Okay...

Lemmee 'xplain.

The office I work out of is a big room with 12 tables for the Teaching Associates and one sort of cubicle for the part timer. Any who, I am the oldest in the room by one year, by the calender. The divide is much greater than that.

If someone is in office hours, the door is open. If no one is, most of the time the door is shut. The problem comes from the really inappropriate, nasty, sexual, sexist and general immature conversations that go on no matter if the door is open or closed.

I just completed my training at the other job for harassment, both the not how to harass and how to handle harassment as a supervisor. Oh My God. It has really been bothering me. I mean, its bad, really bad.

I mentioned it to one of the other TAs when we left to get food and she asked what she could do to help. I came up with the idea that we all needed to be responsible for our office hours when the door is open.

It happened today. When someone is telling a story and is repeating what happened, which involves screaming "She's a cum-sucking whore", yeah, I had to step in. So I used my, 'the door is open, maybe we should watch our language.' It worked.

Then it happened again this afternoon. I always start with, "Is someone in office hours?" I try to point out that I am not being a stick in the mud, I am trying to make sure we are not opening the office up to harassment allegations and more importantly, we look professional. So I used the maybe we should watch what we say line... It didn't work, they quieted down for a moment and then started back up again. And I had to go to my other job so I grabbed my bag and left.

So there is the story behind my comment early, delivered when I returned to the TA office from the other job. Its frustrating. I don't have time nor the energy to deal with this kind of crap. Its so juvenile.

Sometimes...

I really hate my life. I am the policeman of my office. More later.

Okay...

I'm still planning a real post, maybe with pictures of my various trip and B-day. However, considering I am writing this while I am still at work on a Friday night at 7:23 p.m., it may be a little while.

Ah, I love grading papers.



Gratuitous cupcake picture from the Seattle trip.

starting upper left, Blueberry Creme, Cherry Creme, Chocolate with Amarula flavored buttercream, Cookies and Creme, Tiramisu

Hi

I'm still alive, just overwhelmed. Hope to write a little something soon.

Friday

Super tired, preparing for class last night and didn't sleep much. Now I don't want to do anything but haven't finished my hand out for class tomorrow.

Tomorrow night should be fun, right now I am more tired and have too many things to get done to be excited. the Jessica will be there - yeah!

later. And happy 30 to me, tomorrow at 10:00 sharp - when I begin class (hee hee).

Short and Dirty

- Spoke with Ms. S today - finally! My fault, I have had her name next to "call" on my to do list for several days now.

- First day of training for teaching. Yawn inducing and still no lesson plans for first few classes.

- Had a lovely dinner with Meesh last Thursday. She came to campus to buy her books, we had a lovely chat and dinner at Veggie Delight.

- As I mentioned to Ms. S, I have already received some lovely Birthday gifts, Plet helped me organize the party - doing all that icky call around for prices and locations, Ms. S is staying in Vegas and taking care of business - which is exactly where I want her to be right now (there are other years), my big sis hosted me in Seattle and Ms. B sent me "Vegan with a Vengance" (Book love from far away, I love it!)

- Speaking of Settle, I am still planning on posting but until I do, here are a couple teaser pics:
Tiramsu Cupcakes (Sorry T3, they have coffee and alcohol in them!)

Marble cupcakes with an almost perfect yin-yang shape on the bottom, the dot in the top is actually where a bubble and therefore a hole formed in the cupcake, I haven't done anything to this cupcake other than bake it and peel the wrapper off. And yes, that is my chubby hand holding the cupcake. Nice nails though right?

More to come.

Whew Becky!

Okay, will post all about my Seattle trip soon. In the meantime, here are some highlights:

- Ate vegetarian Vietnamese food with my big sis - new favorite! Nothing like a good Pho and spring rolls.
- Went to the Experimental Music Program - amazing.
- Had an almost vegan cupcake and Champagne party with my sis and her friends
- walked everywhere


I like Seattle, not sure if I could live there but love to visit. So green and I love that there is art everywhere. I will post more later with photos. Oh - my sister lives in the Queen Anne neighborhood so we were able to walk to the space needle. Didn't go up since the lines were horrible, I'll have to do it next time.


Okay, I am suppose to be working and since it is my boss' last day, I better get going! (tear)

Shhhh...

I'm not suppose to know yet but I just found out that when my current boss leaves the company on August 15, I am going to be reporting to my previous boss, who is really cool and we get a long like a house on fire.

It's nice to have a little more information about the upcoming semester.

Oh, I also found out that I will be teaching from 10-11 and 12-1 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. (No Julie, you may not come and sit in the back of the class to see me teach. The classrooms are tiny and I am capped at 26 students. Plus, do you really want to spend $5.00 on parking for one hour?)

This weekend

It was an adventure. I guess I failed to mention that I was working the retreat I was at this weekend, rather than attending it. It occurred to me that this means that I will be working ten days in a row. That's last Monday through this Wednesday when I fly out to Seattle to visit my big sis, leaving for the airport straight from work. At least I had from 3:00 yesterday off until I came into work this morning and I have my evenings free. Wee!

