Who's excited??
Okay, Eric is.
Anyone else? :)
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Scientific observation...
This morning on Facebook (ever the source of fascinating conversation), a friend of mine commented on how much she hates fire. Which prompted me to vehemently concur ("I concur, vehemently!" Any Bones fans out there? Yes? No? That's probably my favorite line from the entire span of the show...). It also reminded me of a couple high school science experiences, which I will, of course, recreate for you here...
When I was a sophomore, I took biology with, I can only assume, a classroom full of biology-challenged individuals. There were only two people in that class who ever managed decent grades -- me, and a girl named Sara. Every now and then, our teacher would allow us to complete some assignment on our own during class -- a situation I normally embraced in other classes with pen in one hand and book in the other, secure in the knowledge that my shy, quiet self could simply do what I do best: work quietly on my own to the betterment of my good grades. In biology, however, my quiet, solitary study time at my desk would suddenly morph into a group of desks gathered around me like metal to a magnet... and, a few rows away, Sara would be surrounded by her own group of desks. We had (unfortunately for me) gained reputations as the only two people who understood what we were doing, and that, in turn, meant that we were unwilling (at least on my part) group leaders.
But Sara and I recognized that perhaps our mutual affinity for the subject could be beneficial when it came to choosing a lab partner for our once-a-week lab work. We paired up, of course, which I assumed could be nothing but positive for me and my biology grades. And then I discovered something about Sara that I hadn't previously known: she was insanely, ridiculously, acutely afraid of dead things. And you can't avoid dead things in biology lab. At first, it wasn't so bad... okay, I thought, I can dissect this earthworm on my own. No problem. Okay, I can manage this frog. (And really, the frog was pretty cool -- those little tiny frog organs are so nice and neatly arranged... they're even color-coded... it's really quite fascinating to dissect a frog...)
And then one day we walked into biology lab and found ourselves face-to-face with sharks -- not big sharks, of course, just little foot-long baby sharks... but sharks, nonetheless. They were slippery... they were rubbery... and they may have been babies, but they were still the biggest dead things we'd had on those biology lab tables. And Sara, as usual, flat-out refused to go near it. I attempted to shove a scalpel in her hand and coax her into TRYING, at least. "I'm not doing that," she stubbornly insisted. "You do it." And I have to say -- cutting open that shark was one of THE most unpleasant things I've ever done. Unlike the nice, neat, color-coded frog, the shark burst open like a rubbery gray balloon full of nasty gray liquid and mushy gray rubber entrails. (What the HECK was inside that thing???) But eventually we made it to the end of the year, Sara and I receiving the highest grades in the class (and frankly, I should've been given extra credit for completing the brunt of the lab work).
The next year we moved on to chemistry, where dead things were replaced with dangerous chemicals and Bunsen burners. The gas for the Bunsen burners was turned on with a lever at each chem lab table -- the only problem was, you could never really tell how MUCH gas was flowing until you held a sparking flint over the gas and lit the flame. If you weren't careful, that flame would shoot toward the ceiling, causing our chemistry teacher to run over and adjust the gas before anyone singed off their eyebrows. I HATED lighting the Bunsen burners, because I've always been insanely, ridiculously, acutely afraid of fire... you can see where this is going...
Once again, Sara and I paired up for lab (although I'll admit my comprehension of chemistry is not quite as stellar as my comprehension of biology...). And I soon discovered that Sara was not too fond of fire, either. This time, however, as we prepared for some experiment or other and the Bunsen burner was required, I was unwavering. I shoved the flint in her hand and told her to light the Bunsen burner. "I'm not doing that," I stubbornly insisted. "You do it." And EVERY time we needed the Bunsen burner in chemistry lab, I would think back to that horrible, squishy, rubbery shark... I would cross my arms, stand back, and make sure that Sara had the honor of lighting the burner. (Force ME to dissect a disgusting shark, will you? Fine. If your hair catches fire, I'll be sure to think about putting it out...)
Yeah, I guess I have a pretty lame idea of "retaliation." But as I watched that flame shoot toward the ceiling and stood back as our teacher adjusted the flame, I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of satisfaction... :)
When I was a sophomore, I took biology with, I can only assume, a classroom full of biology-challenged individuals. There were only two people in that class who ever managed decent grades -- me, and a girl named Sara. Every now and then, our teacher would allow us to complete some assignment on our own during class -- a situation I normally embraced in other classes with pen in one hand and book in the other, secure in the knowledge that my shy, quiet self could simply do what I do best: work quietly on my own to the betterment of my good grades. In biology, however, my quiet, solitary study time at my desk would suddenly morph into a group of desks gathered around me like metal to a magnet... and, a few rows away, Sara would be surrounded by her own group of desks. We had (unfortunately for me) gained reputations as the only two people who understood what we were doing, and that, in turn, meant that we were unwilling (at least on my part) group leaders.
