Tastes like... nothing...

So did everyone have a nice weekend? I would’ve liked to have gotten out of the house and gone to see the Simpsons movie, but Friday night I was feeling awfully tired, and my throat started feeling sort of scratchy. And by Saturday, I had a bit of a fever and someone seemed to be slowly filling my head with heavy marbles. (I don’t know who was doing that, but really, it seemed so unnecessary…) Sunday wasn’t much better, and all those tightly-packed marbles had completely cut off my sense of smell and sense of taste. I had some completely tasteless oatmeal for breakfast, a bowl of completely tasteless soup for lunch, and decided to have another bowl of completely tasteless oatmeal for dinner. If I’d been thinking straight, I would’ve gone out to a seafood restaurant and ordered a nice piece of grilled salmon, or some seared ahi tuna. Probably the only time I’d ever be able to stomach the taste of fish (because, obviously, it would’ve been completely tasteless).

My head is feeling less achy today, but I’m still working on reacquiring my sense of smell and taste. I ventured out to Seattle’s Best this morning with mom, and as we drove past the neighborhood landscapers, I could’ve sworn I caught the slightest whiff of freshly cut grass. It only lasted about two seconds, but it gave me hope that this demotion to three senses will soon come to an end…

I can’t help but wonder where the chink in my immune-system-armor was – usually it’s so reliable and trustworthy. Throw me in a room full of sick people, and chances are I’ll emerge unscathed. But not THIS time. And the funny thing is, I don’t know anyone who’s sick right now. Which leads me to believe some cunning, diabolical stranger passed this along to me. And when I think back to the week leading up to the onset of my symptoms, I believe I know exactly who to blame:

We were at a movie – Live Free or Die Hard, to be exact (good movie, by the way). Rick’s sister Donna was in town with her two daughters, and we decided to go to a late movie with them. The theater was more crowded than we’d expected it to be – Die Hard had already been out for weeks, so we assumed everyone would be heading to Harry Potter or Transformers. But when we walked into the theater, most of the good seats were already taken, and we were forced to sit in those dreaded “up way too close” seats at the front of the room. But once the movie started, I discovered that if I leaned back in my reclining seat, the view wasn’t so bad. I watched a few minutes of the movie in relative comfort, a bit too close perhaps, but nothing I wouldn’t be able to get used to. And then I suddenly felt a weird resistance against the back of my reclined chair – someone behind me had their foot up against it. And this was a stadium-seating theater, by the way – plenty of room between rows. Which meant that whoever was behind me had to be slouching in their chair and all stretched out to reach the back of my own seat. So I did what anyone else would do in this situation – I began to randomly rock back and forward in the seat, in an effort to dislodge the offending slacker…

And eventually, it seemed to have worked. I no longer felt the resistance of a foot on the back of my seat as I reclined to watch the movie. Satisfied, I settled into my chair and allowed my arms to flop against my armrests. Rick was sitting to the left of me, but the chair on my right was empty – so I felt I had the privilege of using my entire right-hand armrest. At one point, however, I felt a strange rubbery sensation on the back of my elbow, and glanced over at my armrest. The offending sloucher behind me had stuck one of her feet on MY armrest. Well, this was even less acceptable than a foot on the back of my chair. So once again, I employed a subtle de-footing technique – I “accidentally” allowed my elbow to bump the foot aside, and finally, at last, my personal space was completely devoid of interlopers. Victory was mine! I was able to watch the rest of the movie in peace, having successfully delivered my message to the annoying movie-goer behind me.

But now, as I sneeze and cough and hope I will soon be able to once again enjoy the scent of movie-theater popcorn, I can’t help but wonder – what sorts of germs were lurking on that ratty old sneaker that repeatedly brushed against my elbow? Who knows where that foot had been before it decided to prop itself against my arm? Am I supposed to remember to lug around a can of Lysol with me every time I head to the theater? And exactly how many OTHER people had lounged against that armrest? That theater was probably crawling with viruses and bacteria… in fact, I should be glad I don’t get sick EVERY time I go to a movie…

Of course, I can’t PROVE it was the Armrest Shoe that made me sick… I suppose it could’ve been just about any random doorknob in any random place I’ve been the last few weeks. But that person behind me at the movie was just annoying. And so I choose to blame the Armrest Shoe… let that be a lesson to everyone to be more considerate of your fellow movie-goers. Don’t stick your feet on the chair in front of you if someone is sitting there. Personally, I would’ve thought that was common sense. And common sense, as we all know – unlike the sense of smell and taste – is unaffected by the common cold…

My eyeballs are tired...

I finished Harry Potter! And I managed to do so without hearing or reading any spoilers. Although I can’t imagine it would’ve made too much difference – the book ended pretty much exactly the way I thought it would. Which means I was slightly disappointed by the time I finished it, since I was expecting a few more surprises. Oh well. It was still a great book – it was a great series. In fact, as I approached the last few chapters of the book, I was suddenly aware that this was it – there will never be another Harry Potter book to anxiously await. And that made me feel a little bit sad, to be honest. Now that I have them all, I should start over at the beginning… read them all straight through, and take my time…

I rather rushed through the Deathly Hallows as quickly as I could… which actually turned out to be not too quickly at all. My week was punctuated by various events and responsibilities that required my attention, and I was forced to repeatedly set the book aside and tend to them. But this would explain why my blog has been so quiet this week – it was, understandably, on the back burner while I used all my free time to read. (Well, Harry Potter fans will understand, at least…:))

Anyway, I found another super-fun-crazy quiz on a random blog somewhere, and since I’ve got nothing very interesting rattling around in my brain today, I thought I’d answer it:

YOUR NAME:

I think you guys should know that by now… but just in case – it’s Penelope Gwendolyn Yelena Ayesha Smith… or, er… something like that.

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

According to my mom, she named me Lisa just because she liked the name. But my middle name was in honor of my mom’s sister and my dad’s sister, who are both named Carol.

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

Uh, no. I really don’t. It’s untidy at best, and completely illegible at worst. I really should’ve been a doctor… I already have the incomprehensible prescription handwriting (and that’s really all you need, right??).

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

Eeewww. Not a big fan of lunchmeat. Most of it falls into that “ground up and smushed back together” category that I refuse to eat. Sometimes I’ll eat turkey, if it looks like it came from a real turkey…

IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

Well, if I was another person who was just like ME, then I would totally be my friend, because I would be so excited to find another person who was weird enough to get me.

DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL?

I have lots of random journals lying around the house. Most of them filled with my illegible prescription handwriting…

DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?

Do you think I would ever attempt to dethrone Rick, King of Sarcasm? Never…

DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

Yep. My appendix, too. And I managed to hold on to my wisdom teeth until just a few years ago… really miss those wisdom teeth…

WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

Uh, no.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?

I just discovered Double Chocolate Cookie Crisp, which is much better than the regular Cookie Crisp (which never tasted like chocolate, in my opinion). And I really like Cranberry Almond Crunch, although I eat it without milk… otherwise it turns into Cranberry Almond Mush.

DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

Usually… unless I’m in a really big hurry to get my shoes off, for some reason.

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

I think I’m a lot stronger than I FEEL like I am most of the time. In fact, I KNOW I can be ridiculously strong when I want to be. And most people don’t give me credit for that… in fact, I don’t often give MYSELF credit for that…

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM?

Right now I’m addicted to the birthday cake ice cream they have at Cold Stone Creamery. It tastes just like canned vanilla frosting. (And as my mom will tell you, I LOVE fake frosting… even more than homemade. :)) I also love chocolate ice cream with marshmallow – which is a flavor I can hardly ever find anywhere. They used to have chocolate marshmallow ice cream at Friendly’s, and it was the best stuff ever.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Whether or not they smile. I tend to be wary of people who won’t even crack a smile when they meet you for the first time…

RED OR PINK?

Red or pink what??? That’s not even a real question…

WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF?

Oh, probably the whole “shy” thing… soooooo annoying. You loud obnoxious people don’t know how great it is to be you…

WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

I miss Aimee sometimes… and I really wish I would’ve had more than three years to get to know her.

WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING?

I’m just wearing plain old blue jeans and dirty white sneakers with blue laces. (Gosh, I’m such a stylish fashionista…)

WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?