I'll try to write more later, but no guarantee.

Arizona!

I loved AZ except for...

These are HUGE and they fly! Ew ew ew ew ew ew!

This one was dead when we came out the next morning and Ms. B picked it up so I could get a good picture. EW!

We had so much fun, the three amigas. It rained every afternoon and one day we saw a double rainbow. Here is a partial picture. Meesh actually has a video following the whole double rainbow. so pretty!
That's the Mr. on the right, out taking a look.

I liked Tombstone, nothing like $6.00 for three cranberry vodkas. We had a good time with the Kareoke bar. Meesh sang Earl by the Dixie Chicks and Ms. B sang...oh heck, I can't remember! Meesh? Ms. B? What were the other songs sung that night? Maybe next time I will get up and sing.

Below is a picture of the main hotel in Bisbee, where we visited for the day.

Got to try lots of yummy flavored honey from "The Killer Bee Honey Company". The Orange honey and the Cinnamon honey were my favorites. I need to order myself some. I couldn't buy any then because the jars were over 3 oz. and I only had carry-on luggage. A great afternoon, even though we had a flat tire and that is an adventure for another time. Plus, I don't have the best pics for that.

This was my attempt to take a picture of the storm that was falling in slect areas while we were driving back to Tombstone. It was so pretty. It was strange to see how the rain was falling in some places but not in others.


Any who, that is some of the trip. It was a lot of hanging out and visiting. One of my favorite memories was sitting in the hot tub in the evening with our hosts and enjoying a glass of wine and some great conversation. I can't wait to go back for another visit. 8 months is too long to go without seeing a good friend. Hmm, that means I need to get my butt to Vegas as well....

Ciao!

Holy Moley!

Just checked out August's Horoscope at my favorite site: Check out how it starts for me.

You are a flexible, mutable sign, so when the chips are down, you roll with the punches better than most signs, but that doesn't mean it's been easy. In the coming two years, your entire life will look different, with new friends, associates, and possibly a new position, home, or partner - or the whole kit and caboodle. It will be exciting, but change demands a great deal of adjustment, and that's been the hard part.

Not what I wanted to hear...

A Tale of Two Cupcakes

Yes, this past weekend I baked cupcakes twice. And since I have been a little lazy on the posting, here are two sets of pictures to drool over.

First, Pineapple Right Side Up cupcakes for my Saturday night dinner party. Single view.

And these are full size cupcakes for a change, not minis as I am want to make. Here is half a dozen.


For future bakings, I think I would like to try a lighter whipped pineapple mousse type topping. As yummy as the pineapple compote on top was, I think I would like a lighter sweet as to not overpower the delicious spicy cupcake below. I also got some critique on the use of the marachino cherries. I was told I should have used a half cherry and I had a couple people pick their's off, which I kinda don't understand, I think they're yummy! My only change with the cherries is I might wash them off a bit so I don't have the red juice drip on my cupcakes like you can see in the picture above.

Cupcakes #2
For work I decided to try my hand at the Chai Latte cupcakes. After several false starts finding out that I was missing ingredient after ingredient, I finally got baking. Mini's at work:(Yes, that is the 'marble' table in the breakroom)

Once again, I had a heck of a time with the recipe. I had to really play with the baking time as they seemed uncooked in the middle and I also feared that they were sticking to the lining. So I sprayed the liners, which then made them rise funny because of the extra 'oil'. The next morning they were fine, the original batch came off the papers with out any problem.

These were not my favorite but they were inhaled at work! Normally there are a few left in the main break room when I am ready to go home and I transfer them to a paper plate and they are gone by the next morning. The cupcakes were gone by 4:00. And I take a seperate container to the Design Factory since it is a seperate building and they rarely come up to the break room. Those cupcakes were gone by three, and I usually have to give them two days to finish and then there are usually a couple still there. Who knew?

Coming up next, an overview of my AZ trip and finally! some of my Mexico trip.

"oh hell no..."

Scanning the news today, I ran across this little item, originally posted under regional news on CNN.com. This story details how a 15 year old girl in Missouri has alleged that a sheriff's deputy sodomized her before returning her to a relative's house this week.

The "Oh hell no" part comes from the second line in the article. And I quote,

"This is a nightmare that any police administrator does not want to face," Jackson County Sheriff Tom Phillips said."

So, this is a nightmare for the police administration? Really? How about the teenage girl who no doubt suffered physical and emotional trauma from this act of violence that was perpetrated against her by a figure of authority? This dumb ass 34 year old deputy no doubt thought that he could get away with abusing a young woman while he was on duty, especially since he caught her out after curfew and she had been reported as a runaway earlier.

And then this idiot states how tough this is for the police administration...Wow, what compassion.

"There was nothing in his background that would indicate anything like this would ever occur," Phillips said. Because rapists look crazy and wear a big red 'R' on their chest and list rape as a hobby on job applications....

He said he wants the public to know that the sheriff's department is taking the allegations very seriously. That's comforting...

