Hot Naked Cupcake

No More Cubicle 2010

2010-01-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ah, 2010. Sounds like a Sci-Fi movie or an impossibly far off, distant future that could never actually exist. But, it's happening, it's here. And, considering the countdown to the end of the world is in full swing (in certain circles anyway... 2010 isn't it?), I decided now's as good a time as ever to re-evaluate my career. And, all that re-evaluating led me to one realization - my career sucks.

D'oh.

So, I'm launching my Attack Plan - and the end goal? No More Cubicle 2010.

A noble goal, really. World peace, worldwide literacy at all socio-economic levels, an end to AIDS, oh, and me trying to get the f*@% out of that little place known as Corporate America.

So, we're roughly 12 days in, and well, 2010 finds me in a cubicle. But, here's to hoping we close out the year somewhere different. Don't get me wrong, in the midst of all this economic meltdown business, I am more than thankful and more than fortunate to have a job - and I do realize that. But, I do think it's time to rethink an renegotiate - so, here I am - rethinking and renegotiating.

And, just to keep me honest, I'm going to share my little attack plan with you all ("you all" being my 1-3 readers...) and keep you updated on the progress throughout the year. And, see where 2010 takes me... or more honestly, where I take myself.

Attack Plan - No More Cubicle 2010

Take classes at the Upright Citizen's Brigade here in NYC (for those of you keeping count, they begin this Jan - the 25th to be exact).
Take writing classes (1st class kicks off at NYU in Feb)
Blog weekly (I am aware that this has, so far, been a blog without the blogging. I'm going to work on changing that. Just hope I have something interesting to say. Or, if not, I at least just say stuff anyway)
Write a children's book (already in draft form - the concept and storyline is there, now I just need to cmmit it to paper. Always my challenge.)
Get Chocolate Chaos Chopstick (working title) into working order and submit it out for review

Oh, and run the NYC marathon in sub 4 hours...

And, one more thing, try not to be the most self-involved girlfriend ever while trying to tackle all this

So, there it is. I'm hoping something will stick - something. Something, out of all this, will lead me to something new, something different, something that doesn't involve a cubicle. I don't want to be one of those people that totally relates to Dilbert cartoons. Or Cathy cartoons for that matter, but that's a different matter entirely.

Guess we'll see what happens. At the very least this year I plan to fully enjoy the ride. And listen to a lot of Lady Gaga.

Peace.

Half-baked biscuits. Mmmmm.... biscuits

2009-10-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

Oh, Clinton Street Bakery how I love thee. With your inevitable 1.5+ hour long wait for weekend brunch, and small, no frills atmosphere, I still love thee. I'd wanted to go there for nearly 2 ½ years now, since my early days in NYC living in the LES but I never could make the wait. No matter the weekend, no matter the year (at least since summer of 2007, as that’s all I can confirm), there’s a herd of hipsters mingling around awaiting a table. Despite hearing rave reviews, I’d never been able to wait it out, it’s pretty hard in NYC, the city of “the brunch,” with hundreds of thousands of diverse and delicious restaurant options throughout the city, to be told to wait.

But, at Clinton Street, weekend, week-out people wait. They wait in little hungry herds of irony, from all over the city. Heck, I think even some of the good ole’ B&T get in on the waiting action.

But, yesterday, well yesterday I came with a plan. After we were granted with our estimated wait time (the ubiquitous and expected and inaccurate 1.5 hour) we headed down the street to Cocoa Bar for some coffee and chocolate while we hunkered down and waited out the wait.

To start my weekend off with a drink called the “Funky Monkey" and a dark chocolate/cherry/coconut piece of deliciousness, followed by a biscuit-infused brunch was, well, awesome.

A great rainy, chill autumn Saturday…

2-9, yo

2009-08-24T10:15:00.001-07:00

So, this is what 29 feels like. I think I'm going to have to grow into it, but it's a nice fit overall. Afterall, we all know (New Yorkers especially, in this little playground of ours...) 30 is the new 20, which makes 29 the new 19. And, this year is certainly going to rock a lot more than 19. It's like 19 with an expense account. 19 with more money, better clothes, and fewer loser boyfriends, and less exams. Sounds lovely actually...