Cranberry Almond Crunch cereal. Without milk, of course.

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

Gavin DeGraw on my iPod.

FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND A DAY?

Well, it would have to start with coffee and end with chocolate… and in between I’d probably want to be traveling somewhere interesting…

FAVORITE SMELL?

I love that mingled coffee/book smell in Barnes and Noble or Borders or any other bookstore with a coffee shop in the middle of it.

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

I talked to mom about an hour ago…

DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?

Actually, I stole it from a total stranger off a random blog… heehee...

FAVORITE DRINK?

Alcoholic, or non-alcoholic? Hmmm… I like margaritas (but no salt – yuck yuck. I don’t get the “salt on a margarita glass” thing), and of course I wouldn’t be able to live without coffee…

FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?

Baseball!!! Duh.

HAIR COLOR?

Brownish-reddish, depending on the light and how much time I’ve spent in the sun… it’s darker this summer because we’ve had so much rain and so little sunshine. People who haven’t seen me in a while always ask me if I’ve colored my hair, because apparently it’s always changing shades. But I've never, ever colored my hair.

EYE COLOR?

Green-brown… I put hazel on my driver’s license, since there’s no box for “green-brown.”

DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

Yep. Rick is still trying to convince me to laser my eyes… maybe someday…

FAVORITE FOOD?

If I could eat anything without caring about fat, calories, cholesterol, etc., I’d probably say fettuccine alfredo – I love that stuff, but I pretty much never eat it. It has to be just about the WORST thing you can possibly eat. Which would explain why it tastes so good.

SUMMER OR WINTER?

I think they both have their pros and cons. I mean, when I was a kid in school, I’m sure I would’ve unequivocally declared that summer is better than winter, for the simple fact that school is out. Now, however, I kind of like it when school is IN, since it means places like malls and movie theaters are less crowded. And I like winter, just because it’s a bit of a change from the Texas heat… and for a week or two, at least, you appreciate the fact that it’s so warm here… well, sort of…

HUGS OR KISSES?

I guess that would depend on who I’m with…

FAVORITE WEBSITE/GAME?

Um, hmmm… well, I like flags.net (yes, I have a weird obsession with flags…), and engrish.com is good for a few laughs. I also love the NASA website that has a ton of satellite pictures to browse through.

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?

Well, now that I’ve finished Harry Potter, I shall once again begin my slow trod through the Satanic Verses… (it's not the kinda book you can fly through like Harry Potter…)

WHAT DO YOU HAVE ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

I don’t have a mouse pad. I have a touchpad on my laptop.

WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST ON TV LAST NIGHT?

I don’t think I watched much last night… we had dinner at Rick’s parents’ house, and didn’t get home until around 10… I may have caught a bit of Anthony Bourdain on the travel channel…

FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

I think I’ve answered this before… and if I’m not mistaken, it was St. Petersburg, Russia… yeah, I think that’s right…

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

Um… I can wink with both eyes, but I can actually hold my left eyelid closed indefinitely. So I can make it look like the left half of my face is asleep, but the right half is awake. It’s really bizarre. (Is that a talent? Probably not…) :)

Shhhhh... I'm reading...

Yes, I ran out as soon as I could yesterday and bought the new Harry Potter book. Well, actually, I made Rick go into the store and buy it... I didn't want to take the chance of accidentally hearing anyone talking about what happens. There have been spoilers all over the place, and people speculating about what might happen, and I didn't want to hear any of it before I had the chance to read the book myself. And apparently I'm not the only one: I read somewhere that people waiting in line to buy the book at its midnight release were wearing earplugs and headphones so they wouldn't hear anything they didn't want to hear. I'm betting a lot of people bought the book and immediately turned to the last page... but I've always been the kind of person who LIKES to be surprised now and then. I never look ahead when I read a book... I never even searched for my hidden Christmas presents when I was a kid. I much prefered the fun of not knowing what I'd be getting. Christmas morning is so much more exciting when you don't KNOW what's hidden beneath all that wrapping paper. So for the next few days, I shall be reading my Harry Potter book, and trying very hard to not hear or read anything I don't know yet. Which means I will NOT be Googling "Harry Potter" any time soon.

And why am I wasting my time writing a blog post? I have 700-something pages to read...

This post got lost in China...

Okay, my internet is back, so now I can post what I wrote the other day. I had this all ready to go, and then the cable mysteriously died. (And by “the cable mysteriously died” I mean “the cable guy was installing cable at our neighbor’s house and cut our line with a shovel.”) By the way, today is my birthday, so I expect all presents to be in my possession by the time I return from dinner at Ruth’s Chris… (and no matter what Eric says, I am NOT 48 years old today…)

So I just read about this rather ridiculous “psychological” study on one of the news websites this morning. It was something about how Americans are so much more self-centered than other people around the world, because we have a culture that focuses on the individual as opposed to the collective. Now, I don’t necessarily disagree that Americans can be self-centered, and you certainly don’t need a “study” to notice a bunch of selfish Americans walking around totally oblivious to other people. But the study itself seemed so vague and simplistic that I can’t imagine how anyone could draw conclusions from it.

The “study” consisted of a table on which two blocks sat. The study participant could clearly see both blocks – however, the “director” of the study sat on the opposite side of the table, where a piece of cardboard concealed his or her view of one of the blocks. The director would then ask the study participant to “move a block.” The participants in this study consisted of two groups – European Americans (okay, already this study is flawed – last I checked, Americans come from a lot more places than just Europe…) and Asians (if I remember correctly, they were Chinese…) Anyway… when asked to move a block, the European Americans hesitated, because there were two blocks on the table and they were unsure about which one they were supposed to move. But the Asians immediately moved the block that was visible to both the participant and the director of the study.

The “conclusion” gleaned from this study was that Americans are less apt to see other people’s point of view, whereas Asians can easily see other points of view. I guess some psychologist came to this conclusion because the Asians would automatically move the block that was visible to BOTH parties, whereas the Americans would hesitate and were unsure of which block to move. What I don’t understand is how THIS was the conclusion they came to. I mean, think about this – if you’re participating in a study, and someone across the table from you tells you to move a block, wouldn’t you ASSUME that this person was AWARE of the fact that there were two blocks on the table, even if they couldn’t see both of them? Obviously the “director” of the study would have firsthand knowledge of all blocks on the table – visible or hidden – and, therefore, politely questioning which block was in need of repositioning would seem to be common sense. In fact, unless the person seated across the table was some random stranger plucked off the street who had no clue what was going on, the LEAST selfish thing to do would seem to question which block should be moved. You KNOW the director of the study is aware of each block, so how is it “self-centered” to wonder which block they’re referring to? It’s only self-centered if they’re NOT aware of each block… So MY conclusion to this study would be that Americans are savvier than Asians, who apparently believe that a cardboard-covered block will completely escape the memory of the person who placed it there. (I don’t REALLY believe that of course… lest anyone think I have some sort of xenophobic dislike of the Chinese…)

I think the ability to see other people’s point of view has less to do with your nationality and more to do with your experiences and upbringing. When I was in high school, and frequently ridiculed for my shy personality, I vowed to never do the same to others. Because of my experiences, I’ve always tried to put myself in other people’s shoes and think about what they might be feeling or dealing with at any given time. If someone is different than me, I don’t automatically assume horrible things about them, or think it’s my right to make fun of them. And yet, if I’d been in that study, I would have been one of those “self-centered” Americans who hesitated when told to “move a block.” And honestly – would that REALLY mean I was self-centered? I’d like to think it would simply mean I was sensible and logical…

Argh!

My internet has been down for an entire day! I'm at mom and dad's house, using mom's computer so I can post something before anyone starts wondering where I've disappeared to. My internet connection stopped working yesterday around noon, and at first I didn't think much of it -- it happens so often, I figured it was just another Time Warner cable malfunction in the neighborhood. Normally, I call my mom to see if her cable is out, too, just to make sure my house isn't the only one. But yesterday, after the internet went out for the millionth time in the last few months, I just ASSUMED it was once again a neighborhood-wide event. And as Rick will no doubt remind me for the rest of my life -- I should never assume anything when the cable goes out...