"Even if it's one of our own, we are going to begin an investigation thoroughly and quickly and take the appropriate action if it's necessary," Phillips said.

No charges have been filed. Phillips said he expects the case will be presented to the Jackson County prosecutor's office on Monday.

I wait with baited breath for a follow up on this case. Ain't gonna' happen.

This crap pisses me off.

What is wrong with people? part I

Some of you may remember back over a year ago when I would frequently post articles I would find on crime in the news from MSN.com. That was back when I was working at the newspaper and had way too much time on my hands to read the news online while I was at work. I have been having extra time at work recently but here I love my job and actually keep asking for more. Slightly different atmosphere. But I digress.

In this recent article on MSN.com, police in Reno, NV have arrested and charged Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, with Child Neglect because they were too busy playing Internet and video games to care for their two children, ages 22 months and 11 months. Say it with me, what is wrong with these people?

Both children were undernourished, one suffering from severe dehydration, the other from starvation. Both suffered from infections.

“They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games,” [prosecutor Kelli Ann] Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The American Medical Association has been discussing if video game addition should be designated as a mental disorder, like alcoholism. But they cannot come to an agreement and therefore, have not made a determination yet.

"Patrick Killen, spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention, said video game addiction’s correlation to child abuse is 'a new spin on an old problem.'"

Poor babies. At least the article reports that in foster care, both children are doing well and gaining weight. I am normally not a vicious person but I was glad to read that these 'parents' face a maximum 12 year sentence in this case.

Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes

My co-workers better feel the love, I had baking problems this time and it is really hard to tell why. I changed to real cupcake liners (mini's from Michael's Crafts) and I followed the recipe's instructions to fill the liners all the way to the top. They turned out looking like this.


I can't serve these. So that was 2 dozen that were donated to the family. Which they appreciated. The next batched turned out like this:



Much better.

Interesting recipe, it calls for 2 tablespoons of Bourbon or whiskey. I used an aged whiskey, made the same year I was born. How is that for showing some love for a good bye party? So, is it a good thing that I have been asked to bake for an event or a bad thing?

Another Batch

So, I will get to my trip and the wedding I attended but in the meantime, enjoy these pictures of Chocolate Cherry Creme Cupcakes.

Before - yer basic chocolate cupcake

After - With Cherry Creme and Buttercream filling, topped with more buttercream, semisweet chocolate shavings and a maraschino cherry.

Minis! for work (over 2 dozen)
I made the large ones for a family dinner last night.

Yummy. And tomorrow I will be baking is Brooklyn Brownie Cupcakes for a co-worker's going away party.

Back!

So, most of you already know that after a day and a half of adventures at airports I finally arrived back in LA yesterday afternoon. I am back at work today (so tired!) but hope to have a real post and maybe even some pictures for you all soon.

Ciao!

Summer S'mores

Okay, here we have another batch of cupcakes, this time S'more cupcakes. New pictures taken on my new camera.

Topped with Vegan Buttercream, mini semisweet chocolate chips and a mini square of Graham cracker. The others in the background are also sprinkled with graham crumbs.

This will be my last post until 4th of July. I am leaving very early Tuesday morning (4:00 a.m.) and flying out to Mexico with my friend JW and her friend Valeria. Valeria will no doubt be my friend by the time we return. We are going to have a lot of fun and I promise to take a lot of pictures and share them with you all when I return. We will be going all over the place, Cuidad Victoria, San Juan de los Lagos, Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo, San Miguel de Allende, Puebla, Veracruz, Poza Rica, and Tampico. I still have several things to get done before I leave and boy, I wish I had taken tomorrow off of work. Course, I also wish that I was getting paid for my vacation time but we all know the old saying, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."

Buenas Noche y escribo luego.

Cupcakes

Here is a picture from last weekend. No baking this weekend due to bachlorette party craziness and general feelings of sickness and ickiness.


Sorry about the picture not being framed right, I am shooting blind since I broke the LCD screen on my digital camera.

Oh, they are Red velveteen cupcakes with vegan buttercream frosting. Half have crushed pecans, half without. They went like hotcakes.

Haven't felt like writing anything lately, been going to the gym a lot, so ti-ti.

Ciao...

Silence

Hey all, sorry I haven't been posting lately but we are having internet problems at home and I have been super busy at work this week. I have also not been able to read any blogger posts, so I feel very out of it. Some quick updates:

I have pictures to post of the mini- red velveteen cupcakes I made last week with special guest baker, Meesh. They went over like a house on fire at work.

I went to the gym three days this week, which is a new record for me.

Bought tickets to go to Mexico for a week with mi amiga JW and Meesh and I bought tickets to go to Arizona to visit Ms. B. Next on the ticket buying list is a flight to go visit Ms. S up in Vegas. I am going to have a fun and action packed vacation summer.

I am so glad that Rescue Me has returned to FX. So fantastic although I never saw season 1 or 2 and that is making it a little harder for me to watch season 4.

Gotta go, will write more later.