Bowling!

I went bowling today with some old friends living in boston from both BU and high school. Despite having stitches I was doing alright, but on our second game they programed our lane to put up bumbers just on my turn. Embarassing- yes; awesome- yes. I kind of like this picture as I am a brown streak except for my leg firmly planted to the ground.

Meet my core team!

So at the start of orientation we were introduced to our "core team" consisting of 6-7 people that we are assigned to work with for the first semester of classes. This Tuesday, we went to a retreat to perform some group bonding exercises. Thankfully, my stitches didn't completely put me out of commission, but let's just say rope climbing was not in the cards. The day's events below:


Here's my team and a bit about their histories:
(left side back to front)
Jun Mo- South Korean journalist
Josh- financial IT
Me- oblivious to cameras
(right side back to front)
Chris- financial consulting in India
Rimi- environmental insurance/yoga instructor
Tatiana- engineer from Costa Rica
Charles- Venture Capital partner with a business in Brazil


The floating hula hoop: This exercise was actually a lot harder than it looks. With a hula hoop on the tips of our fingers, we had to bring it to the ground. Thank goodness Rimi is a yoga instructor on the side as she calmed us all down and guided our fingers to the ground in unison.


This was a strange exercise using verbal and nonverbal communication. Somehow we had to verbally command 3 blindfolded teammates on how to get a ball in a nearby can. ps: they couldn't step off of the purple mat.


ummm, may I just add I haven't sprinted in years?


In a boat building exercise, our teams' raft completely fell apart during the cast off. And like the good business students we are, we took someone else's finished product to the dock and back :)

Get well soon

Thanks, mom, for my get well soon package from Harry & David! Will
make the weekend even better. My stitches should be coming out soon
and it seems as if there will be minimal scarring. Phew!

Home Office

So I finally got around to putting together my new desk in my "office" shipped from Target. I must say that for only $100 it looks super sharp and it matches my dark wood bookcase. With bum hand and all, I was able to put it together in under 20 minutes and voila!- home office. I also brought all my toys and doo-dads from work and have set them up accordingly. It's a good thing I enjoy sitting at this desk as I will be spending many a night here.

Mind you the above diagram does not show the complete picture and may even look a bit pathetic considering how much I am extolling it's praises, but I don't have the heart nor the stamina to fill the bookshelves yet. In the meantime, however, I can drink a continuously warm cup of earl gray and catch up on my emails....

Stitches

Sorry for the ultra gross post, but I cut my palm while white water
rafting this weekend. Actually, it is healing up nicely now unlike
what you see here. No detail of my life unposted!

Pre term

Proof positive I am going to MIT! This is the famous dome outside of
killian court. Coincidence?

And then I put my onions onto a pizza crust and topped it off with
crumbled goat cheese. Watch out bertucci's!!

I'm getting quite domestic with my time off and here is the start of
my attempt at making caramelized onions from scratch.

Cupcake cones

Here is one of my first projects this past weekend. Yum!

So I just out-nerded many of my classmates by proving myself to be the best at Guitar Hero at a get together this weekend. I think my friend Naomi put it best when she said, "Wow, you beat a bunch of MIT kids at a video game?"

test

looks like I can blog on the go using my iPhone! This is a test post
from my phone.

Manny and I hosted a summer bbq for our classmates on Sunday. (We've secretly decided our house name is KiManny- like Brangelina. Poor kid, he's such a good sport to tolerate me!) It went well and we have about 15 people in our place with tons of foods and tons more beer leftover in the fridge. I think we'll bring it to the next Sloanie bbq on Tuesday.


Surprisingly, we had a great set up to accommodate all the people.


The flowers from Whole Foods looked great in my new crystal vase!


OMG! Kim is cooking! Manny said I looked really domestic in my new apron. And ironically, I was talking to classmates about how I would like to go into consulting while wearing it. Sending mixed signals, are we? I am here preparing shrimped wrapped in bacon cooked in bacon grease. It was waaaay awesome and we decided to host a BACON party sometime in the fall.


Here is Manny firing up the grill on our fire escape. This is probably way illegal, but it sure got us through two trays of bbq chicken, hot dogs, sausage, and s'mores! Shortly before this pic, he nearly burned off all his facial hair!

Public service announcement:

Want a free Obama button? MoveOn's giving them away totally free--no strings attached. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.

Click this link to get a free Obama button:

http://pol.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?id=-9746294-2T0Yg_x

Here's the first of many pics to come in of Teresa's wedding! And like a dumb @$$ I forgot my camera that day so I am relying on pics to dribble in on her facebook page :)


My hair is still not recovered from all the hairspray she put into it! Also, this guy looks like he wants nothing to do with me :)


Here we are all lined up.


Dustin looks great in his uniform!