Because when it STILL wasn't back up by 7 or 8 o'clock last night, I finally called my mom -- only to find out it WAS just my house. Her internet was working just fine. And it was only at that point that I had a flashback to morning, when I returned to my house after going out for my morning coffee, and a Time Warner van was parked at my next-door neighbor's house. It didn't seem to be important at the time, so I just ignored it. But now I realize the cable technician must've screwed up MY cable when he was working on my neighbor's cable...

And once again Rick is saying, "always call your mom to make sure it isn't just our house... always!" Because if I'd thought about it when it first went out, we could've called up the cable guy and told him to get back out here and fix the problem. As it was, however, Time Warner didn't get the call until evening, and of course at that point they were shutting down and going home and past the point of caring about whether their technicians know what the heck they're doing. So now we have to wait until afternoon before anyone will be out at our house to fix the cable.

And I'm just wondering -- how in the world did we survive before the internet??

More Chicago pictures...

I spent the morning over at mom and dad's house, scanning in some of my mom's Chicago pictures. (I used to be able to scan pictures here, but Rick recently installed Windows Vista on his computer, and it doesn't get along very well with our scanner... guess we need a new one...) So here are a few random pictures from last week:

Dad and Eric, who apparently shop at the same t-shirt store...

Me on the stairs in Eric's new condo -- I love these stairs... (and there IS an entryway door upstairs, too, so he didn't have to lug furniture up the spiral staircase... that would've been interesting...)

Gazing at the view from the rooftop of Eric's building. (And no, I haven't suddenly grown several inches in height... I'm standing on some kind of concrete thingy...)

Here's another picture of the juggler rolling over Eric on the sidewalk. (Notice the cup of Starbucks coffee off to the left? Yeah, we drank a lot of coffee in Chicago...)

Underneath the bean... (it was the only place outside that was nice and cool... which would explain why so many people are crowded underneath it...)

Jason, Jen, Nathan and Meghan, who we met for lunch on Sunday. And then afterwards we went to Starbucks... (like I said, we drank lots of coffee in Chicago...)

Meghan and Nathan, enjoying their kiddie-sized espressos... well, I can't vouch for the fact that they're actually drinking espresso, but look how happy Nate is -- you don't get that happy from drinking apple juice, you know? And Meghan looks like she's about to be very upset with her empty cup. If this isn't a portrait of caffeine addiction, I don't know what is...

Who wants nachos?

We’re back from Chicago, after a two-day drive through America’s heartland. We decided to drive home by way of Kansas City, which turned out to be a rather boring town. I’d read in my Rand McNally Deluxe Road Atlas – with guide to 81 destinations and a road guide to classic American foods (what? My atlas has a guide to classic American foods?? I didn’t even know that… I just saw it on the front cover…) – that Kansas City (one of the 81 “destinations” profiled) has more fountains than any city in the world except Rome. Well, that sounded rather interesting. So I was looking forward to seeing a couple of these prolific fountains. However, after wending our way to the hotel past what can only be described as the “neglected and abandoned” part of town, nary a fountain was in sight. Yeah, that’s right – nary.

The hotel itself was situated in a very nicely-maintained part of Kansas City, directly across from the Hallmark Card headquarters and next to an upscale shopping center. But, like I said, to get there and to get back to the interstate, it was necessary to drive through several streets full of empty buildings and boarded-up storefronts. It looked as if perhaps this was once a hip, trendy, fashionable part of town that business owners had left in favor of hipper, trendier, more fashionable cities. It was all just waiting for someone to come along and begin a Kansas City revitalization project. But in the meantime, the streets look rather sad and forgotten. Now, granted, we didn’t drive into DOWNTOWN downtown – we just sort of skirted the area. So I’ll have to give it the benefit of the doubt and say perhaps downtown Kansas City is a great place. And maybe that’s where all the fountains are…

Much of our drive home was through Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma… and I just have to say – Iowa really loves corn. I mean, wow, they REALLY love corn in Iowa. I’m not sure we drove past a section of highway that wasn’t bordered by a cornfield. And Kansas had lots of fields, as well… although I wasn’t sure they were fields of corn. And after a stop on the turnpike at a McDonald’s decorated with sunflower paintings, I remembered that Kansas grows a TON of sunflowers. Another month or two, and those fields of green stalks will be covered with giant yellow flowers. And Oklahoma’s claim to fame is its red dirt – I don’t know why, but much of the ground in Oklahoma is covered with red-tinged dirt. The banks of every river are full of red mud. In fact, the border between Oklahoma and Texas is the Red River – so-named, I’m assuming, because it really IS a red river. Gosh – green corn stalks, yellow sunflowers, red rivers – it’s like an environmental bowl of Lucky Charms out there…

Anyway, so now that we’re back in Austin we’re playing the “waiting to hear about the Chicago job” game, at which Dell is a very good opponent. We thought the whole thing was just about wrapped up, until we heard that the guy who has the job now – a guy who’ll be moving to Michigan soon – is really pushing to keep his job and handle everything remotely. So now we’re left wondering – will they tell him he can keep his job and decide they don’t even need anyone else in Chicago? Will they allow him to keep the job temporarily to give him more time to find a new job, but hire someone else for Chicago in a few more months? Will they allow him to keep his job AND hire someone new for Chicago (a possibility, I’ve heard, because the poor Chicago reps are very overworked and need some help)? Who knows… no one seems to be talking right now… which means that Rick and I are left wondering IF we’ll even need a condo in Chicago, and/or WHEN we do, if the few places we saw that we really liked will still be available. And if no one new is hired for a few more months, that would mean we’d be moving to Chicago just as winter was starting to rear its ugly, snowy head.

Oh well… life is so much more fun when it’s full of surprises. And corn. Lots and lots of corn…

Well, apparently Blogger isn't going to let me type in a title for this post. Don't know what that's about... Anyway... we've had a couple busy days here in Chicago... we had the opportunity to go out with a realtor yesterday morning to look at a few condos. We wanted to get an idea of what's available, in the event we do have a chance to move here soon. We saw a few really nice places, but not too many had elevators -- which meant we were not only running all over Lincoln Park (our neighborhood of interest), but we were walking up and down quite a few flights of stairs. Couple that with the fact that Chicago has been in the middle of a 90-plus-degree heat wave, and we were pretty much exhausted by lunchtime.

But after lunch we decided to check out a couple more condos that were having open houses, even if we WERE slightly tired of all the stair climbing (hey, it's great exercise). Afterwards, we wandered around Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond to help Eric outfit his new condo. And while his "computer desk" still consists of the floor next to his TV, and he's still in need of a dining room table and chairs, he IS the proud owner of several new pairs of curtains, AND a real, practical, kitchen garbage can (as opposed to the plastic bag he usually hangs on one of his cupboards...).

It's funny, because of all the places we've seen this weekend, our absolute favorite so far has been a condo in Eric's building. We saw it today when the agent happened to be in the building at an open house for another condo. We really loved it -- lots of windows and light, a great view of the city, modern appliances... we were really impressed. It's only a couple doors down from Eric... so it'll be interesting to see what we end up doing... :)

Some pictures from the last few days:

Eric wanted to show us "the bean" in one of the parks near the hotel -- it's this big shiny metal sculpture that reflects the city skyline (and everything else around it) on its surface. It has an official name -- something about a cloud?? -- but I can't remember what it was. And apparently everyone just calls it "the bean."

My picture-taking reflection in the bean...

While we were in the park, we saw a guy juggling on top of this spool -- walking on it like a log roller. As he passed by, Eric jokingly remarked, "show off." And the guy actually HEARD him... so he invited Eric over so he could REALLY show off...

He had Eric lay on the hot sidewalk (seriously -- it was hot out there...) so he could roll over him and juggle over his head. It was pretty funny...


