Dispatches from the Seventh Floor: Going Away Parties

Yesterday at work we had a farewell party for one of our top project managers who took a job at another company. It was a pretty weird situation since, as far as I could tell, no one really liked her all that much. Our working relationship had actually gotten better over the past few months, but for the most part she was temperamental control-freak who I dreaded working with. They passed around a goodbye card for everyone to sign and I sat starting at it for a long time contemplating a sincere message that would be appropriate for the occasion. Finally I settled on "The company won't be the same with out you." Honest, but vague enough to conceal my true feelings. Perfect.

The "party" went something like this. My boss said, "It's been so great working with you. We're all going to miss you." .... Silence. Then we got back to eating our pizza in silence. For the most part, we kind of suck when it comes to talking to each other. We communicate much better through long, complicated email threads. At the end of the day, why walk down the hall when you can convey your message behind the comforting distance of a cc.

Farewell parties can be pretty strange. When I was working at the hotel, they threw me and another girl a college graduation / going away party. She was becoming a teacher. I was moving to Colorado. Little did I realize that I would end up working at another hotel... and then moving back home, and picking up where I left off at the same job. Luckily, it turned out not to be too weird, because about 50% of the hotel employees had also left at some point only to return later. Sometimes multiple times. One housekeeper had left and come back three or four times, and still insisted on having a goodbye party each time.

I for one have reached the point where I officially oppose any sort of going away party. There's just too much potential for it to be weird. The going-away-er is either way too quiet and you know they're can't wait to leave their miserable job, or they get really chatty and go on and on about how much they'll miss everyone/the office/etc, etc. Sigh. Even if there was the prospect of free cake and soda, who has the time to deal with this sort of pesky "human interaction"? Work life is so much simpler when you go into the office, stare straight ahead at your computer screen and shut down all of your emotions. The only safe way to avoid "office drama" (talking to people) is to give off the impression that you're dead inside. Trust me, it works.

Stockholm Syndrome

Seems like a lot of people compare being in a relationship to being trapped. But Catie and I have been together for two years and I don't feel that way at all. It's pretty simple, if the idea of dating someone long term gives you the sudden feeling of claustrophobia then you're either dating the wrong person or you're just really fucked up.

Hell, if Catie is my captor, then I must have Stockholm Syndrome. I'm Patty Hearst and she's the Symbionese Liberation Army. Together we're bank robbers making our way to the vault. And yes, in this metaphor the vault holds true love, and the bank, uh, it probably represents society or something.

Sorry, I'm getting side-tracked. So, for our two year anniversary, Catie bought me the DVD box set of the original Star Wars trilogy. How great is that? As for me, I bought us two tickets to see the Swedish pop group Peter, Bjorn and John at the Paradise Theater. "Writers Block" is probably one of our favorite all time albums, so it was pretty much a can't miss gift.

I was pumped to find out what they would release to follow up "Writer's Block", but after hearing their new album "Living Thing" for the first time, I was really let down. Catie planned to write an album review for her blog and I was happy to provide some title suggestions. Perhaps, "Peter Bores and Yawns" or "New Album Peters Out" (when writing an album review, it's always good to include some insulting puns). So yeah, I was not impressed. After a few listen throughs it has admitted grown on me, though. "Lay It Down", "Nothing to Worry About" and "I Want You!" are all great tracks. Then there's maybe two or three songs that are good enough that they can play six songs from the new album and still make it a really amazing show. If you haven't heard any of it yet, go download those tracks right now.

So anyways, the concert was a couple of weeks ago. Peter provided most of the show's energy. He was dressed in some sort of doo wop get-up, and spent most of the show moving around the stage with the same sort of weird energy you'd have dancing around the living room in your underwear. Then there's Bjorn dressed in all leather. He'd spend long periods standing in place, motionless, with one finger pointed up towards nothing in particular. He came across as a very sedated Burt Reynolds. And finally there was John who pretty much seemed like a bad ass. His outfit reminded me of a longshoreman. They're a very odd trio. Catie and I agree that they we would really like to see them together in their own tv series, because it must be quite a sight to see them all hanging out together. Thanks to pitchfork and mtv, you can get a glimpse of what that show would be like. Check out the Peter, Bjorn and John daytrip at SxSW.

It's worth mentioning that before the show, Catie had a couple of beers at the Sunset Cantina and was pretty drunk for the show. At one point I thought she was going to get into a fight with a couple of college hussies who were trying to barge their way closer to the stage. All in all, it turned out to be one of our best dates ever.

Later that week we drove back to Brighton to see Rick and Suz and watch the Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In which is probably the best vampire movie I've ever seen. Maybe that doesn't say much since, aside from Buffy, I probably hate anything involving vampires. Anyways, watch it. The 12-year old vampire girl was pretty horrifying. But what was even scarier was the elementary school bully scene in the suburbs of Stockholm. The main character Oskar is basically fighting for his life against 12-year olds who try to stab and drown him. In hindsight, maybe my seventh grade experiences of being spit on and pushed down the stairs were not all that bad afterall. Note to young Flip: carrying a trapper keeper is the equivalent of wearing a bulls-eye.