28 was a pretty awesome year - can't lie about that. But, my career certainly wasn't the shiniest of spots - it wasn't exactly a year of creative, fulfilling, passionate work... And, while I happily took my paychecks, and refused to feel an ounce of guilt for bouncing out of my wee lil' cubicle at 5 on the dot, I still couldn't help but feel there must be something more out there... I just know another year of 9-5 cubicle monotomy is not going to make for a happy J. Nicole... So, this year? So, what's on tap for the 9th year of my third decade of life? Well, more satisfying work - it's the year of finding what makes me happy and going for it.

I've got the boyfriend (greatest in history, or so they say), the apartment, and some killer friends - and an ability to shamelessly gloat about it on my blog. But, this year? Well, this year, it's time to shamelessly go for something bigger, better, more creative, more interesting and less, well, life sucking in terms of work. I'm going to go back to my roots - and do what I do best. Take big risks, do crazy things, be adventurous and audacious. And, I'm not settling for just a paycheck paired with banal work.

So, this year? Well, this year is the year of the blog post. It's the year of improv classes. It's the year of finishing my first book (and submitting the heck out of it). It's the year of a different direction in my career and in my life. And, well, I guess it started today.

So, here's my blog post. And, the start of something more, something new, something different. Out with the old and in with the new...

Now, if someone could just tell me where Britney Spears will be this evening at 6p. I'm on a mission to find her and win those two damn front row tickes. Anyone?

Where's the other 1/2?

2009-08-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

Ran the NYC 1/2 marathon this past weekend. And, it was pretty cool - a loop around Central Park (albeit a very loooooooong loop), then down 7th Avenue to Times Square (for the Cheer-along sing-along of various Broadway hits, complete with a jumbo screen of the words to follow along with...) then we went west on 42nd to the West Side Highway. And, continued south to the finish running, literally, on the West Side Drive- with South bound traffic closed for the race. For those of you who were driving on Sunday in Manhattan (or should I say, attempting to drive on Sunday), all apologies.

It was a good time, hot as...well, hell, and far. Far especially for a girl like me who didn't exactly bother with the whole "training" component of the 1/2 marathon. A key component really. But, like my entire year of races - I just keep showing up. Not sure I'll be able to "just show up" to the full marathon next year (2010), so hopefully eventually I'll try out that "training" thing. But, for now... well, I'm just sitting here with some sore quads - glad I did it, and glad it's over.

Next race - More Fitness 4-miler. In Central Park in September - an easy, 4 miles. In the meantime I'm just thankful for a little reprieve from races - and thankful to be sleeping in for the next few weekends to come....

And just counting down the last few days of being able to say "I'm 28" - 28 - a great year indeed.

2009-04-25T19:49:00.001-07:00

Hey blog. How ya doin'? Say hello to your mother for me. I miss you, I promise to write soon... - J. Nicole

Both droll and inspired

2009-02-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

Hit up the Sounds Like Brooklyn music fest to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at the BAM Opera Hall. And, it was pretty rad. All the chill but spirited and upbeat head bobbing, the use of four guitars and and a myraid of other instruments made for a rad evening. Valentine’s Day eve…

We will overcome H8

2008-11-16T16:45:00.001-08:00

We will.

Let there be a repeal.

Let us look toward the future - NYC, let's legalize

Let the dialouge continue, grow stronger, change the minds of the close-minded

Let our country embrace love, in all its outlets, expressions and forms

Let us not discriminate. Let us not hate.

Again, this isn't just about California...
Arizona, Florida, Arkansas - ignorance nationwide,worldwide - we're looking at you too.

A couple of things left unsaid…

2008-11-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well, first, let’s start with the beautiful… all the things that are being said (and should be said) -

“Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama’s running so we can all fly,” – Jay-Z
1955-1963-2008…
That our children might fly. That we all can fly…

“Tough days lie ahead. But it’s a moment to dream. Americans have earned that right, along with the renewed respect of the world.” – “Perfecting the Union, Nov. 5, 2008, New York Times, Roger Cohen

“Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.” John McCain, Nov. 4, 2008

We elected, as our 44th President a black man with the middle name of ‘Hussein’.