Tonight after dinner (at Morton's steakhouse... yum...) we walked out to find ourselves on a movie set -- they're filming the new Batman movie downtown (notice the "GPD" police car -- Gotham Police Department). We hung out with a big crowd of people on the sidewalk to watch some of the filming -- which, to be honest, turned out to be awfully boring. It's no wonder movies cost so much to make -- there's a whole group of people pretty much standing around doing nothing for 45 minutes, until they're finally ready to film for a few seconds. While we were there, we saw them film a scene where a police officer walked around his car, opened the door, and got in. That was the whole thing. They filmed it about six times. How many takes can you possibly need when the scene is so uncomplicated?? (I guess quite a few...) Supposedly they'll be filming all night, so Rick went out to see if he could catch another scene. I think he's hoping to see the Batmobile... if he takes any better pictures, I'll be sure to post them later... :)

In Chicago...

We made it to sunny Chicago (from what I hear, it's STILL raining in Austin, so we're happy to be here). We met Eric for dinner last night and saw his new place -- VERY cool. We're all quite impressed with his new location. So much so that Rick and I actually ARE seriously considering the condo available in his building. He'll just have to put up with us. As long as I promise to not secretly stock his fridge with mayonnaise (as I threatened to do yesterday...), hopefully Eric won't mind if we're neighbors. Of course, we still have no idea if Rick will get the Chicago job, and we haven't actually SEEN the available condo yet, so for all we know, it's nothing but a beat-up cardboard box. Who knows. Hopefully we'll get a chance to check it out this weekend...

So this is the first chance I've had to sit and down and write something for my blog. Our road trip up was pretty uneventful... we left Dallas early on the 4th, and drove toward St. Louis. On the tollway in Oklahoma, there's a big McDonald's restaurant that spans the highway, and every time I see it, I want to stop and check it out. So we finally decided to stop this time. On the side of the building, a big banner proclaimed, "World's Largest McDonald's." Well, hey, how nifty... how often do you get a chance to check out the world's largest McDonald's? We parked and went inside, and we were immediately unimpressed. The building looked very old and neglected, and not nearly as large as I would've assumed the "world's largest" McDonald's would be...

Before we ordered any food, we decided to use the bathrooms. And this was when we realized that the world's largest McDonald's had the world's worst bathrooms. They were seriously in need of a good scrubbing -- although even a tub full of bleach wouldn't solve the myriad of problems in the dank restrooms. Some sort of explosive device would probably help... because then they would have no choice but to completely refurbish the facilities. I especially found it amusing that a sign was posted by a switch next to the door which read, "we take pride in our restrooms -- if this facility is in need of attention, flip the switch." I thought about it, but it really seemed like a lost cause. We eventually decided that the "world's largest" sign hanging outside the building must've been hanging there since sometime in the 1960s, which, interestingly enough, was obviously also the last time they cleaned the world's worst bathrooms...

So today Rick is off meeting a bunch of Chicago people he may or may not get the chance to work with soon. Mom and dad and I are waiting to meet Eric for lunch, and this weekend we may check out some condos. I need to take more pictures so I have something more interesting to post, but here are a few from the trip up:

World's Largest McDonald's!! (In 1963...)

"Jury duty -- serve with pride" sign outside St. Louis courthouse. Yeah. Really proud about that jury duty... kinda like McDonald's is proud if its restrooms...

Downtown St. Louis...

Happy 4th of July!

It's morning in Dallas, and we're getting ready to set out on the longest part of our drive to Chicago -- we're heading to St. Louis, where I've heard the forecast is calling for thunderstorms tonight. Rick is happy about that. Me, not so much. The city of Dallas looks deserted this morning -- we have a hotel room on the 19th floor of the Hyatt, and I can see the empty city streets and the uncrowded interstate from the window. Hopefully that means today will be a decent day to drive -- I guess not many people travel too far on the fourth of July.

So we're off to St. Louis. Well, first we're off to find a Starbucks... :)

Spring cleaning (er... summer cleaning?)...

So a few weeks ago, we got a postcard in the mail from one of those Salvation Army-like charities that collects clothes and household items and furniture. It said they would be in our neighborhood today, so if we had anything to donate we should just set it outside by the street and they’d pick it up. Well, Rick and I saw this as a great opportunity to do something we’ve been meaning to do for about the last year or so – clean out the closet. I already had a small pile of clothing sitting on my dresser that I was planning on donating to someone, but I knew it was just the tip of the iceberg…

Yesterday afternoon we got to work. We figured not only was our closet long overdue for a good pruning, but this was also a chance to get rid of some things we shouldn’t bother moving to Chicago (assuming we DO move to Chicago…). And it started out simply enough – a dress here… a shirt there… a pair of jean shorts I’d owned for ten years and was getting sick of looking at. And then Rick pulled out a couple plastic bins we’d had stashed in the back of the closet for who-knows-how long, and we started going through their contents. That went something like this:

Me: Hey, I remember this shirt!

Rick: Ew. It has buttons. It’s ugly. (Rick has a traumatic fear of buttons… I have no idea why…)

Me (trying on and buttoning up the ugly-button shirt): Wow – when I bought this, it wouldn’t button up. I’ve lost so much weight.

Rick (sighing at the sight of those detestable buttons): You’re gonna keep it just because it fits now, aren’t you?

Me (secretly planning to sew buttons on everything I own): Yup.

And as we sorted through the bins, this became a rather common occurrence. At one point, I found a pair of American Eagle crop pants that I remember buying at some time when we were living in New Jersey. They used to fit perfectly, but when I tried them on yesterday, I was practically swimming in the things. They pretty much fell off of me. Which on one hand, makes me feel really good about how much weight I’ve lost since I lived in New Jersey… but on the other hand, it makes me think, “gosh, people must’ve thought I was really fat when I lived in New Jersey…”

I also re-discovered a Yankee shirt that used to be one of my favorites – I wore it all the time. So I put that in the “do not donate” pile. Too much Yankee nostalgia. And, interestingly enough, back when I wore it all the time, the Yankees were actually a GOOD team… maybe I need to wear it constantly throughout the entire second half of the season… I’ll do it – I swear I will. If Scott Proctor can hold a ritual burning ceremony on the Yankee Stadium field, the least I can do is wear a lucky shirt.

So, all in all, yesterday was a very productive day. We not only filled two whole boxes with clothes to donate (and cleared out a nice amount of space in the closet), but I discovered at least two shirts and a couple pairs of pants that used to be tight but actually FIT me now. It’s like I went shopping for new clothes without even leaving my house. Fun, huh? AND I discovered the article of clothing that is destined to turn the tide of the Yankees’ up-until-now-miserable-but-soon-to-be-storybook season. Yes, it was a productive day indeed… :)

Random Saturday blurbs...

Drinking my usual morning Seattle’s Best coffee… One of our favorite baristas, a really sweet girl named Korrie, is leaving for college soon. Interestingly enough, she’s moving to Chicago. So maybe we’ll run into her again some time… We’re still waiting to find out whether we’ll be moving or not – Rick thinks the chances are pretty good. But even though they want someone up there in about five weeks, they’re really dragging their feet with the whole hiring process. So we just have to wait and see…

But speaking of Chicago… we’re driving up there next week for a visit, where we’ll hopefully get to check out Eric’s new condo, and perhaps see if any units are available in his building. :) We actually did find a listing for one a few days ago – a really nice-looking three bedroom/two bath. And that way if we DO move to Chicago, we can have a whole “Friends” thing going… Eric and I will leave our doors unlocked at all hours of the day (because that’s what people who live in big cities do, according to sitcoms…) and barge into each other’s homes whenever we feel like it. Eric will steal things out of my fridge and watch movies on my TV, and I’ll take him my grocery bill and ask him why I seem to spend so much money on biscuits (where have all my biscuits gone?? And why do I have all this extra mayonnaise??)…

I had to take Echo to the vet yesterday, which I felt bad about… especially because the day before yesterday I gave her a bath, and she really, really hates baths. She huddles up against the side of the tub, looking as if she’ll spring out onto the bathroom tile the second she sees an escape route. She may have tried that a few years ago, but now with her arthritis, she’s pretty much stuck in the tub until I lift her out. Once her bath is over, she’ll follow me around the house for about an hour, just to make sure I’m not about to spring any more surprises on her. So like I said – I felt especially bad about shuttling her off to the vet just 24 hours after dousing her head to toe with lukewarm water and berry-scented “Crazy Dog” brand shampoo… I took her to the vet so they could test her liver enzymes and make sure the pain meds we’ve been giving her for the arthritis haven’t adversely affected it. And I felt REALLY bad once I was at the vet, because when the vet tech tried to take blood, she screwed something up and poor Echo’s leg started bleeding… the tech had to call in the vet to get blood from another leg. And Echo, always the quiet, stoic, well-behaved dog she is, didn’t complain one bit. (Well, okay – she might be a little less quiet when she’s running around the backyard… and she may not be as well-behaved when someone is eating pizza and she’s certain she’s entitled to a few scraps of crust…)

So Rick and I have both dropped another pound. We took a nice 2.8 mile walk last night – I think we’re trying to build up to three miles per walk. We’ve been doing great with our eating and staying pretty consistent with our workouts… and so, to celebrate, we’ll probably go out for ice cream tonight. (Hey, it’s our cheat day… Jessica Alba does it! It’s okay!) Now comes the great experiment: can we stay on track even as we head up to Chicago next week? I have no intention of depriving myself of some of the great restaurants Chicago has to offer… so I’ll just have to hope that walking around the city will make up for it.