Now that I think of it, Sweden has a pretty big effect on my life. Cuz you know, first, there's the music. Second, IKEA. Third, Swedish Chef, he's a pretty decent Muppet. Fourth... uh. Okay, so it doesn't really affect my life at all. Maybe the point I'm trying to make is that I WANT IT TO! Sweden sounds like a great place. One day, a few years down the line, I swear I will take a shot at becoming a sophisticated globe-trotter. Sweden must be a destination. I'll see the Ale's Stones, listen to Jens Lekman albums, go to a Swedish party (pictured) and get the real Stockholm Syndrome. After that it's onto London, Amsterdam and my ancestral stomping grounds of Germany. It would make for a pretty cool honeymoon...

Dustin is planning a trip to Germany this year. I wish I had the vacation time/money to join him. There's also a standing offer from Jordan for a cross country road trip in which we would listen to nothing but alt country. Damn that would be great. And thank God I have Catie as my travel partner. She has great road trip traits (ie she's easily excitable). I know that if I pick out a city, she'll spend hours googling ideas of what to do, not because she's anal about having the perfect itinerary or anything like that, it's just that she's always that excited by the prospect of a trip.

As a kid I sometimes felt like I'd never get to see anything. My family wasn't all that adventurous. We had been as far north as Syracuse, struck west into Ohio, and made one excruciating two day drive to Disney World. Over the past few years I've slowly but surely been able to check things off the list. I took 80 as far west as Wyoming. Then I checked off the rest of the midwest by driving back through route 70. But that trip was too much about escaping a bad situation. There was no time for the kind of care free curiousity and casual soul searching that make a road trip so great. In March Catie and I spent some time in Phoenix and Vegas. And we've been exploring New England one state at a time. Soon I'll be through with the US. The next big target is probably California, or Seattle. At some point in 2010 I want to be neck deep in the Pacific. When that happens, I know my travel partner will be right there with me.

Swine Flu, Where Are You?

Last Wednesday I was feeling a little under the weather. Woke up and felt dead tired, but probably not too sick to go to work. Of course the second I stepped on the train I started to feel intense dizziness and realized I probably should have worked from home. So as soon as I got to the office I emailed my boss to say I was leaving, and then I went home.

After getting some sleep I felt much better. That should have ended the story. But no. As soon as I mentioned to anyone that I had been feeling a little sick I would get one of the following reactions: 1) "You're sick? Uh-oh, hope it's not swine flu!" or 2) "Sick?" *stepping backwards* *nervous glancing from side to side* "Soooo, do you have a fever? Sore throat? Chills?" No! I don't have a fever, or a runny snout, or an unquenchable desire for truffles. I feel better now leave me alone!

That same day an email went out to everyone in the office saying that if anyone had any symptoms whatsoever they should work from home. Later that day we also got an email from the owners of the building, wanting to know if anyone in any of the ten floors had swine flu.

Then there's Dustin who lives in ground zero of the America Swine Flu (NEW YORK CITY) getting texts from his mom, updating him on the status of the upcoming epidemic. This is why I hope that my mom never learns how to text.

I understand that swine flu is dangerous and it's best to err on the side of caution, etc etc blah blah. My problem is that too many people are incapable of handling news like this without freaking out. Several summers ago I was at a picnic when a woman saw a mosquito. Her immediate reaction was to jump on top of a picnic table and start screaming "WEST NILE! WEST NILE!"

All I'm saying is, right now (in the US at least) swine flu is sort of everywhere and nowhere. It's the phantom disease covered round the clock by cable news, watching it move country to country, state to state, bringing us to a total of.... 286 confirmed cases in the US. Is that it? After watching people freak out over dirty bombs, bird flu, Y2K, and more code orange terror alerts than I can count, I feel pretty confident that I'll make it through this. If someone I know ends up with swine flu, I promise to start texting my mom daily.

Obama's 100th Day / Flip's First Post

Congratulations, people. We made it. Barack Obama has been in office for 100 days and America stands strong. We have survived pirates, bankruptcies and (cross your fingers) at least one pig-based super virus. Being from Central Pennsylvania, I know there were a lot of people who woke up on November 5th freaking out about what would happen since . But despite their fears, everything is basically the same. There's a little more gay marriage, a little less torture, and white people don't feel quite as bad about all the shitty things they've done to black people over the years. But I'd say the biggest takeaway from this is, you remember those chain emails about the book of Revelations predicting Obama as the anti-christ? Turns out that they (probably) weren't true. Phew.

After 100 days in office, I have to say that this is my favorite moment of the Obama administration so far. It comes to you courtesy of TIME. Here we see Michelle meeting with Carla Bruni, the first lady of France, for a little girl talk during the Obamas' tour of Europe. I believe the caption is "OMG you touched the Queen?! F'reelz??!!"

For a more detailed summary of the first 100 days in office, check out Obama's facebook news feed, courtesy of Slate.

Also, for any of my creepy friends who may be reading this post (Dustin & Jordan) you'll probably enjoy this post a lot more if you take a minute to stare at the picture, and imagine a First Lady make-out session. Ye-ah.