in my dream.

And then as we got closer to Moscow, I was taking pictures non-stop and was elated by how amazing some of them were. People ice skating on frozen rivers, eastern orthodox looking churches. Pretty much all mentally taken straight from my memory of the movie "Orlando." That is my picture of Russia in the winter. Complete with the soundtrack.

But then I woke up suddenly, and was like, wait, did I take those pictures or not? And when I realized that I did not take them, I was so sad for a moment, because in my dream, the pictures were really that good. But then I looked out the window and realized that while it was nothing like Orlando, it was incredibly amazing to see such a clear picture of the landscape below. And so I took pictures the rest of the flight.

I heart KLM and its snack boxes

On my flight on KLM from Amsterdam to Moscow, they gave us these little kraft boxes of goodness to enjoy for breakfast. Mind you, it was a kraft box lined in tissue. I don't ever see American Airlines giving out a entirely organic, well-designed snack box on any of their flights. Oh, and it was for free, mind you.

Miffy overload

Oh wow. Just changed planed in Amsterdam and the airport shops were so chock full of Miffy stuff that I went into catalytic shock. Or that honestly might have been caused by the insanely sweet hot cocoa made with soy milk that I bought at Starbucks. Regardless, I was overwhemled. Do I buy the Miffy stuffed animal set with her dressed in native outfits from around the world? No. Too weird seeing Miffy in a sarong, with her little white fuzzy shoulder exposed. And what do I do with four Miffys, anyway? What about a Miffy tee shirt? Oh, only came in sizes up through 10 years old. The adult sized tee shirts had marijauna leaves on them with "Amsterdam" printed beneath. So not the same vibe.



I only had three minutes, because my flight was at gate D57, the LAST gate, which was maybe like a mile away, and it was already boarding. So I settled for a Miffy plush toy in her classic tee shirt. And Lara, you are now the owner of a Miffy plush toy, too. Mind you, I did not buy the super soft plushy ones because those were actually baby rattles.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Destination: Forccheim, Germany

An email I wrote to a colleague today:

Finished my press check this morning + spent the afternoon at an organic packaging trade show. I desperately needed a coffee/hot cocoa combo but apparently the one hot cocoa machine in the whole expo center was broken. And trying to find a diet coke at an expo full of bio food was nearly like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Finally found it stacked next to the Jägermeister in the cafeteria - which was full of stereotypical old school german men (chubby, red cheeks, blondish/white hair) who were drinking beers and eating bavarian pretzels slathered with mustard. No joke.

Its been snowing all day here, and I'm wearing at least five layers of clothing. Kneesocks, leggings, pants, et al. Russia's weather report is in the teens. My flight leaves tomorrow at 6:20am, flying through Amsterdam. On Aeroflot. Hopefully, it won't plummet out of the sky because rivets were too expensive or something.

Oh, ps. Lunch at the canteen was the most giant fish stick I have ever seen, on a bed of spinach with huge peeled + boiled potatoes, covered in a creamy cheese bechamel sauce. Served with a side of pickled green beans cucumbers + tomatoes. I ate half, felt my arteries harden immediately and then fell asleep, from the shock of eating a thanksgiving sized meal on a normal work day, while being given a plant tour of how plastic film is extruded from plastic pellets. Which, scarily enough, I've actually already seen, in Brazil.

How are you?

Lead the Charge

Sorry to keep posting my favorite commercials, but there are so many great ones out there these days that completely move me. This is one of them. Where the T-Mobile commercials were just really funny, this particular commercial for the new Jordan just totally takes it to a whole new level, featuring Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Rip Hamilton and Joe Johnson. Totally, and completely, inspiring. Plus, I am really digging the music in the background. Apparently, it's Tema Di Ali, by Ennio Morricone.

but let's not comment on the inordinate amount of television that I seem to be watching. I am multi-tasking, ok? Imagine it as the television being audible wallpaper in my apartment.

A mural on Front Street in Dumbo

Baby Joe all bundled up

The photo was taken in the Jaques Torres in Dumbo, where we went to look for half priced valentine's chocolates.