Oh, speaking of our trip to Chicago – Rick and I are driving, and then mom and dad will by flying up to join us. We’re traveling our usual Dallas-to St. Louis-to Chicago route, which should be fun. We made reservations at the same hotel we stayed at the last time we were in St. Louis – the one that used to be a train station. I’m pretty sure I posted pictures last time, but I’ll probably take more this time, too. So I’m looking forward to posting my daily travelogues… :)

Aren't we usually in the middle of a drought by now?

So apparently at some point over the last couple weeks, we moved from the sunny locale of Austin, Texas, to what I can only assume is Seattle. Actually, not even Seattle – Bangladesh, perhaps? Someplace with a monsoon season, that much I know. It’s been raining for a couple weeks now – every now and then the sun will pop out for a fleeting visit, but then it fades away behind yet another rain-laden cloud bank.

But last night, as Rick and I watched a recorded episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” (the show that reminds me so much of my older brother Bob – the ex-chef-turned-fishing-guide…), we noticed the clouds seemed to have dispersed, and the setting sun was glowing orange in the mostly-clear sky. So we decided to head outside for a walk, even after we noticed some rather menacing-looking clouds off in the distance. We stuck close to the house for a few minutes, watching the brooding sky, keeping an eye out for tell-tale flashes within the building clouds. But after several minutes of searching for lightning and seeing none, we decided we were safe to walk a bit longer and venture away from the house.

We made it through almost our entire 2.6 mile walk before we started feeling the first drops of rain. And it wasn’t even bothersome – on the contrary, after walking more than two miles in the warm, humid night, a few drops of cool rain and a brisk breeze felt nice. When we got home, I jumped in the shower to clean up, and as soon as I was finished and turned off the water, I heard the familiar sound of a downpour hitting the roof. “Do you hear that?” Rick shouted through the bathroom door, “We got back just in time.” Yep. I went out to the family room couch and turned on the TV, which was in the middle of its usual temperamental loss-of-satellite-signal-in-the-rain struggles. It cut in and out a couple times, but then the rain seemed to let up and the signal was back and all was well. And it was getting rather late, so I decided to head off to bed with the hope that the rain was over…

But some time between brushing my teeth and crawling into bed, the rain started again. And this time it meant business. I mean, I’m quite used to thunderstorms and downpours and the sound of unrelenting rain – but usually, no matter how UNrelenting it sounds, it does, eventually, RELENT. Storms pop up, the downpour starts, maybe some lightning and thunder… but after fifteen or twenty minutes, it moves on and finds another landscape to soak. But last night, as I stared up at my bedroom ceiling with my blanket clutched under my chin, the pounding rain refused to surrender. It kept raining. And raining. And raining. And then the thunder and lightning started. There was no way I could fall asleep with that cacophony of weather outside. With my eyes wide open and my ears tuned in to every thunder clap, I suddenly had a thought – our pool, which had already been more full than usual because of all the rain we’ve had, must’ve been filling up quickly. I got out of bed and walked out to the door to the back porch. I turned on the porch light, and peeked outside. Sure enough, the pool was within two inches of overflowing.

So I ran back to Rick’s study, where he has a perpetual weather radar window open on his computer (Rick is a bit of a weather aficionado… he’s usually better at predicting the weather than the meteorologists on TV…). “Is this gonna be over soon?” I asked. To which Rick bluntly answered, “nope.” He showed me on the radar how this little bitty red blob had formed directly over our neighborhood – and instead of moving on, like storms are supposed to, this one was PARKED overhead, forming and reforming and feeding on itself like a freak cannibal thunderhead. It LOOKED like a small storm – but because it wasn’t moving, it felt like a storm the size of, well, Texas. (Okay, maybe New Jersey.)

After about another half hour of the deluge, the pool overflowed for the first time since we’ve had it. I’ve never seen that much rain in such a short time. Rick, surprisingly, seemed much less distressed about the overflowing pool than I was. I guess because there was absolutely nothing we could do about it until the rain and lightning stopped. I had the TV in the bedroom on, tuned to the weather channel… the signal, of course, was missing throughout the downpour. I decided I wasn’t going to try to sleep until that TV came back on. Because once the signal was back, I’d know the rain was letting up. It was almost one o’clock when it finally came back, and the sound of the rain grew faint, and the thunder stopped. Rick went outside and drained some of the water from the pool, so today it’s back to where it was before last night’s storm – unfortunately, even as I type this, another downpour has begun, and I’m back to my post at the porch door, keeping an eye on the ever-rising water.

By the way, does anyone know how to build an ark??

Waiting on the internet...

Oh glorious day on which Paris Hilton was released from the confines of her prison! This momentous occasion evokes memories of Nelson Mandela’s freedom from the South African prison where he was so unjustly incarcerated… those who fight for equality and justice shall prevail – the bars of imprisonment are merely temporary roadblocks on the highway to, uh… I AM making the right comparisons here, aren’t I? Paris Hilton and Nelson Mandela? All kinds of similarities, right? I mean, I’m just assuming, based on the media attention…

So my internet connection is down right now… all I can do is type this up in Word (which is what I usually do anyway) and hopefully get a chance to post it later on. I hate it when I have no internet connection – I feel so cut off from the world. How did we ever survive without the internet? And cell phones? I mean, really – we used to get all of our news from actual newspapers and the six o’clock newscast. When we wanted to talk to people, we had to call them up on telephones, or send them written messages in envelopes, or go meet them face-to-face. Back when I was a kid and we moved around a lot, I used to write to my friends on PAPER… I had to pick up an actual PEN and WRITE things. Can you imagine the hand cramps?? I can only assume that if I’d had email and IM and a phone with text messaging capabilities that I might have stayed in closer touch with some of my childhood friends. It seems much simpler now to maintain relationships with people who are thousands of miles away…

Take Eric for instance – he’s all the way up there in Chicago, and yet we’re able to send Yankee voodoo messages back and forth during games. (Yankee voodoo, which, by the way, seems to be defective at the moment…) How would we ever pull that off if we were forced to send each message through the mail? Yankee voodoo postcards would by flying through the post office, slowing down the sorting process of all those bills and magazines and birthday cards… and even then, there’d be no guarantee that the mail would be delivered in time to change the course of Yankee history…

Okay, since I’ve started writing this, I have TWICE zoned out and attempted to check my email, even though I KNOW the internet is down. I think it’s just a reflex…

So Rick and I have embarked upon a new eating and working out plan. We try to be as good as possible about what we eat Monday through Friday, and then allow ourselves to “cheat” occasionally on weekends. I recently read that Jessica Alba eats this way. And, well, Jessica Alba is hot… she’s obviously doing something right. So I’m willing to try whatever plan she thinks is best. We’ve also, as I’ve mentioned a couple times, been walking about two or two and half miles around the neighborhood a few times a week. For me, this is in addition to whatever workout I tackle in the afternoon. And all our hard work is starting to pay off – since we got back from Hawaii, I’ve lost about eight pounds, and Rick has lost about six. Yeah, that’s right, Jessica Alba – I am SO gonna give you a run for your money. They’re gonna cast ME in the next Fantastic Four movie so I can wear that spandex bodysuit… uh… maybe… well, probably not…