But Sara and I recognized that perhaps our mutual affinity for the subject could be beneficial when it came to choosing a lab partner for our once-a-week lab work. We paired up, of course, which I assumed could be nothing but positive for me and my biology grades. And then I discovered something about Sara that I hadn't previously known: she was insanely, ridiculously, acutely afraid of dead things. And you can't avoid dead things in biology lab. At first, it wasn't so bad... okay, I thought, I can dissect this earthworm on my own. No problem. Okay, I can manage this frog. (And really, the frog was pretty cool -- those little tiny frog organs are so nice and neatly arranged... they're even color-coded... it's really quite fascinating to dissect a frog...)
And then one day we walked into biology lab and found ourselves face-to-face with sharks -- not big sharks, of course, just little foot-long baby sharks... but sharks, nonetheless. They were slippery... they were rubbery... and they may have been babies, but they were still the biggest dead things we'd had on those biology lab tables. And Sara, as usual, flat-out refused to go near it. I attempted to shove a scalpel in her hand and coax her into TRYING, at least. "I'm not doing that," she stubbornly insisted. "You do it." And I have to say -- cutting open that shark was one of THE most unpleasant things I've ever done. Unlike the nice, neat, color-coded frog, the shark burst open like a rubbery gray balloon full of nasty gray liquid and mushy gray rubber entrails. (What the HECK was inside that thing???) But eventually we made it to the end of the year, Sara and I receiving the highest grades in the class (and frankly, I should've been given extra credit for completing the brunt of the lab work).
The next year we moved on to chemistry, where dead things were replaced with dangerous chemicals and Bunsen burners. The gas for the Bunsen burners was turned on with a lever at each chem lab table -- the only problem was, you could never really tell how MUCH gas was flowing until you held a sparking flint over the gas and lit the flame. If you weren't careful, that flame would shoot toward the ceiling, causing our chemistry teacher to run over and adjust the gas before anyone singed off their eyebrows. I HATED lighting the Bunsen burners, because I've always been insanely, ridiculously, acutely afraid of fire... you can see where this is going...
Once again, Sara and I paired up for lab (although I'll admit my comprehension of chemistry is not quite as stellar as my comprehension of biology...). And I soon discovered that Sara was not too fond of fire, either. This time, however, as we prepared for some experiment or other and the Bunsen burner was required, I was unwavering. I shoved the flint in her hand and told her to light the Bunsen burner. "I'm not doing that," I stubbornly insisted. "You do it." And EVERY time we needed the Bunsen burner in chemistry lab, I would think back to that horrible, squishy, rubbery shark... I would cross my arms, stand back, and make sure that Sara had the honor of lighting the burner. (Force ME to dissect a disgusting shark, will you? Fine. If your hair catches fire, I'll be sure to think about putting it out...)
Yeah, I guess I have a pretty lame idea of "retaliation." But as I watched that flame shoot toward the ceiling and stood back as our teacher adjusted the flame, I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of satisfaction... :)
Friday, September 23, 2011
The wrong size... but in a good way...
Today was one of those rare, magical days that comes along once in a blue moon... when all the planets align (even Pluto, because Pluto will always be a planet to me), and the universe is in perfect synchronicity. I like to call it, "the day that I tried on those pants that used to be way too tight and now they're way too loose." I just LOVE days like this...
It started out as just another "tidying up" kind of day. I've finally managed to clear all of the winter clothes out of the bathtub... What? You don't keep your winter clothes in the bathtub?? Actually, I don't usually keep my clothes in the bathtub, either, but that happened to be where I tossed everything when we first moved into this condo and I had to put all our clothes in the bathroom when our hardwood floors were being refinished. (The bathrooms being the only rooms in the house with doors... and doors were needed to keep the wood dust at bay...) I eventually found storage for all of our warmer weather clothing, but, since we moved into this place in July, I sort of found myself ignoring that giant pile of bathtub sweaters that I walked past every day...
Recently, however, the temperatures have been dipping lower and lower, and the need for sweaters is about to be a daily occurrence. So I figured it was time to delve into the pile of bathtub sweaters and start organizing them. And today, as I gathered the last few items to wash/fold/stack in the closet, I noticed a pair of pants at the very bottom of the pile. I recognized it as a pair that I'd bought a couple years ago for work, but I'm not sure I ever actually WORE them because they were a bit too snug. So I figured, why not? Might as well try them on... And they fit perfectly -- maybe even a bit too big...
This, of course, prompted me to try on OTHER items of clothing in my closet -- in particular, I was interested to try on a pair of gray pants that I used to wear to work. I HATED those pants, because they kept shrinking the longer I worked... but I kept wearing them now and then, just because I didn't want to show up to work in the same outfit every single day. By the time I quit my job, those pants were my least favorite thing to wear to work... every time I wore them, I was reminded of my failure to eat nothing but celery sticks and lettuce leaves, and my obvious lack of motivation to work out for more than an hour a day. But today, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and, at the risk of feeling inadequate and unworthy of the chocolate chip cookie dough I just made, tried on the much-too-tight gray pants...