Posing for the real wedding pics.


The happy couple!

So here is like the dorkiest thing I've done since I've left work!

Click here to see the video!

I got an A in my Principles of Microeconomics class, so I'm in at MIT! It was 6 weeks of absurdity, but I got through it and can now kick back... that is unless real class starts!

Good news! I found a place to live in Cambridge! Actually, it's in Inman Square on the border of Cambridge and Somerville. Inman is a great quiet location that has yet to be taken over by chains and big box stores. It's full of Harvard and MIT ppl (students and/or professors) with owner operated coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants and pubs.

I am living with a fellow MIT Sloan student in my class Manny. He is from Guam and is very easy to get along with. I'm living on the second floor so I have TWO rooms, THREE closets, and all for about 1/3 of what I am paying now! One room will be a bedroom and the other I am going to call my den or study. Maybe I'll get some fake antlers to put up. Should be nice to have my own space to get to work!

The place is very clean with a full kitchen and I'm really looking forward to living there. Below are some pics!


This is our dining area by the kitchen. We even have an island seen in the lower right corner. The last tenants left the dining table, chairs, and couch!


Here is our kitchen. I can't wait to use my nice appliances again! Island great for entertaining!

I seem to have made it big in the political blog world as a story I wrote for AMNY has been reported in the Chicago Tribune website!

Original post here

Slideshow of my post here

The Swamp reporting on my post here! They referred to me as a citizen blogger! Is that as lame as a citizen's arrest?

So I witness Chad and Cari's wedding this past Wednesday in Mount Vernon East. It was quick and painless, and only cost $40! Here are the highlights:

Taking the train to love.... the 9:20 to be exact!



Thanks, Mets, for this tip!


Go marriage!


Woman to Chad: Are you nervous?
Chad: Nah, I've done this before.


Yay!


I seem to not like what I'm hearing here.


$40! No returns or exchanges.


Awesome diner breakfast afterwards.


Your wedding may have been cheap, but that doesn't stop us from making you do embarrassing things and taking pictures!

Good news! I've made it to round two of the Spence-Chapin - SWS application process for the South Korea motherland tour.

I don't know when they make the final pick of the lucky 15 ppl who get to go to S Korea for an all expenses paid tour, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out!

Update: Didn't get the final pick. It's ok though, can't win 'em all!

We're back from the cruise!



BON VOYAGE! I can tell already that this cruise is going to be GREAT!





















Above is Olivia dancing to none other than- MODAL MAGIC!















Here's me getting some sun on Cocoa Beach Florida.




A cool glass enclosed aquarium in Nassau. Should we be concerned he is repairing the bolts?



Kim gets some braids from a liscenced practitioner.

April 7, 2008
		Dear Ms. Rescigno: On behalf of the MIT Sloan School of Management, I am delighted to inform you of your admission to the MIT Sloan MBA Program beginning on August 25, 2008. The Committee on Admissions is particularly impressed with your sense of purpose and your record of personal and professional accomplishments. Additionally you have been admitted to the Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) Option. More information will be forthcoming about next steps. We look forward to your participation in this exciting curricular innovation. As part of your admission to the MIT Sloan MBA Program, you are required to enroll in a Principles of Economics (microeconomics) course before matriculating in the fall and to obtain a grade of A. Please send a final transcript to Julie Strong, Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions, by September 1, 2008. You are part of a select group of students who will join the MIT Sloan MBA Program this year. We are confident that your background and insights will contribute to the School's rich educational and cultural community. We also believe that you will have a fulfilling experience at MIT Sloan, both gaining from and contributing to our educational program. Congratulations on your admission! We look forward to hearing from you and hope you can join us this year. Sincerely,
		Rod Garcia Director of MBA Admissions

I nearly cried when I saw this in the news.

Randi has been suspended from air america for some stupid comments she made when doing stand up comedy!

Then I wrote this in the comments page:

You WILL lose listeners and money if you fire Randi.