What surprises me about eating right is how easy it is once you get used to it. Once you get rid of that “bad food, good food” mentality and realize it’s OKAY to eat what you want in moderation, everything falls into place. For instance, we’ve made Saturday night our “ice cream” night. And none of that light, sugar-free, fat-free crap. No, we head down to Ben and Jerry’s or Cold Stone Creamery and get a scoop of the REAL stuff. And then that’s it for the rest of the week. But since we KNOW we won’t be depriving ourselves forever, it’s simple to forgo the ice cream the rest of the week. I’ve never understood the “diets” that cut out entire food groups or relegate the dieter to a life of fat-free cupcakes. Personally, I could NEVER stick with a food plan like that forever… and the only way to take weight off and KEEP it off is to make permanent changes. I’d never be able to permanently restrict my carbs, for instance… I don’t know how people can do those low-carb diets. If I tried that, I’d be craving cake so badly I’d dive head-first into a Krispy Kreme at some point…

And on that note, I must go prepare some black bean mango salsa for tonight’s dinner. It needs to sit in the fridge for a few hours so all the flavors can intertwine and mingle… like a big black bean mango salsa party… (hey, black bean, have you met mango? Garlic, let me introduce you to red pepper… hey, you guys wanna play Twister?) Yes, I know -- it IS strange to give your dinner a voice… :)

Friday randomness...

Nothing very coherent to talk about today, so I’ll just make it a “random thought” kinda post:

We have four or five baby phoebes in the nest on the back porch – it’s a full house in there. When they get bigger, they’ll be all feathery puffs spilling out of the nest, pushing each other aside for premium room. It’s always interesting to watch them up there – especially when Mom Bird flies back with food, and a chorus of yellow beaks chirps with impatience. She can usually only feed one at a time, so she’s constantly flying back and forth between the nest and the bug-infested (or food-infested, depending on your point of view) world…

Down at mom and dad’s house, on the other hand, they have little creatures of another sort – four stray kittens, the offspring of the stray black cat that has taken up residence in the backyard this past year. They’re cute little kittens… but at this rate, that backyard will be overrun with felines in another six months or so… there’ll be lions and tigers and pumas and cheetahs… it’ll never end…

So I just heard about a tour that people can take to visit sites from “The Sopranos.” For 45 dollars, you get a tour that starts in midtown Manhattan, heads through the Lincoln Tunnel, and wanders over into Jersey. Plus a cannoli. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a tour that STARTS in Manhattan and ENDS in Jersey. Most people do just the opposite. And hey, for 45 dollars, I’ll give you TWO cannoli, and drive you past the myriad of diners New Jersey has to offer. I can even show you this one field near the Jersey Gardens Mall where I’m certain people have gotten “whacked” on a regular basis…

Rick and I saw Ocean’s Thirteen last weekend – I really liked it. I think I’ve actually liked each subsequent “Ocean’s” movie more than its predecessor. So this was probably my favorite of the three. Most people probably like the first one best, but I think by the second and third installments, there was a better sense of camaraderie between the ensemble cast. The only complaint I had about the third one was that it was a bit predictable at this point – by now we know that the gang will be able to pull off their heist, no matter how complicated, even when others try to thwart their efforts. So it was no surprise when they succeeded. But I loved the movie anyway…

My fantasy baseball team is cursed. Somewhere along the line, I think Eric’s Yankee voodoo morphed into a fantasy baseball curse, which he accidentally aimed in my direction. At least I THINK it was an accident…

Speaking of Eric, Rick and I have decided that if we move to Chicago, we’ll be living with Eric for about a year or so. Just until we find a suitable condo for ourselves. Shouldn’t be a big deal – Eric has a guest bedroom now. I’ve already told him that I expect a large flat-screen HD television in the room…

And speaking of baseball, how did the Yankees allow themselves to be swept by Colorado? I mean, c’mon – Colorado?? I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they were all suffering from altitude sickness. I’d say they were practically guaranteed to win their game against San Francisco tonight, except they’re going up against my pitcher Matt Cain – and since I won’t be playing Cain against the Yankees (and my fantasy team, as mentioned before, is cursed), I’ll have to assume he’s going to throw a complete game shutout so the dozens of points I COULD have had will remain useless on my bench. I love baseball. :)

I guess that’s all I’ve got right now… hope everyone has a good weekend…

Rainy, cloudy, blah...

Ugh… today is one of those gray, dreary, rainy, cloudy, dark days that makes you want to crawl under the nearest blanket and hibernate until the sun returns. I’m half-watching the White Sox/Marlins game right now, because I picked up the White Sox pitcher last night. Jon Garland. He seems to be doing okay so far (but now that I’ve said it, I’ve jinxed the whole thing… next inning he’ll be giving up five runs… just watch). It’s funny how big a part superstition plays in baseball – even when you’re not the one actually PLAYING…

I notice from watching the game that it’s nice and sunny up there in Chicago. We’re planning a trip up in a couple weeks to check out Eric’s new condo. It’ll be great to get away from this dreary Texas weather. :) I can only assume that all the rain we’ve had this past year is a direct result of global warming. Right? I’ve gotten a little tired of all the doom and gloom global warming talk. What I don’t understand is – global warming or not – why would anyone believe that this particular planet we have now is the absolute “perfect” planet, and it’s vital that we strive our best to “freeze” everything exactly as it is? I keep hearing about glaciers melting, or coastlines changing, or land eroding, and all I can think is, “uh, SO?” Have we forgotten that this planet has drastically changed throughout its existence, even when there were no human beings to, apparently, screw things up? Of COURSE our climate is going to change… of COURSE the topography of this world will be different in a hundred years than it is now. That would all happen whether or not human beings were riding around in their gas-guzzling SUVs.

That’s not to say that I’m not all for recycling and conserving energy and finding cleaner, more efficient fuel sources. I just don’t understand why so many people seem determined to maintain the planet in its present state forever. No matter WHAT we do, that won’t ever be possible. Piddly little humans are not capable of preventing the earth from continuing to do what it’s done for eons and eons. And who’s to say it wouldn’t ultimately be a GOOD thing for the planet to be a little warmer? Retirees could settle down in sunny Seattle instead of Florida… the frozen tundra of Siberia would be converted to a giant farm to help feed the world… people would collect the melting glacier water, call it “Global Warming Juice” and charge five dollars a bottle. Humans have always had an amazing ability to adapt to their surroundings. I’m just sayin’… maybe the negativity isn’t as necessary as we think it is…

Well, my pitcher didn’t do such a horrible job. Unfortunately, the Sox were only up 2-1 when he left the game, and the Marlins had two people on base. The new Sox pitcher promptly allowed a home run, and just like that, my pitcher was handed a loss. (Unless the White Sox manage to win in the ninth inning, in which case it’ll be a less-annoying-but-still-not-ideal no-decision.) Sigh… oh well…

It’s funny how the White Sox announcers make no attempt whatsoever to remain impartial when they’re calling the game. I’ve gotten so used to the Yankee announcers, who, for the most part, seem to sound equally excited no matter which team is playing well. If the Yankees hit a home run, they make it sound like a significant event – but they do the same if the opposing team scores, as well. It’s like they DO understand that their broadcast may be seen or heard by people other than Yankee fans. But many other team announcers sound downright peeved when the opposing team is playing well – one of these White Sox announcers actually yelled “dadgumit!” when a Marlins player made a great catch at the end of the eighth inning. I’ve heard XM radio broadcasts where the announcers barely make mention of home runs, if those home runs don’t benefit their own team. I’m not being biased or anything, but Yankee announcers really ARE the best in baseball (okay, maybe I’m being a little biased… but just a little). :)

Well, yes, the White Sox lost… but I shall be happy with my 16 pitching points, because 16 points is pretty decent for a loss. I mean, it’s no 80-point no-hitter, of course... but whatever…

Texas is fun...

So Rick and I just got back from our semi-nightly two-mile walk (actually 2.25 miles tonight), where, halfway through the walk, we saw a couple people ahead of us in the middle of the darkened road. One of them was holding a flashlight, and, as we approached, yelled something unintelligible and waved the light toward the curb. What did he say? Don't bake any coal? It's a fake silly troll? Oh, no, wait -- there's a SNAKE in the road. (I would've been happier with the fake silly troll...)