And not only did they zip right up, but they literally FELL OFF even when I had them buttoned. So now, instead of being unable to wear those pants because they cut off my circulation, I am unable to wear them without risking arrest for indecent exposure. I like the second option much better than the first...
So now, newly motivated, I am off to work out. And I may even indulge in a celery stick or two before dinner tonight...
It started out as just another "tidying up" kind of day. I've finally managed to clear all of the winter clothes out of the bathtub... What? You don't keep your winter clothes in the bathtub?? Actually, I don't usually keep my clothes in the bathtub, either, but that happened to be where I tossed everything when we first moved into this condo and I had to put all our clothes in the bathroom when our hardwood floors were being refinished. (The bathrooms being the only rooms in the house with doors... and doors were needed to keep the wood dust at bay...) I eventually found storage for all of our warmer weather clothing, but, since we moved into this place in July, I sort of found myself ignoring that giant pile of bathtub sweaters that I walked past every day...
Recently, however, the temperatures have been dipping lower and lower, and the need for sweaters is about to be a daily occurrence. So I figured it was time to delve into the pile of bathtub sweaters and start organizing them. And today, as I gathered the last few items to wash/fold/stack in the closet, I noticed a pair of pants at the very bottom of the pile. I recognized it as a pair that I'd bought a couple years ago for work, but I'm not sure I ever actually WORE them because they were a bit too snug. So I figured, why not? Might as well try them on... And they fit perfectly -- maybe even a bit too big...
This, of course, prompted me to try on OTHER items of clothing in my closet -- in particular, I was interested to try on a pair of gray pants that I used to wear to work. I HATED those pants, because they kept shrinking the longer I worked... but I kept wearing them now and then, just because I didn't want to show up to work in the same outfit every single day. By the time I quit my job, those pants were my least favorite thing to wear to work... every time I wore them, I was reminded of my failure to eat nothing but celery sticks and lettuce leaves, and my obvious lack of motivation to work out for more than an hour a day. But today, I decided to throw caution to the wind, and, at the risk of feeling inadequate and unworthy of the chocolate chip cookie dough I just made, tried on the much-too-tight gray pants...
And not only did they zip right up, but they literally FELL OFF even when I had them buttoned. So now, instead of being unable to wear those pants because they cut off my circulation, I am unable to wear them without risking arrest for indecent exposure. I like the second option much better than the first...
So now, newly motivated, I am off to work out. And I may even indulge in a celery stick or two before dinner tonight...
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
This never happens in suburbia...
I spent part of the afternoon watching a group of loitering police officers out on the street corner outside my building. Eventually, I realized there was also a group of officers a block away, and a block past that, too... And then a bunch of Traffic Management Authority workers started appearing on various corners, wearing their neon orange vests and halfheartedly directing traffic even though the lights were working just fine. I also noticed blue police blockade barricades sitting in groups on the sidewalks, and I finally realized what was going on: An Important Person motorcade was about to come by.
We noticed the first Important Person motorcade a couple weeks after we moved into this condo. We were sitting on the couch watching TV one evening, and I noticed that the street outside had been blocked off. My first thought was that some kind of construction was going on... but then I saw about five cop cars fly by on one of the cross streets a block away outside... shortly followed by a line of black, official-looking cars... followed by more flashing blue and red lights. I texted Eric, since, as a police sergeant, he tends to be privy to Important Person information -- and he told me that Joe Biden was in town.
So when I saw all the cops and barricades outside this afternoon, I texted Eric again -- and it turns out Biden was in town again. So I hung out near my window for a while, waiting to see the motorcade. I assumed it would be just like last time, when the cars traveled down the cross street down the block. But when the motorcade finally made its appearance (and seriously, those poor cops were hanging out on the street for an hour and a half before anything interesting happened), it made a turn directly onto MY street and headed RIGHT past my living room window. I fumbled with the camera on my phone, attempting to turn it on before the cars passed by... but of course I was too late.
So when, a couple hours later, I noticed that the cops were STILL hanging out on the street corners, and, what's more, they were starting to set up street barricades again, I deduced that Biden's motorcade was about to retrace its steps. And THIS time I was determined to be ready -- I got my camera and stood at my window, waiting for an opportunity:
Hey, I may not have voted for the guy, but he's still the Vice President of the United States. And this is the closest I've ever been to someone who is in charge of running my country in some way... (And what I don't have a picture of here is the ambulance that was following the whole motorcade -- is that just in case Biden has a sudden heart attack?? Or in case of some other unforeseen misfortune?)
