Movie note: The Kids Are All Right

FOUR STARS

The costume department really nailed the lesbionic clothes.

Movie note: Gia

THREE STARS

I was a bit shocked to see Juliet from Lost being all naked and lesbiany!

Cat people

Walking home after dinner with Reebs and her husband, Puppy and I were discussing our cat nanny, the lady who visits with Stefano Di Mera and Victor Kiriakis when we're both out of town. We described how she got around with a cane, loves to eat the sweets in our home and leaves cards describing how she spends her time with the cats.

Just seconds after we discussed the nanny, we heard a lady exclaim, "Hello cat people!" and lo and behold, it was her! She was making her way down the street, wrapped in a black wool coat, a hat and a fur muffler around her neck, which she said was "a former client." Cane in hand, she intercepted us, gave us hugs and asked what special treats we'd leave for her during her Christmastime visit. She complimented Puppy on the banana pudding he made when she last visited.

I don't know how I feel about being referred to as "cat people" in the neighborhood.

Photographer Panda!!!!

After a very tasty dinner last night with Puppy's friends from New York and friends from Lynn, we all went to the nearby gay bar and enjoyed some Friday night libations. DJ Mother Nature met up with us and it was a pretty fun night out.

A tall, pasty, dull-seeming fellow took a liking to Puppy and started chatting him up and doing some lash-batting. Apparently, he was in town for the weekend from Austin and he was looking for fun things to do. Discussion turned to where we should go next and DJ Mother Nature offered to take the new fellow to a different, hopefully more lively bar. But before they left, our friend from Austin wanted to remember his night with Puppy forever, so he pulled out his phone and asked me to take their photo together. The first two didn't come out properly, so I had to do it three times.

Fortunately for everyone involved, Puppy went home with me, but DJ Mother Nature did take the Texan to his next destination. Maybe he pulled a Jersey Shore-style "robbery!"

Stuffed

I have got to stop eating all the Thanksgiving leftovers in the house.

Movie note: Before Sunrise

TWO STARS

This was a pretty boring movie and Ethan Hawke's teeth are kinda jacked, no?

Panda!!!!'s best dishes

Our department admin has been on my case about having too many vacation days that won't carry over to next year, so I took today, Thanksgiving Eve, off from work. It's been a nice, leisurely day so far that began with a visit to my neighborhood Starbucks where I ran into two co-workers who were working from "home."

I visited my gym for a bit, went to the supermarket (horrors!), the post office and returned home to give the cats some treats. After checking in on some work issues, I started baking some pumpkin bars for tomorrow night's feasting. I hope they turn out or I'll have ruined Thanksgiving!

Wintery curry

It's a pretty cold day in the Northeast. I think the high was 41 degrees or something like that, so it seemed like a good idea to make another hearty, hot meal.

But instead of taking a page out of Julia Child's playbook, I decided to put last year's workplace strategery session to use. I dug out a can of coconut milk that moved across the country with me, shopped for additional ingredients and fixed up some hot, tasty Thai green curry.

We were done with dinner by 6pm.

Happy birthday, whoever you are

Fleshjack came to town for a good friend's birthday, so Puppy and I joined him for the festivities. We hoped that the party, located around the corner from us, would be a good way to meet people in Boston and would serve as a fun Saturday night event.

It had all the makings of a good party - a beautiful home, red velvet cupcakes, bacon-wrapped hot dogs, a boozey punch and a pageant theme. We didn't, however, do a great job at mingling. As soon as I met a couple who attended my undergraduate alma mater, we basically stood in a corner and chatted for the duration of the night.

And when it was time to leave the home and head out to dance, dance, dance all night, Puppy and I opted to just go home. We are, after all, very old.

The outcome was sort of disappointing since I still cannot recall the name of the birthday boy. Puppy also reported that the red velvet cupcakes were dry.

Health care reform

When it comes to healthcare and benefits and such, I am a dummy. Ironic, given my brief stint in the industry, where I apparently learned nothing.

It's the last day of open enrollment and I just spent more than an hour trying to figure out what my options are for coverage next year. I tried (unsuccessfully) to figure out my benefits options online, so I had to spend some time with a very unfriendly customer service agent who made me feel dumb when she finally directed me to the correct part of the website.

Per usual, I elected the coverage option that takes the least out of my paycheck. With the changes introduced this year, however, it probably is a bad year to get in an accident or need surgery. I'm sure I won't be able to afford the out-of-pocket expenses!

Bright eyes

Today I had to film a segment for a video we'll be showing at our next all-employee meeting, so our video people set up all sorts of microphones, cameras and lights for me to look my "best."

Directly in front of me they put a small panel composed of a bunch of little LED lights, shining into my face. This, I'm told, is a light to make the video subject's eyes sparkle! I want to carry one with me every day.