“The most conspicuous clichés to fall, of course, were the twin suppositions that a decisive number of white Americans wouldn’t vote for a black presidential candidate — and that they were lying to pollsters about their rampant racism.” – Frank Rich, “It Still Felt Good the Morning After,” New York Times, Nov. 9, 2008

“There are two skinny guys from Illinois who made a difference. Abe Lincoln and Barak Obama.” – Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School, Indecision 2008, Nov. 4, 2008

There is such beauty in this election, so much to be proud of – but, I fear there are things I’ve left unsaid – so now I give volume to them:
Giving birth to a baby with a disability is not, and should never be, proof of one’s pure commitment to a Pro-Life stance. My commitment to pro-choice stands unwavered, and let me be clear, aborting disabled children is not a segment of a pro-choice commitment. They are not one and the same, and it is irresponsible and quite svengali to suggest otherwise.

And, if we’re in a morality powerplay, might we discuss the morality (or complete lack) of leveraging your newborn baby for your own machavelian political gain? Political capital is complex and ever shifting. The lines of right and wrong blur in a quest to rule – but, this to me was, in a word, despicable…

And, on to the devastating passing of Proposition 8 in California. Of all places in this large and diverse country, California passed this proposition? An indecent proposition at that. Consider me let down. No, consider me devasated, furous and in shock.

How could California allow $38 billion to think for them? Lies should never be able to purchase their way into truth and then into law. For a country so willing to step up and demand a change, to vote in record numbers for racial barriers to fall and equality to prevail - how could we, not only in California, but in Florida and Arizona too, and Arakansas, deny any subset (minority or otherwise) of the American population their own basic rights?

As I sit in shock over the passing of Prop 8 – well, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for me, I’m sorry for you, I’m sorry for our country. It is an obvious truth that a country that limits the ways in which we can express love to one another is a troubled country.

But, the fight doesn’t end here, it only begins. Let the dialouge begin, let the rebellion begin, let’s really begin to see the change we all believe in. For us, for them, for all.

I think...

2008-11-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

...that chocolate chocolate cupcakes and red wine are absolute proof that it's good to be alive.

I say, BaRACK the vote

2008-11-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

And we did…. We did.

Thank you United States of America, thank you. I'm so thankful to be able to finally say, with absolute sincerity, I’m PROUD to be an American.

We did...

(Yes we can)

....and sometimes, sage

2008-09-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Descriptions, depictions, … self-induced afflictions
An endless search for self enlightenment
Youthful and tautological,
falling, down, down into the veritable rabbit hole...
Stolen words to fill the silence, seems everyone else is saying exactly what I’m thinking
Giving articulation to my own block and so, words, I steal.
Stolen, something old, something new, something borrowed, feeling so, so blue.

she's immediately likeable for her color
contagious, dynamic, absolute essence of fun…
haunting, haunted, stirring

…and, sometimes sage

A stolen description, depiction. Chopped, taken, sampled, if you will. A mashup

Hell, just call me hip.

Leaving it up to you.
Find me, seek me. Hiding in this world, just waiting to be found.

Tellmeallthosethingsineedtobelievesaysomethingtosurprisemefindmesaysomethingnewboredomboresmeandi’malwaysboredsoiguessthatmakesmeboring

Don’t mind me. I’m spiraling.

All of you, so transparent, provoking, faking

Throwing stones, the hypocrisy reflected in the lack of self reflection. Laugh at them, but, careful, you're just laughing at your own desires. Everything you're not, everything you are. Unwittingly, admittedly, but true. So transparently provoking, and so now I’m Revoking. Revolting. No, you’re revolting. Ick.
leaves me lifeless.
Your self-indulgence is oh so terribly common
and I wonder when I’ll be provoked to believe
in hope again.