And that was my excitement for the day... :)
We noticed the first Important Person motorcade a couple weeks after we moved into this condo. We were sitting on the couch watching TV one evening, and I noticed that the street outside had been blocked off. My first thought was that some kind of construction was going on... but then I saw about five cop cars fly by on one of the cross streets a block away outside... shortly followed by a line of black, official-looking cars... followed by more flashing blue and red lights. I texted Eric, since, as a police sergeant, he tends to be privy to Important Person information -- and he told me that Joe Biden was in town.
So when I saw all the cops and barricades outside this afternoon, I texted Eric again -- and it turns out Biden was in town again. So I hung out near my window for a while, waiting to see the motorcade. I assumed it would be just like last time, when the cars traveled down the cross street down the block. But when the motorcade finally made its appearance (and seriously, those poor cops were hanging out on the street for an hour and a half before anything interesting happened), it made a turn directly onto MY street and headed RIGHT past my living room window. I fumbled with the camera on my phone, attempting to turn it on before the cars passed by... but of course I was too late.
So when, a couple hours later, I noticed that the cops were STILL hanging out on the street corners, and, what's more, they were starting to set up street barricades again, I deduced that Biden's motorcade was about to retrace its steps. And THIS time I was determined to be ready -- I got my camera and stood at my window, waiting for an opportunity:
Hey, I may not have voted for the guy, but he's still the Vice President of the United States. And this is the closest I've ever been to someone who is in charge of running my country in some way... (And what I don't have a picture of here is the ambulance that was following the whole motorcade -- is that just in case Biden has a sudden heart attack?? Or in case of some other unforeseen misfortune?)
And that was my excitement for the day... :)
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Weekend randomness...
* It was beautiful here yesterday -- sunny, not a cloud in the sky, 60-something degrees -- and then today was cloudy, rainy, and cool. It's hard to believe that autumn isn't actually HERE until Friday... I'm so used to 90-degree Septembers that this new-found "fall weather" thing is quite a novelty. And I have to admit I'm quite looking forward to the fall colors on the trees -- since we didn't move up here until November last year, we missed most of the autumn foliage and started right away with naked winter trees.
* The chairs that we ordered when we bought our kitchen table FINALLY arrived the other day, after being backordered for months. We had to assemble them ourselves (and can someone tell me why we keep buying furniture that needs to be assembled?? If I ever see another allen wrench, I'm going to scream...), but we finally have a complete kitchen table set. One of these days I'll get some pictures up on the blog...
* We went to dinner last night with Eric and Faisal, and sat at a table next to a big window by a neon sign. I noticed a couple little bugs flying around, no doubt attracted by the neon light, and flitted them away with slight annoyance. And then, not too long after we'd ordered our food, Faisal looked up at the window near the ceiling with some mixture of fear, disgust, confusion and trepidation. We all followed his glance up the window until we realized there was a HUGE spider in a web -- INSIDE the window, no less. Somehow, he ate his entire dinner with that thing hanging over his head... of course, it led to an evening full of the old "use your hand and pretend it's spider on the shoulder of the person next to you" trick... and Eric and Faisal pointing to the wall behind me and inquiring how the spider managed to climb behind me so quickly... and something about spiders in my hair... needless to say, the next time I eat there, I'll be checking the area around my table for uninvited guests...
* Why does it seem like there are NO good movies starting anytime soon? I guess it's because we're past the summer blockbuster season, and we've moved on to the boring, lame movie season. And then right before the end of the year, we'll have all the Oscar contenders...
* Every now and then, as I look at the top floors of the Hancock building, I'll see a camera flash. Probably someone in the Signature Room on the 95th floor. And I understand that people want to take pictures of the view from up there -- it's a great view. But what, exactly, do they hope to accomplish with the camera flash?? Are you expecting to illuminate the entire city with that tiny little thing? Because it's not gonna work... sorry... Lately, I've also been wondering why the lights on top of the building are colored green at the moment -- they usually change the colors according to the season. But green? Green seems more suited to March. September seems like more of an orange or yellow kind of month.... But maybe it's just me...
* I just made chocolate chip cookie dough for the week. A few months ago, I came up with the brilliant idea of making a batch of cookie dough and freezing it, and then just making a few cookies at a time. This way, I take away the temptation of eating fifteen cookies at a time, and I control my cookie portions. How smart is that?? I am a genius. (No? You don't think so??) I always want to eat some cookie dough, but I restrain myself with thoughts of salmonella. I mean, the chances of actually getting salmonella from the raw egg in cookie dough are pretty low, I suppose... but I just never want to risk it.
* And speaking of cookies, I think I'll go eat the few I made tonight. Hope everyone had a good weekend...
* The chairs that we ordered when we bought our kitchen table FINALLY arrived the other day, after being backordered for months. We had to assemble them ourselves (and can someone tell me why we keep buying furniture that needs to be assembled?? If I ever see another allen wrench, I'm going to scream...), but we finally have a complete kitchen table set. One of these days I'll get some pictures up on the blog...