And sure enough, just a few yards ahead of us, a dark serpentine shape was nestled against the curb. The man with the flashlight wondered if we knew anything about snakes, as he and his companion were unable to decide what sort of snake it might be. "It doesn't have rattles," the woman with him said, "and we don't know if it's poisonous." So Rick, being the ex-boyscout he is, asked for the flashlight so he could more clearly inspect the creature. It was about two feet long, with a diamond-shaped head, and a tell-tale coppery color. Rick said it was probably a copperhead, and the woman asked, "so is that bad?" Well, it's not exactly a harmless fluffy bunny...

We searched the internet for pictures when we got home, and it definitely looked like a copperhead. (Also known as a "death adder" according to one of the sites we found. Well that just sounds charming...) However, even though they're poisonous, their bites are rarely fatal to humans, and they're considered non-aggressive. Which would explain why our neighborhood copperhead chose to non-aggressively coil next to the curb while we gathered around it in curiosity. Still, it's rather disconcerting to happen upon a poisonous snake while simply strolling through the neighborhood.

So when are we moving to Chicago?

Here we go again...

Well, for some reason, my Friday post was apparently invisible to some people. While I was able to get to it just fine from my computer here at home, mom was unable to find it on HER computer. And this morning I got an email from my faithful blog-reader Greg, who wondered if the recent Yankee winning streak and Jack Bauer’s noticeable absence from Monday night TV have resulted in a decided lack of posts. And while I’ll admit I’ve been less-than-inspired lately, I DID manage to post twice last week. Dad was able to see Friday’s post on his computer, too – so he left a comment, which seems to have brought the wayward post back from the mysterious cyberspace realm in which it was hiding.

Anyway… so I find it interesting that I happen to be reading The Satanic Verses just as another Rushdie controversy once again begins to stir. Queen Elizabeth II recently bestowed knighthood upon Rushdie, to honor him for his literary achievements. This does not consist solely of The Satanic Verses, of course – he’s written thirteen books, many of which have won awards. And while I’ve never read any of his other works, judging from what I’ve read so far, this man is an AMAZING writer. The guy can write. It’s not at all difficult for me to believe that he deserves some positive recognition for his achievements.

And yet, because of the knighthood, we once again have a handful of extremists yelling “kill him!” calling him a “blasphemer” and saying this title “hurt the sentiments of Muslims around the world.” Actually, I’d be willing to bet that most Muslims really couldn’t care less, but I could be wrong…

And not only this, but the religious affairs minister in Pakistan has said, “if someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the ‘sir’ title.” Uhh… Are. You. Kidding. Me. Have any of these people calling for Rushdie’s death even READ the book? Do they know what it’s about? Do they realize that the “blasphemous” part consists of a little 26-page section (in the middle of a 561 page book) that could probably be interpreted all kinds of different ways because it’s so strange and metaphorical? So because of 26 pages out of thirteen different books (and let’s see… if they’re all about the same length, that would be over 7000 pages total…) – seven THOUSAND pages of literature, and Rushdie should die because he may have suggested, in one tiny little part of one of his many books, some less-than-devout idea about Islam? How WEAK must you be in your own faith to even entertain such an idea? Those who are secure in their faith have no reason to bother with such minutiae. Those who are secure in their faith harbor no revenge in their hearts – revenge is obviously not a GOOD sentiment to hold on to. To hold so tightly to such negativity and such pessimism and such defeatism (how can anyone honestly believe that such a book can topple the entire foundation of a religion?) says volumes about what is TRULY in someone’s heart.

That’s not to say that I can’t understand why some people might find parts of the book a bit insulting – I’m sure there are parts that could be insulting to all kinds of people, not just Muslims. I mean, for goodness’ sake – I could probably pull any random title off my bookshelf and find something that someone might find insulting. I know plenty of people who were insulted by Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, and yet they managed to get over it. Some of them even conceded that it WAS a great work of fiction, even if they found the subject matter a bit offensive. Sure, it can be offensive to devout Christians – yet those who are secure in their faith are able to simply shrug it off and understand that God is MUCH more powerful than any work of fiction could ever be.

This is why I can’t help but think that the true Muslims – the ones who honestly understand their faith – are NOT the ones out in the streets calling for Rushdie’s death. I’ve read that the word “Islam” can be translated to mean both “peace” and “submission.” Yet the peaceful and submissive aspects of Islam are far too often overshadowed by these stories of revenge and hatred. And it’s sad, because like I said, I’m betting most Muslims couldn’t care less whether Rushdie is knighted or not. Because most Muslims can probably understand that The Satanic Verses is simply a work of fiction, and certainly not powerful enough to alter their faith. Just like The Da Vinci Code is a fun read, but it’s not going to make a true Christian abandon everything they believe and rush off to the Louvre in search of the bones of Mary.

This whole situation may, of course, call for another cabin story. But I’d better finish the book first…

Ups and downs...

So the Yankees have won nine in a row… I was trying to decide yesterday if I should play Andy Pettitte on my fantasy baseball team. But I realized that after an eight game winning streak, the Yankees were due to lose at any moment. And if I played Pettitte, it was pretty much guaranteed they would lose. That’s just the way my luck has been going lately. But if I DIDN’T play him, they might have a chance to win. And sure enough, I benched Pettitte and the Yankees won. That’s 32 points I’ll never see… but hey, I did my part to ensure a Yankee victory. And with Boston doing not-quite-as-well right now, the Yankees have managed to close the gap from 14 games to 7 and a half. They’re still in the running… and there’s a lot more baseball left to play…

But it is the middle of June already… the year is half over. We ate dinner with Rick’s parents and a couple of his sisters and nieces yesterday. And I was thinking, as the girls ran around with “summer vacation is here!” abandon, how much more slowly time seemed to pass when I was a kid. When I was young, it took EONS of time to get from the first day of school to summer vacation. And once summer vacation was here, well, that was THREE WHOLE MONTHS of freedom. In those first few weeks of sleeping in late and going to afternoon movies on a Tuesday and swimming all day and reading only books I WANTED to read, it seemed the summer would last indefinitely. And returning to school was like attending some far-off-in-the-future reunion, where I half expected students to show up with husbands and wives and kids and business cards and pictures of the new house and car – because it had been THAT long since we’d all seen each other. Three whole months.

My school memories aren’t always so great – especially high school, which seemed like four extremely slow years… years I feared would never end. I thought I’d be doomed to live an eternity in the halls of Lenape Valley, where metaphorical eagles would peck out my metaphorical liver day after day… just like poor Prometheus. (And the fact that I knew who Prometheus was certainly didn’t make my time there any more easy…) And I realize that most of the GOOD memories I have of high school revolve around singing in the chorus. Like sophomore year, when I was in the Touring Choir – the director chose 40 of us out of our 120-voice choir to travel to Toronto for a competition. After a long bus ride (which included an increasingly risqué game of truth or dare – I gratefully opted out and kept my nose semi-buried in a book…) we stopped at a Toronto high school to sing for the students there. Afterwards we ate lunch in their cafeteria, where we were mobbed like rock stars. “You guys are from the States?” one wide-eyed girl asked. She said it with such awe in her voice that I thought we must’ve been transported from the mundane locale of Toronto, Ontario, to a remote island in the Pacific – where, in fact, visitors from “the States” would be quite the rarity.

This was also the trip where I rode a roller coaster for the first time. The competition was held at a place called Canada’s Wonderland, which is a Six Flags-type amusement park. We were allowed to wander the park freely (as long as we showed up in time to sing for the judges…). I was hanging out with my high school best friend Ali, and my high school nemesis Sara. (Yes, that’s right – I had a high school nemesis. Sara was the girl I was always trying to do BETTER than. If she got an A, I wanted an A+. She was my competition-driven motivation to study more. And while I’m sure she didn’t KNOW she was my nemesis, it always annoyed me when she got a better grade than I did…) We were also hanging out with a girl named Christine, who, like me, had never ridden a roller coaster. So Ali and Sara – roller coaster connoisseurs that they were – convinced us that we needed to try one. They promised to ride one with us, so if the cars flew off the track in some bizarre roller coaster tragedy, we’d all die together. But as Christine and I nervously stood in line with only two more people in front of us, we saw that Ali and Sara were boarding the coaster without waiting for us. They smiled and waved and gave us a smart-alecky “have fun!” and left us there on the platform to reflect on our fate.