Empty words on an empty podium. What's left to believe in? Bombs over Baghdad, didn't end there, hasn't ended there, still, how terrifying self-involved I've remained. I still want a pony.
Though I'm in good company.
Too busy noticing themselves to notice you.
Laugh out loud, yell to be heard, all the time hiding away what it is that is

Everything you don’t see is everything I wish you would.... isn't it complicated ... and, sometimes sage?

It all started with a word...

2008-08-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how to start a blog.

No clue.

They’re just so hip these days. I mean everyone else is doing it. And, really, it goes without saying that if everyone was jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, I would too. So, here it is: my first blog. Ok, ok, my second. But, the first was just a school assignment, and as far as I’m concerned what happened in college stays in college.
Agreed?

Well, I guess I’ll start blabbering about my life and hope this thing gets better with age. Like fine wine and cheese... or something. Though let's be fair, eventually cheese is just moldy.

There are all these philosophical ideals about how to start a brilliant work of writing (which, unquestionably, this will be. I heard The Old Man and the Sea orignially started as a blog, by the by):

Philosophical writing belief numero uno: “It all started with one word…” which sure, is genius in its fine simplicity and all, but, what’s my word?

A book I just read – one of those happy-n-tears-a-go-go chick lit novels that makes you cry in spite of your better judgment (on the freakin’ rush hour train, no less! These pink little packages of yarn and estrogen should come with warning labels, I tell you!) – Friday Night Knitting Club, aka Steel Magnolias with a Manhattan Cosmo and lime twist… - used that very sentence, “It all started with a word… “

And that word was knitting.

Somehow, I don’t think that’s my word. Knitting.

I don’t know anything about knitting. Not exactly the floodgate of inspiration I’m searching for.
In fact, I think I know less about knitting than about how to begin a blog. So that’s really no use at all. I do know, however, that knitting, like blogging, is rather trendy these days and all my friends are totally into it. I'm totally not.

Yes, so, maybe I’d jump off the Bklyn Bridge if everyone else was doing it, but I wouldn’t pick up a knitting needle. Guess that’s my line. Bridge jumping = fine. Knitting = too far. But, my friends, man, they love it. I just got my 73 scarf this summer. Not that I’m counting or anything.

Summer, it seems, is prime homemade scarf-giving season. I'm merely guessing here, but I do believe these talented knitter friends of mine start their artistic endeavors in the winter (when a scarf seems like a perfectly pragmatic and endearing gift), but seemingly seem unable to put the final, finishing touches on it until summer hits. Then, it suddenly becomes the perfect August b-day gift for a girl like me.

I still remember the first time I received a scarf for my birthday. I’d just moved to Japan a few weeks earlier and was really starting to believe that the heat mixed with humidity and lack of air conditioning, really, honestly, literally, just might kill me. Awaiting my sweat-soaked arrival was a little care package from the States. And, it cost a mere $43 to send over.

I remember with an intense clarity, standing in my kitchen sick from the heat, my apartment roughly 107 degrees, and finding inside that “care” package a wool scarf (read: Japanese summer torture device) enclosed with a birthday card. I almost passed out from heat exhaustion just by looking at it. In fact, the mere memory of it makes me hot.

“What next, a freakin’ string bikini for Christmas?” Oi

And, that concludes pretty much everything I know about knitting – that wool scarves make inappropriate gifts for mid-August birthdays in hot, humid climates.

Let’s see other philosophies on getting started writing…

Philosophical writing belief dos: “Let it start at the heart and it shall flow from there…”

Well, instead of writing, I had to make my way to the toliet to throw up a little. Who thought that up? How do you expect me to ever keep writing if I’m too busy getting myself sick off shots of fluffy truisms such as that…

Huh, well, take a look at that, for someone with nothing to say, looks like I just babbled on for about a page and a half…

And so we have it, one blog entry down. And, I guess it did all start with a word… I. And, let’s be honest, that’s what this whole blog is about: I, I, I… me, me, me. All Jaclynn all the time. It’s the Tyra Banks of blogs…

Welcome friends, welcome.

Hot, naked cupcake.