Random Things

My 25 3/4 birthday is coming up on July 23. In case anyone is feeling generous there are a few things I've been wanting lately:


















Thanks.

Running

I have been doing a serious amount of running lately. 3 miles is now a cakewalk for me. I'm up around 4-5 on a regular basis. So the 6 I have to do for this relay marathon shouldn't be too bad in october. Today my calves have decided that they want to rebel and cramp up all evening long. It's very lovely. But it feels good (the running, not the cramping).
It rained all weekend which gave us a great opportunity to clean up after the fire! gross layer of soot (yes, Mom, I pronounce it sooooooot) all over the apartment. I mopped, Jen cleaned out the cupboards and the dishes. Fun times.
Colbert time! Night, all.

Fire!!

So yesterday there was a fire in our apartment. My roomie turned on the stove, which hadn't been turned on in probably years and POOF up it went in flames. the apartment filled up with black smoke, and 3 firetrucks and 25 firemen came to the apartment! it was crazy. I wasn't home for it, but got home shortly thereafter. today, we spent the whole afternoon cleaning up the remains. I mopped every square inch of the apartment! Some pictures from the fire....

Hottie Fireman!!

Fire!! 003
Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

The source!

The source!
Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

The Fireman and Lola

The Fireman and Lola
Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

The "white" tea kettle

Fire!! 007
Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

Strangers With Candy premiere

This is a picture from the Strangers With Candy movie premiere. The people in the photo are (from l-r) Paul Dinello (director/star), Amy Sedaris (star), Jimmy Keegan (my cousin), Stephen Colbert (star) and me.

Strangers With Candy premiere
Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

The premiere was a lot of fun. It was at a theater in midtown and there was a red carpet and papparazzi and stuff (I didn't walk the red carpet though). Then the movie was really good, very funny. If anyone watched the show on Comedy Central and liked it, you'll like the movie. Then the after party was at Dylan's Candy Store (an actual candy store--get it, Strangers With CANDY!!) across the street. They had drinks, appetizers, and they gave everyone a bag to take as much candy as we wanted to on the way out! We hung with Stephen a bit and then made a few other friends. We were out very late, but it was worth it!!

Long Beach

This was the view from my vantage point today. I took the Long Island Railroad out to Long Beach, Long Island for the afternoon. The train left at 11:45 and I was on the beach before 1. It's about a 45 minute train ride. Anyway, it was a really nice day. 85 degrees and sunny (this is deceiving because the picture makes it look like the sky was grey, but I assure you, it was BRIGHT blue. I got through 1 1/2 books and took a couple naps. It was really nice.

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Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

Forgot one

I saw Maggie Gyllenhal the other day too. Drinking coffee just down the street from my apt. She was very pregnant.

good celeb sighting!

Tonight, I saw Ethan Hawke running along the west side highway. He's super good looking. I also saw Julianna Margulies the other day walking down the street. She's STUNNINGLY beautiful. I've had good sightings lately!

Christina AND SPICE!!!!!

I've recently heard a rumor that I'd like to see if anyone else has heard. Well, they're 2 separate rumors but they may be the awesomest thing to happen in the last 10 years. 1. Christina Aguilera is coming out with a new album. 2. THE SPICE GIRLS ARE HAVING A REUNION TOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hear all 5 of them are coming back (Ginger included--we all knew she couldn't live without them) and they have a new single. If you've heard this as well, please let me know. I don't think E! would tease me like that, but I want to be sure!

Drive-in movies at the Rock

So this is pretty cool. OUtside the rock, right above the rink, they set up these huge movie screens and show movies a couple nights a week during the summer. Last night's was obviously about soccer!

IMAGE_00069.jpg
Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

Close up of the drive-in movie screen

IMAGE_00070.jpg
Originally uploaded by akeegangu.

Toilet update!

Ok, so after a very long weekend and LOTS of very stern (that's putting it mildly) a plumber finally came to fix our toilet. So thanks for all the offers for the depends. I appreciate everyone looking out for me!!

crazy management companies

So as most people know, apartments in NYC cost OBSCENE amounts of money. And the really frustrating part is that the management companies of these buildings know that there are 10 people lined up for every apartment they have so they don't have to treat their tenants with the utmost respect. Here is our latest fiasco. Last week our TOILET broke. Now this is a serious problem. Not like a wall that needs painting or something, this is a toilet! We need it fixed immediately. It started 2 weeks ago with tons of leaks coming out of the toilet. The super came over and said "I dont' see anything wrong, and it flushes, call me when it breaks again." So sure enough it broke again on Wednesday of last week, and this time, it wasn't flushing. We called, he said he'd come over that day, but then called back and left some ridiculous message saying he couldn't come until Saturday. THREE DAYS of no flushing--unacceptable. So then I went out of town, but Jen, my roommate, called the management company and they finally got a plumber over to get it fixed. Sure enough it was broken, needed new parts, etc. So he fixed it. Well, after he left, it was apparently not fixed because again, it wouldn't flush. When I got back from DC on Monday, I figured out that we had to reach into the back of the toilet push down a piece that got stuck so that the basin would fill up with water and it would flush. Not acceptable. So I called on Tuesday to the mgmt company and said the plumber needed to come back. They said "Ok, he's downtown today, we'll get him there, let me call you back." 2 days later, never heard back from her. So yesterday I called again and said we needed the plumber there TODAY. They said, ok, he can be there between 3-5. I said great, please call me if that changes. They assured me they would. My roommate Meredyth didn't leave the apartment between that time, and we were both there until about 5:45. Plumber never showed up. I called around 5:30 and said the plumber wasn't there. Then the mgmt company called back at 6 and said the plumber was at the apartment! I had left to meet my co-workers and meredyth had gone to the gym. So no one was home. I told them they needed to call me FIRST THING TODAY to get us set up with him today, since he was over an hour late. No one called me this morning. So I called around 10 and the lady gave me all sorts of blah blah about the plumber takes the train and he wanted to make SURE he got there yesterday and he was late but he was there and no one was home and now he can't come until Monday. I said that was unacceptable esepcially since had someone called me like I had asked them to when he wasn't there between 3-5, someone would have stayed home, but we weren't going to sit around and hope for the phantom plumber to show up. She said she would get in touch with him and see what she could do for today. That was 2 hours ago, I'm still waiting for a call back....