* We went to dinner last night with Eric and Faisal, and sat at a table next to a big window by a neon sign. I noticed a couple little bugs flying around, no doubt attracted by the neon light, and flitted them away with slight annoyance. And then, not too long after we'd ordered our food, Faisal looked up at the window near the ceiling with some mixture of fear, disgust, confusion and trepidation. We all followed his glance up the window until we realized there was a HUGE spider in a web -- INSIDE the window, no less. Somehow, he ate his entire dinner with that thing hanging over his head... of course, it led to an evening full of the old "use your hand and pretend it's spider on the shoulder of the person next to you" trick... and Eric and Faisal pointing to the wall behind me and inquiring how the spider managed to climb behind me so quickly... and something about spiders in my hair... needless to say, the next time I eat there, I'll be checking the area around my table for uninvited guests...
* Why does it seem like there are NO good movies starting anytime soon? I guess it's because we're past the summer blockbuster season, and we've moved on to the boring, lame movie season. And then right before the end of the year, we'll have all the Oscar contenders...
* Every now and then, as I look at the top floors of the Hancock building, I'll see a camera flash. Probably someone in the Signature Room on the 95th floor. And I understand that people want to take pictures of the view from up there -- it's a great view. But what, exactly, do they hope to accomplish with the camera flash?? Are you expecting to illuminate the entire city with that tiny little thing? Because it's not gonna work... sorry... Lately, I've also been wondering why the lights on top of the building are colored green at the moment -- they usually change the colors according to the season. But green? Green seems more suited to March. September seems like more of an orange or yellow kind of month.... But maybe it's just me...
* I just made chocolate chip cookie dough for the week. A few months ago, I came up with the brilliant idea of making a batch of cookie dough and freezing it, and then just making a few cookies at a time. This way, I take away the temptation of eating fifteen cookies at a time, and I control my cookie portions. How smart is that?? I am a genius. (No? You don't think so??) I always want to eat some cookie dough, but I restrain myself with thoughts of salmonella. I mean, the chances of actually getting salmonella from the raw egg in cookie dough are pretty low, I suppose... but I just never want to risk it.
* And speaking of cookies, I think I'll go eat the few I made tonight. Hope everyone had a good weekend...
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Happiness is...
I'm drinking coffee with a splash of past-the-expiration-date milk. I think it's making my coffee taste a bit off... that's not bad, right? I won't die from drinking slightly "off" milk, will I? Nah... I'm sure it's fine... (This is more a testament to my addiction to caffeine than my nonchalance towards possibly spoiled food. I'm actually rather OCD when it comes to slightly spoiled food... therefore, I obviously REALLY love my caffeine...) I wish I was like my dad and Rick, who have developed a taste for black coffee... but I still prefer mine with milk, even if the only milk in my house has been around since the Revolutionary War... (I know what you're all wondering: "Why didn't you just walk down to that Starbucks on the corner, Lisa? They have coffee AND fresh milk..." Yes... that would've been a good idea. Oh well...)
And speaking of things you find in a kitchen -- this morning I was reading some of the healthy foodie blogs I like to read, and someone was expounding on the benefits of a "kitchen work triangle." She recently bought a house with a U-shaped kitchen, after living with a galley kitchen for years, and apparently the new layout is much more efficient. I, myself, have sort of an L-shaped kitchen with an "i" next to it... (I just need to work in an "s" and an "a" so my kitchen will spell out Lisa... :))
I'd never heard of this "kitchen work triangle" thing, so I googled it and found this article on About.com. People have actually done ergonomic studies to suggest that ideally, the refrigerator, sink, and stove should form a triangle. And what's more, there are actual "principles" to adhere to with this work triangle idea:
Amazingly, my tiny little Li-shaped kitchen manages to meet these requirements (although just barely), which is good -- because, as the article says, "an efficient kitchen is typically a key point in having a happy life." Uhhh... what??? My kitchen layout dictates whether or not I have a happy life?? Really. The kitchen. If I have a triangle layout in my kitchen, I have a better chance of having a happy life. Forget about my family and friends and relationships and contentment and security and love and fun and adventure and chocolate (sorry Rachel -- chocolate post is coming soon, I promise! ;)) -- when you get right down to the basics, it's all about the kitchen. Wow... I've been waaaaaaay off...
Personally, I think it's more about coffee than the kitchen... well, as long as you don't use slightly off, possibly spoiled milk...