The big greasy

It's been a few days since I've returned from New Orleans, and I still haven't fully recovered. I think I'm still catching up on sleep and my body is still detoxing from all the excess. I haven't been to the gym and my gut has grown increasingly soft. I guess I'm just not as resilient as I used to be.

New Orleans is a city known for its rich, delicous food and I believe I sampled my fair share during the weekend (not that I remember everything). For the big birthday dinner bash, Lezzie N organized a very nice 3-course meal accompanied by an open bar. Clearly, that meal is lost somewhere in my "memory."

While everyone else did a swamp tour, Selives and I had some local lunch favorites. I opted for a nice jambalaya and he had red beans and rice. It was a good way to line our stomachs with grease while I recovered from the previous night out. No boat rides for this panda!

And in the hour before I flew back home, I ran back into the French Quarter, ordered up a fried shrimp po boy and ate it by the river. It was like a little picnic with the homeless! Only I had a really good meal and the others had none.

The big easy

I just landed in New Orleans to celebrate Mahogany Sparkle's and Lezzie P's joint birthday party. With a rowdy group of 21, I don't know that the French Quarter will be the same again.

The old stomping grounds

Like my recent tease of a visit in Sydney, I'm in back in San Francisco for the blink of an eye.

I landed this morning, checked into my hotel and went straight to my old gym. It's been about two years since I visited this particular gym and it was kind of refreshing to see that little had changed. I recognized the reception-folks, a few trainers and I ran into a friend who was getting his lunchtime workout in.

It's an absolutely beautiful day, which makes my early morning departure tomorrow that much more difficult. I'm due to speak at a conference in an hour (the whole reason I'm here in the first place), so I'd best put on my suit and get downstairs to the conference area.

Good thing I'll be back in a few weeks for the holidays!

Pandie & Pandia

It is officially the first day I feel cold after a summer/fall in Boston. Maybe it has to do with turning back to standard time. Maybe it's just that it's nearing mid-November. Whatever it is, I guess I'm in for winter's long haul!

After a disappointing beef bourguignon the other night (I believe there was ketchup in it!), I decided I would slow cook my own tonight! And all day, I've been saying "boeuf bourguignon" like Meryl Streep did in Julie & Julia. I think Puppy's pretty annoyed by now, but hopefully the dinner will turn out tastycakes.

Career limiting comment

For the past two days, I've been sequestered away in a cross-functional leadership development seminar with 10 other employees from my company. We've been learning things about ourselves, collaboration, project management and other such skills that are supposed to help propel us forward in our careers with the company.

But more than anything, we've been eating nonstop. Not only has there been food available throughout the two days, we all gathered last night for a very nice dinner with three key company executives. And whenever there was a lull in the conversation (aka, when we were eating our food), the trainer would pull out a stack of cards on which were printed "conversation starters."

One card posited the question, "If you could bring back one celebrity from the dead for one last, great performance, who would it be?" The awkward silence continued, so I blurted out, "Jon Benet Ramsey!" And our COO (whom I'd never met before last night) nodded in my direction and asked, "Who's the joker who just made a career limiting comment?"

Movie note: The Exorcism of Emily Rose

THREE STARS

I sure am glad not to be epileptic!

Dinnertime reunion

Another good thing about visiting NYC for work is the chance to catch up with friends. Since Dickinator and I didn't have a proper catch-up when I was last in town, we decided to spend some time mano-a-mano at a cute little East Village restaurant.

It had been so long since we chatted that we had to reach back to mid-summer for our updates. I guess between my trips to Europe and Asia and Dickinator's trips to Europe and Asia, it's been tough nailing each other down for a proper chit-chat.

We'll have to make it a more frequent occurrence. Although maybe next time we can lay off the fat-making food like spinach & feta dip, mac & cheese with bacon and fried entrees.

Conference season

It's the time of year when I bounce from conference to conference, so I landed this morning in New York for another conference.

The past few days in Ann Arbor have been incredibly informative, inspiring and engaging. I lost my voice from speaking on my panels and yelling small talk across crowded dinner tables in loud restaurants. I deflected requests for jobs and informational interviews and I caught up with old friends.

But I only left Ann Arbor yesterday, spent approximately 20 hours at home, then flew to New York this morning (seated next to one of my company's C-level executives - kinda awkward). My day was spent in the Hyatt adjacent to Grand Central Station, even though I'm staying many blocks away (trying my best to help the company save a dollar or two). And while the content has been fine, the networking has already proven to be helpful. Plus, I've gotten to see a bunch of old friends from a company I used to work for. And for that reason, I'll soak up the numerous conferences, even though I feel conferenced-out.