Ever since silly management decisions chose to take Mike Malloy and Sam Seder off the air, AAR has gone down hill, except to bring on Tom Hartman and keep Rachael Maddow. But to fire your freakin' CASH COW, Randi Rhodes?? Now that is just plain insane! Here are some thoughts: 1. Look, it is clear to loyal listeners like me that there was no way Randi just volunteered to do this stand up act on her own. If you've listened to her for a long period of time, you know she despises public speaking- absolutely hates it. I bet that San Fran affiliate made a pretty penny on tickets too to pack a house to hear Randi do some live stand up. I bet they were lining up more speaking engagements to fund raise into 2009! So much for those funds! Also, Randi has never needed to use swears in her radio show because she actually has a command of the English language, so it was clear from the profanity on the clip that she was a nervous wreck. 2. AAR just relaunched their whole website, which must have come at a price. (Plus it's really slow and stinks btw). How will Mark Green fund this upgrade if nobody wants to pay for the premium service because Randi's not even on AAR anymore? I know they lost my money last night when I couldn't purchase her show on subscription. 3. Randi was making these "who-ah" jokes way long ago, and she was trying to keep a lid on her candidate forever until Hillary started using some pretty underhanded tactics. She is all for a non-brokered convention to the end. All of a sudden, she makes it on youtube and AAR goes nuts. Has sr management ever actually listened to one of her shows? None of that clip is news to us listeners minus the f-bombs. 4. Randi loves America, but gets frustrated with politics. She has amassed a near cult following which elicits withdrawal symptoms for many of us. She has gotten uninterested people interested in the latest debates and congressional hearings. She broadens your audience, making it accessible from truck drivers to Senators. Hartmann is awesome, but sometimes I feel like I need a phD to keep up. Firing Randi would be like firing Ryan Seacrest. You just don't do it. But maybe once this affects your purse strings, you will realize this. Randi- if you're reading this ridiculous comments section of this shameful press release, tell your listeners what station to find you on and where to send the checks.

Please write some comments asking for her back. I'll be bringing this to the AMNY blog too!

Good news everyone! I was chosen to be a part of a political blogging panel for the free daily newspaper called AMny. The blog is called Politirazzi, as in paperazzi, and my commitment is one blog a week throughout the entire election. The blog comes out in a few weeks, so I'll keep you posted- no pun intended!

I have to go to the paper's office this sunday to have my head shot taken! This is my big break!

This should provide hours of entertainment. Go to this link and view as a slideshow.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/sedariscraftchallenge/pool/

This is a funny b-roll tape of all these people fainting at Obama rallies. Maybe he should become certified as an EMT- he'll get through his speeches faster.

fainting rallies
by krs601

So here is where the evening began... at 103rd and 1st Ave. El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) is the area. I made sure we were early so we wouldn't lose our reservations!














My friend Damien was a good sport and came along for this crazy dinner. He was quite pleased with the trashy NASCAR valentine I got him for the occasion!



Here is the table setting. Very festive. We asked to light the candle to get into the spirit, but we didn't know if this would violate a fire code. We did it anyway. On a high note, our waiter said I could keep the bears. How nice. Let's just say I didn't take him up on that.














Hmmmm... what is a girl to order? Not the most expensive thing on the menu! Our waiter was very nice and polite. Next thing you know he'll be movin' on up to a TGI Fridays!















Here comes our food!!! Delicious, delicious Valentine's dinner (all under $20!)
We ordered slyders, chicken rings, onion rings, and cheese fries. oh my!














Here is the show stopper, bloggers. They made us sign waivers so they can post our pictures on the white castle v-day website. All the other people posing in the restaurant were so boring, so we staged a whole scene. The official picture will show up online within two weeks, but we took this one to show you. Damien, down on bended knee, bestowing me with a chicken ring! We had the place laughing and drying their tears.



















For all photos, go to www.flickr.com/photos/kr8z83
I'll let you know when we show up on the official WC website!
But you can check for yourself here: http://www.whitecastle.com/ValentinesDay/photo.aspx?id=372

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

The long awaited pictures are downloaded, but it's too late to post them now. Here's a preview of coming attractions! What lovely decor with the public restrooms behind me.

America needs a new slogan!

Enter the contest here.

The winner gets some Freakonimics stuff! I have already entered my slogan:

"USA: You can't polish a turd."

Good luck all!

So here's the first year in a while I have Valentine's Day plans worth blogging about!

I am going with my old friend Damien for a candlelight dinner at.....WHITE CASTLE! (the one in Spanish Harlem to be exact)

Click on the link for the page that will let you make reservations at the nearest "cassuws" near you. I really can't wait and will definitely take a lot of pictures. I've seen people blog about the V-day dinner at White Castle, complete with table side service, candles, menus, and a flowers. I can think of no better way to celebrate V-day than clogging my arteries with a sack of ten.

Big "Build a Bear" Brother?

Here's a funny article making its way around the internet pointing out that Build-a-Bear is essentially "harvesting" personal information from small children with parent's not giving it a second thought.

In Build a Bear's defense, I understand the value of demographic information and direct mail database building, but I find this backlash against the company just funny. The company's privacy policy is a bit creepy when you read it, so I urge anyone who has filled out these bogus birth certificates to contact BAB and get your information taken off their records.

Happy Birthday!

"To whom?" you may ask. Well, my blog of course! Well, technically it turns four years old on the 5th, but I could not believe how long it's been running. 4 years of international travel, moving from city to city, various jobs, etc.

Happy Birthday, blog!