What is love?

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth, "You owe me."
Look what happens with a Love like that!
—It lights the whole Sky. — Hafiz

you know LOVE,

that word love is a very serious thing, and
if you don't watch out I tell ya
that (Love's gonna get you) because a lot of
people out here say "i love my
car" or "I love my chain" or or "I'm
just in love with that girl over
there"...

ya know a lot of people believe that that
word Love is real soft, but when
you use it in your vocabulary like your
addicted to it it sneaks right up
and takes you right out...

— Boogie Down Productions

One of the most popular phrases in any language is probably "I love you." In Japanese, "love" is "ai （愛）," and the verb form "to love" is "aisuru （愛する）." "I love you" can be literally translated as "aishite imasu （愛しています）". "Aishiteru （愛してる）," "aishiteru yo （愛してるよ）" or "aishiteru wa (愛してるわ, female speech)" is normally used in conversation. However, the Japanese don't say "I love you" as often as Western people do, because of cultural differences. I am not surprised if some Japanese say that they have never used these expressions in their life.

In the Persian culture, everything is encompassed by love and all is for love, starting from loving friends and family, husbands and wives, and eventually reaching the divine love that is the ultimate goal in life.

Ishq, or divine love, is the emphasis of Sufism. Sufis believe that love is a projection of the essence of God to the universe. God desires to recognize beauty, and as if one looks at a mirror to see oneself, God "looks" at itself within the dynamics of nature. Since everything is a reflection of God, the school of Sufism practices to see the beauty inside the apparently ugly. Sufism is often referred to as the religion of love. God in Sufism is referred to in three main terms, which are the Lover, Loved, and Beloved, with the last of these terms being often seen in Sufi poetry. A common viewpoint of Sufism is that through love, humankind can get back to its inherent purity and grace. The saints of Sufism are infamous for being "drunk" due to their love of God; hence, the constant reference to wine in Sufi poetry and music.

In Buddhism, Kāma is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to enlightenment, since it is selfish. Karuṇā is compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others. It is complementary to wisdom and is necessary for enlightenment. Adveṣa and maitrī are benevolent love. This love is unconditional and requires considerable self-acceptance. This is quite different from ordinary love, which is usually about attachment and sex and which rarely occurs without self-interest. Instead, in Buddhism it refers to detachment and unselfish interest in others' welfare. The Bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete renunciation of oneself in order to take on the burden of a suffering world. The strongest motivation one has in order to take the path of the Bodhisattva is the idea of salvation within unselfish, altruistic love for all sentient beings.

In Confucianism, lian is a virtuous benevolent love. Lian should be pursued by all human beings, and reflects a moral life. The Chinese philosopher Mozi developed the concept of ai (愛) in reaction to Confucian lian. Ai, in Mohism, is universal love towards all beings, not just towards friends or family, without regard to reciprocation. Extravagance and offensive war are inimical to ai. Although Mozi's thought was influential, the Confucian lian is how most Chinese conceive of love.

T-Mobile's Fave Five commercials

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I am loving T-Mobile's Who's in your Fave Five? commericals with Charles Barkley and Dwayne Wade. I know that this series is more than two years old, but since I am slow to the TV thing, this is one of the first times that I have seen them, thanks to watching the NBA All Star weekend. My favorite is the one with Yao Ming, where Barkley and Wade trying a new restaurant at Yao's recommendation and they get served live shrimp.

"This is Yao's favorite dish. Please enjoy," a smiling-faced waitress beckons. As Wade reels back in disgust, Barkley gets a call from Yao, who is on his Fave 5 list. "Hey, Charles, how are you enjoying the shrimp?" Barkley replies, "It's moving and it's got eyes on me." "Don't be a baby," Yao insists, telling them to eat the head.

and the last commercial in the series before T-Mobile gave Charles Barkley a "leave of absence" after his DUI incident:

Bookshelves, continued

Last weekend, I decided to capitalize on The Container Store's biannual Elfa sale (thanks to Dane, I actually knew about this!) and buy a series of shelves to bridge the gap between my desk and my wardrobe. I measured the width and then went to the store to buy some shelves. Except that the store's computers were all down, and when the Elfa specialist started asking me questions, I actually had no idea how wide my track was. Or the width of my current shelves. Or even how many I had of them. Oh. Pretty much the little information I did have to share, made her quite certain that it was going to be impossible to shove a series of 24" wide shelves into a space that was only 23.75". Ok, fine. So I went home, went online, and proceeded to order everything I thought I needed, anyhow. I did measure again, one more time, and the 23.75" seemed to worked, in my own weird logic. I also reconciled myself to the fact that I would most likely need to go back to the Container Store at least one more time, because it rare when I actually get it right the first time, with regards to these sorts of things. Thankfully, unlike my dad, I don't just try to make it work by sticking epoxy on it.

That being said, all of the Container Store stuff arrived on some day this week. Maybe Thursday. The thought of having to actually install the shelves, which meant moving everything off half the shelves, getting the drill out, using the drill, etc. Ugh. What a hassle. I wish this stuff just came already done. But I am just lazy. So I came home last night from work, and without thinking, or even snacking, I jumped into the project. I had faith that it would work. And holy shit, everything JUST fit. PERFECTLY. There is barely a 1/16" of an inch between the shelves and the wardrobe, which is perfect. Perhaps I should get a part time job at the Container Store on the weekends? Needless to say, I was up until 2am. Because I could not just throw my stuff up on the shelves, I had to put it into some sort of order. And then, I had to vacuum the whole apartment, and wash the walls, and somehow, the next time I checked, it was two in the morning. I fell asleep looking at my shelves. 

And this morning, when I woke up, they were still there! Looking so lovely in the morning sunshine. It was such a splendid way to wake up — I mean, surely there are other, nicer ways to wake up. But this was pretty damn lovely. I lay there for at least ten minutes reflecting...there is something very reassuring about bookshelves and seeing all of your books neatly, and patiently, lined up waiting for you to read them.

I LEGO New York

Cherith sent me this link from the NY Times's Abstract Blog, where Christopher Neimann put together a rendition his remembrances of New York City, in LEGOs, while living in Berlin. 

I love this for some many reasons. On a nostalgic level, because I was a LEGO child. I grew up with a big blue plastic bin of LEGO pieces, which I spent countless hours organizing into separate piles: smooth pieces, specialty pieces (such as steering wheels, kitchen sinks, flowers), 2x4 blocks, etc. In fact, many days when I was home "sick" were spent organizing LEGO pieces. In anticipation of building some grand structure. Most times, the organization itself took all of my effort and attention span, and after a few hours, I would lose interest, and would dump it all back into the same blue plastic bin to clean up for dinner. You would think that maybe my mom would have bought me separate containers for the organized bits, but perhaps she realized that the actual fun for me was in the organization itself. Or maybe she was just sadistic and secretly enjoyed watching me spend my whole childhood preparing for a structure that was never actually built. 

The other reason why I love LEGOs is because they represent this whole other world. Of neatly organized towns with homes that had window boxes with plastic flowers and bathtubs created from smooth pieces. And of gas stations that were snapped together brick by brick, in anticipation of the tanker truck kits that might appear in my Christmas stocking. 

When Kenny and I went to Denmark about ten years ago, visiting LEGOland was high on my list things to do. We never made it though, because it was not in Copehagen...as theme parks are wont to be, it was in some small town in the middle of nowhere. As a kid growing up, my family never had the money to buy enough LEGO sets so that I could create an entire LEGO world in some spare bedroom (which we did not have either), like I imagined the super lucky kids having. So visiting LEGOland was like travling to Mecca, for me, a land of dreams deferred. It is the world of "what if we had had so much money that we could've afford to buy every single LEGO set in existence to create an entire LEGO universe?!" Forget Disney World as a child, I wanted to go to LEGOland. While I could have cared less about seeing Mickey or riding in a stupid whirling tea cup, I so wanted to see a life size tree made from LEGOS.