And speaking of things you find in a kitchen -- this morning I was reading some of the healthy foodie blogs I like to read, and someone was expounding on the benefits of a "kitchen work triangle." She recently bought a house with a U-shaped kitchen, after living with a galley kitchen for years, and apparently the new layout is much more efficient. I, myself, have sort of an L-shaped kitchen with an "i" next to it... (I just need to work in an "s" and an "a" so my kitchen will spell out Lisa... :))
I'd never heard of this "kitchen work triangle" thing, so I googled it and found this article on About.com. People have actually done ergonomic studies to suggest that ideally, the refrigerator, sink, and stove should form a triangle. And what's more, there are actual "principles" to adhere to with this work triangle idea:
- Each leg of the triangle should be between 4 and 9 feet
- The total of all three legs should be between 12 and 26 feet
- No obstructions (cabinets, islands, etc.) should intersect a leg of the work triangle
- Household traffic should not flow through the work triangle
Amazingly, my tiny little Li-shaped kitchen manages to meet these requirements (although just barely), which is good -- because, as the article says, "an efficient kitchen is typically a key point in having a happy life." Uhhh... what??? My kitchen layout dictates whether or not I have a happy life?? Really. The kitchen. If I have a triangle layout in my kitchen, I have a better chance of having a happy life. Forget about my family and friends and relationships and contentment and security and love and fun and adventure and chocolate (sorry Rachel -- chocolate post is coming soon, I promise! ;)) -- when you get right down to the basics, it's all about the kitchen. Wow... I've been waaaaaaay off...
Personally, I think it's more about coffee than the kitchen... well, as long as you don't use slightly off, possibly spoiled milk...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
10
All week, I've thought about what to say today, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and honestly, I've had a hard time with it. I mean, here I am, a supposed "writer" -- someone who can form "profound" statements out of a clever placement of carefully chosen words -- and yet I'm drawing a blank.
Not that I can't think of a million things to say... I can remember where I was that morning... I can remember that my first thoughts when I woke up and walked out into my sun-filled living room were something along the lines of, "what a perfect day." Isn't that crazy? My first thought on September 11th was that it was a PERFECT day. That changed much too quickly...
I can remember seeing those images of the planes hitting the towers, aired over and over and over on nearly every channel imaginable... and, consequently, I STILL can't watch that footage without breaking down. I saw it too many times that day... I saw it so many times that it's been burned into my memory. I tried not to think about what the people on those planes must've been feeling, when they realized the path their hijackers were flying... and yet I still had nightmares for weeks afterward that I was a passenger on one of those planes -- thankfully, I woke up from that terrifying nightmare when my dream-plane hit the building. The fact that people had to literally live and die that way is more horrible than I want to imagine...
I can remember that I spent much of September 12th logged onto the internet, searching for information about Islam to counter my ignorance and the inevitable rumors and accusations that would follow... searching for verses from the Qur'an... searching for an explanation for the nonsensical ramblings of Nostradamus (how many ridiculous internet rumors were flying around about Nostradamus and 9/11??)... searching for ANYTHING that had absolutely NOTHING to do with the attacks. I must've watched more of the Travel Channel than I'd ever watched in my life... and I've watched a LOT of the Travel Channel...
But I can also remember the hope and the determination that slowly returned to everyday life... I remember my first trip back into the city after 9/11, for a Yankee playoff game, in a stadium filled with fans who just wanted to be excited about our national pastime -- and that game is still THE most awesome baseball game I've ever attended. I remember eventually feeling like the world was NOT coming to an end, and like perhaps we DID have a future of some sort.
And I remember wanting to get back on a plane and see the world, without letting what happened on 9/11 scare me into a life limited to ground travel. That can never happen. I will never be deterred from exploring this planet and all it has to offer. I will never allow the cowardice of a few who claim to speak for an entire group to prevent me from learning the truth from those who are willing to teach me.
And yet none of this truly does justice to this day, or to the people who lost their lives, or the people who lost loved ones, or the people whose lives have been affected in a myriad of ways.
And, to different extents, perhaps that is all of us.
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
When is Eat Chocolate Day?
Apparently, yesterday was "Read a Book Day," and I didn't even realize it. It makes sense that the day after Labor Day would celebrate book-reading, considering yesterday was probably the first day of school for many kids around the country. Or at least many of the kids in the north -- down south, school generally starts sometime in the middle of August. (But summer vacation starts earlier, at the end of May. It's early summer vs. late back-to-school. And after experiencing both, I believe I liked late back-to-school better... :))
So in honor of a belated Read a Book Day, here are a few quotes from some of my favorite books:
To Kill a Mockingbird:
- "If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it?"
"For a number of reasons," said Atticus. "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again."
"Atticus, are we going to win it?"
"No, honey."
"Then why-"
"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win," Atticus said.
(Atticus Finch, by the way, is, unarguably, the greatest lawyer in the history of literature. Seriously, you can't even argue with me, because it's just a fact.)
- "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box."
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
- There was a lust of wandering in his feet that burned to set out for the ends of the earth. On! On! his heart seemed to cry. Evening would deepen above the sea, night fall upon the plains, dawn glimmer before the wanderer and show him strange fields and hills and faces. Where?