But once we were all buckled in and the ride started to move (“it was nice knowing you,” I said as we reached the top of the first drop), I suddenly realized that the roller coaster was FUN. I loved the ups and downs, I loved the turns, and I especially loved the upside-down loops. When we hopped off the ride and found our smug and amused pair of friends, we announced that we wanted to try every roller coaster in the park. And we did – we rode all of them, even one that ran through the entire ride backwards.

I think it’s funny when people compare life to a “roller coaster” because it’s full of “ups and downs.” Because on a roller coaster, the “downs” are just as much fun as the “ups” – not so in real life. So really, life is nothing like a roller coaster. It’s more like… oh, I don’t know… like eating ice cream really fast. Sure, the ice cream tastes great, but it’s interspersed with moments of horrible brain freeze… and that’s no fun at all. No, life is definitely not like a roller coaster… it’s like downing a pint of Ben and Jerry’s in ten minutes… So hopefully the second half of 2007 will be more like roller coasters and ice cream and less like brain freeze. And that, of course, includes the Yankees and their (soon-to-be) amazing turn-around in their fight for the playoffs…

Getting to know me (again)...

I haven't found one of these crazy questionnaires in a while, but I stumbled upon one this morning as I was shuffling through some random blogs. So here are a few more answers to some useless questions:

What’s your name spelled backwards?

Asil… Lorac Asil if you include my middle name. Hey, that’s not such a bad name – Lorac Asil. Weird, sure. But not so bad.

What did you do last night?

Ate dinner at Z Tejas… had spicy macaroni with blackened chicken. It was goooood. And, if we don’t wind up moving to Chicago, we’ll soon be able to frequent Z Tejas right across the street from our neighborhood – they’re building one within walking distance of our house…

The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?

Probably pictures? Yeah, I’m guessing pictures…

Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?

I do have a vague memory of the tangy zip of 9 volt on my tongue – so I must’ve done it when I was a kid…

Last time you swam in a pool?

Last summer – although my pool temp is up to 85, so I may have to jump in some time soon…

How many cars have you owned?

Um, let’s count… I had an Eagle Medallion (what? Never heard of it? Yeah, that’s because they made it for about two years and then destroyed all evidence of its existence…); a Honda Accord; a Honda Civic; a great little Audi A4 (now living in mom and dad’s driveway…); another Audi A4; and an Acura MDX – is that it? I’m only counting the cars that were “mine” – I won’t even get started on Rick’s cars…

Type of music you dislike most?

Country. Blah. Blech. Hate country music. Most of it, anyway. There are a handful of songs I like, and a few more I can tolerate. But for the most part, really, really don’t like country.

Are you registered to vote?

Yep

Do you have cable?

Only for the computer… we’ve got a DirecTV satellite. Best thing ever. Except when a thunderstorm rolls through and blocks the signal…

What kind of computer do you use?

A silvery-gray one. With a keyboard. And an “on” button.

Ever made a prank phone call?

I don’t think so… but if I did, it would’ve been shortly after licking a 9 volt battery, no doubt.

You like anyone right now?

I like lots of people… I even love a few of them…

Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?

I doubt it. I might sky dive if I happened to be on an imminently-crashing plane stocked with a few parachutes. Otherwise, why would I jump out of a perfectly decent plane?

Furthest place you ever traveled?

I think that would be St. Petersburg, Russia… yep, after looking at my travel map with all the stickpins, it’s definitely St. Petersburg.

What’s your favorite comic strip?

I loved Calvin and Hobbes, and I wish it was still being written…

Do you know all the words to the national anthem?

Oh yeah – that was the first song we learned in choir class in high school. Every single year. We sang it about a zillion times. I can probably still sing all four parts, too, since we went over all of them repeatedly…

Shower, morning or night?

I shower after I work out, which is usually around late afternoon… although lately Rick and I have been taking walks at night, too, so I’m faced with a conundrum – should I shower twice and risk drying out my skin and hair? Should I shower only after my afternoon workout, and hope it still “takes” after walking two miles in the evening? Should I hold off on the shower until evening? Who knew it could be so complicated…

Best movie you’ve seen in the past month?

Well, although I was a bit disappointed in the ending and had a hard time following the convoluted story, I’d have to say it was Pirates of the Caribbean, if only for the great special effects. And it went by very quickly for such a long movie – so I was obviously entertained.

Favorite pizza toppings?

Mushrooms and fresh garlic – especially at the Brooklyn Heights Pizzeria across the street. They have the BEST slices…

Chips or popcorn?

Definitely popcorn… never been much of a chip person…

What cell phone provider do you have?

Verizon – you know, the one where the entire network follows you around all day? It’s a little creepy, to be honest…

Have you ever smoked peanut shells?

What? Peanut shells? Who smokes peanut shells? And why, exactly? And how? Do you have to, like, grind them up and roll them in paper? Or do you just light up a shell and puff away? To answer the question – I’ve never smoked anything… peanut shells or otherwise…

Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?

Hold on, I have to stop laughing…

Orange Juice or apple?

Orange juice, as long as it’s pulp-free. I hate orange juice pulp. I don’t like to chew my juice while I’m drinking it.

Favorite chocolate bar?

I’m not sure I can answer that question… I mean, if it’s chocolate, chances are I’ll eat it and like it. What I really like is to buy chocolate bars in foreign countries to try something new. I’ve had some great stuff in England and Italy…

Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?

I’ve never grown my own tomatoes, so I guess never. Although maybe I’ve eaten someone ELSE’S homegrown tomatoes, who knows…

Have you ever won a trophy?

I don’t know about an actual TROPHY, but I did get that Presidential Academic Fitness award in high school. (Notice I said ACADEMIC fitness – not the physical fitness award. I could kick butt in a classroom, but not in the gym…)

Favorite arcade game?

I’m sorry, is it still 1982?

Ever ordered from an infomercial?

I’ve ordered a few exercise DVDs from infomercials… Tae-Bo and stuff like that. I’m making up for my lack of Presidential Physical Fitness awards in high school…

Sprite or 7-UP?

I don’t care enough about either one to make a decision. I can take ‘em or leave ‘em.

Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?

Nope.

Last thing you bought at Walgreens?

I can’t remember, but my purchase no doubt included lip gloss… I just can’t seem to walk into a Walgreens and walk out without buying lip gloss. I’m so addicted to that stuff…

Ever thrown up in public?

Not that I can remember. Of course, little kids are always throwing up all over the place, so who knows…

Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?

Oh, everyone knows it’s gotta be the love. Money is only nice for so long… at some point, you realize it really DOESN’T buy happiness…

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Nope. Not possible. It’s not possible to simply LOOK at someone and make the decision to love them. “Love” at first sight is just “attraction” at first sight.

Spongebob or Jimmy Neutron?

Spongebob annoys me, but I don’t know enough about this Jimmy Neutron character to make a judgment call… for all I know, he goes around smoking peanut shells and licking batteries and generally being a bad influence.

Did you have long hair as a young kid?

Not until around second grade… before that, my mom had been cutting my hair really short, and I remember thinking I was afraid I looked like a boy. I guess I convinced her I wanted to grow it out by the time I got to second grade, and I’ve never cut it that short again. (Sorry, mom. :))

Where would you like to go right now?

To a Yankee game. Now, while we’re on a winning streak…

Whats the name of your pet?

I have two – my dog Echo, and my cat Allegro.

What kind of backpack do you have, and what’s in it?

I don’t have a backpack… but I do have a messenger bag that I use as a carry-on bag when I travel. It pretty much remains constantly stocked with the things I refuse to travel without – lip balm, gum, hand lotion, ear plugs, sunglasses, a travel journal, hand sanitizer… when I’m ready to go somewhere, I just toss in a book or some magazines and my ID, and I’m all set…

What do you think about most?

That changes on a daily basis… ask me tomorrow…