- Away! Away! The spell of arms and voices: the white arms of roads, their promise of close embraces and the black arms of tall ships that stand against the moon, their tale of distant nations. They are held out to say: We are alone. Come. And the voices say with them: We are your kinsmen. And the air is thick with their company as they call to me, their kinsman, making ready to go, shaking the wings of their exultant and terrible youth.... Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
Brick Lane:
- What could not be changed must be borne. And since nothing could be changed, everything had to be borne. This principle ruled her life. It was mantra, fettle, and challenge. So that, at the age of thirty-four, after she had been given three children and had one taken away, when she had a futile husband and had been fated a young and demanding lover, when for the first time she could not wait for the future to be revealed but had to make it for herself, she was as startled by her own agency as an infant who waves a clenched fist and strikes itself upon the eye.
- "Oh, Karim, that we have already done. But always there was a problem between us. How can I explain? I wasn't me, and you weren't you. From the very beginning to the very end, we didn't see things. What we did -- we made each other up."
The Shadow of the Wind:
- “Every book… has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens… When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader’s hands. In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend.”
Saturday, September 03, 2011
Getting comfy with comfortability...
So, one of the fun things about Blogger (apart from the fact that they recently changed their interface and I'm all confused now... wait, is that fun??), is that you can see which of your posts are popular with the masses. The "masses," in my case, being the ten people who read my blog on a regular basis, along with the random people who stumble upon it from day to day.
And what I find amusing is that, without a doubt, the MOST popular and MOST read posts on my blog are those that have anything to do with my favorite made-up word, COMFORTABILITY.
Go ahead -- type, "is comfortability a word?" into Google and scroll through some of the results. Somewhere in that list, you'll find a link (or possibly two) to my blog. And while I just can't quite bring myself to completely concede and allow Faisal his fake word, I suppose I must admit that its exclusion from legitimate dictionaries has resulted in increased blog traffic. So it's good for something, at least... :)
And speaking of comfortability -- I am still amazed at what a wimp I've become after less than a year in Chicago. I just spent more than a week in the oven-like temperatures of Austin, and yet it STILL feels hot here when the mercury climbs up to 90. Although I suspect the humidity is a big culprit here, since Austin has absolutely nothing in the way of precipitation, even in the form of air-suspended water vapor. The dry air makes quite a difference in Austin. And the humidity makes quite a difference here in Chicago. I'm trying to decide which is better -- oven or sauna?? Hmmm... with an oven, you can bake cookies and chocolate cake... but with a sauna, you just get all sweaty. Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with oven. :)
I shouldn't complain about the heat, though -- because sooner or later (and I have a feeling it will be sooner), summer will be over and I'll be wearing sweaters again and warily eyeing my winter coats in the closet, wondering when I'll need to pull them out. How did the summer go by so quickly?? I theorize it's because we were so busy during the late spring and early summer -- searching for a condo to buy, taking care of the purchase, moving, trying to get settled... which, to be honest, I'm still working on. If I can feel completely settled in by the first day of autumn, I will consider it a success.
And settling in, of course, requires a certain amount of comfortability... but if comfortability doesn't really exist, how can I ever get settled?? Does this mean comfortability DOES exist???
Darn it, Faisal... you win again.
Just kidding -- "comfort" still works just as well... ;)
And what I find amusing is that, without a doubt, the MOST popular and MOST read posts on my blog are those that have anything to do with my favorite made-up word, COMFORTABILITY.
Go ahead -- type, "is comfortability a word?" into Google and scroll through some of the results. Somewhere in that list, you'll find a link (or possibly two) to my blog. And while I just can't quite bring myself to completely concede and allow Faisal his fake word, I suppose I must admit that its exclusion from legitimate dictionaries has resulted in increased blog traffic. So it's good for something, at least... :)
And speaking of comfortability -- I am still amazed at what a wimp I've become after less than a year in Chicago. I just spent more than a week in the oven-like temperatures of Austin, and yet it STILL feels hot here when the mercury climbs up to 90. Although I suspect the humidity is a big culprit here, since Austin has absolutely nothing in the way of precipitation, even in the form of air-suspended water vapor. The dry air makes quite a difference in Austin. And the humidity makes quite a difference here in Chicago. I'm trying to decide which is better -- oven or sauna?? Hmmm... with an oven, you can bake cookies and chocolate cake... but with a sauna, you just get all sweaty. Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with oven. :)
I shouldn't complain about the heat, though -- because sooner or later (and I have a feeling it will be sooner), summer will be over and I'll be wearing sweaters again and warily eyeing my winter coats in the closet, wondering when I'll need to pull them out. How did the summer go by so quickly?? I theorize it's because we were so busy during the late spring and early summer -- searching for a condo to buy, taking care of the purchase, moving, trying to get settled... which, to be honest, I'm still working on. If I can feel completely settled in by the first day of autumn, I will consider it a success.
And settling in, of course, requires a certain amount of comfortability... but if comfortability doesn't really exist, how can I ever get settled?? Does this mean comfortability DOES exist???
Darn it, Faisal... you win again.
Just kidding -- "comfort" still works just as well... ;)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Random thoughts...
Yep, just plain old random thoughts today. Still working on unpacking/cleaning after our week in Austin. When we got home, our nice new red rug was covered with little tufts of cat hair. Sigh... as much as I love my furry troublemakers, they require a constant amount of maintenance... :)
By the way, the carpet we bought IS, in fact, RED -- apparently the pictures of it have a tendency, on some computers, to look PINK. Both my mom and Rick's mom mentioned that they thought our choice of carpet shade was a bit on the lighter side of the red spectrum... and then my mom got here and saw it in person and said, "oh it really IS red!" YES, it's red! :) It's sort of a dark brick red... if it looks pink on your computer, it is a technical anomaly. I would never own a pink carpet... I've never been a fan of pink. Now, purple, sure -- and we actually DO have a purple throw rug in the bedroom to match our purple accent wall. But THIS carpet is red:
Whatever it is, Riff loves it...
Anyway, on to other randomness... I really wonder about some of these ads on TV for ridiculously specialized cooking gadgets. I just saw one for a little plastic container for boiling an egg -- you crack the egg, pour it into the little plastic thingie, and then boil the plastic thingie. This way, you don't have to bother with that insufferable chore of peeling the shell off the hard-boiled egg. Really?? Do I need to spend money on something just so I don't have to peel a shell off an egg? Personally, I'd rather peel a shell off a hard-boiled egg than crack open a raw one... I don't worry about salmonella with hard-boiled eggs...
Has anyone other than me read the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy? Actually, I'm still struggling through the final book. The first one was just "okay" (slow at the beginning, pretty good in the middle, slow again at the end), the second one was actually pretty good, but now the third one is draaaaaaagging at a snail's pace, and I'm trying to decide whether to finish it (because I've come this far and I really don't want this stupid book to get the best of me) or to just give up and find a copy of The Hunger Games (which I've wanted to read for a while now). The funny thing is, my dad is reading a "thriller" written by a Norwegian author (the Dragon Tattoo series was written by a Swedish author), and he's discovering the same thing I discovered: apparently "thriller" in Scandinavia has a different meaning than "thriller" in America. Both of the Scandinavian writers spend a lot of time with exposition, and not a lot of time with action. For instance, I just waded through an entire chapter that spelled out the history of the Swedish security police in great detail. And I just... don't... care. But at the same time, I don't want to be defeated by a few hundred pages hidden in my Kindle. Must... finish... slow... book...
Okay, I'm off to work out (which I actually kept up with when we were away -- but I also ate about five thousand calories every day...). Hope everyone is having a good week so far...
By the way, the carpet we bought IS, in fact, RED -- apparently the pictures of it have a tendency, on some computers, to look PINK. Both my mom and Rick's mom mentioned that they thought our choice of carpet shade was a bit on the lighter side of the red spectrum... and then my mom got here and saw it in person and said, "oh it really IS red!" YES, it's red! :) It's sort of a dark brick red... if it looks pink on your computer, it is a technical anomaly. I would never own a pink carpet... I've never been a fan of pink. Now, purple, sure -- and we actually DO have a purple throw rug in the bedroom to match our purple accent wall. But THIS carpet is red:
Anyway, on to other randomness... I really wonder about some of these ads on TV for ridiculously specialized cooking gadgets. I just saw one for a little plastic container for boiling an egg -- you crack the egg, pour it into the little plastic thingie, and then boil the plastic thingie. This way, you don't have to bother with that insufferable chore of peeling the shell off the hard-boiled egg. Really?? Do I need to spend money on something just so I don't have to peel a shell off an egg? Personally, I'd rather peel a shell off a hard-boiled egg than crack open a raw one... I don't worry about salmonella with hard-boiled eggs...
Has anyone other than me read the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy? Actually, I'm still struggling through the final book. The first one was just "okay" (slow at the beginning, pretty good in the middle, slow again at the end), the second one was actually pretty good, but now the third one is draaaaaaagging at a snail's pace, and I'm trying to decide whether to finish it (because I've come this far and I really don't want this stupid book to get the best of me) or to just give up and find a copy of The Hunger Games (which I've wanted to read for a while now). The funny thing is, my dad is reading a "thriller" written by a Norwegian author (the Dragon Tattoo series was written by a Swedish author), and he's discovering the same thing I discovered: apparently "thriller" in Scandinavia has a different meaning than "thriller" in America. Both of the Scandinavian writers spend a lot of time with exposition, and not a lot of time with action. For instance, I just waded through an entire chapter that spelled out the history of the Swedish security police in great detail. And I just... don't... care. But at the same time, I don't want to be defeated by a few hundred pages hidden in my Kindle. Must... finish... slow... book...
Okay, I'm off to work out (which I actually kept up with when we were away -- but I also ate about five thousand calories every day...). Hope everyone is having a good week so far...
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Weather woes...
Texas. Is. Hot.
I mean, it is just ridiculously hot right now. I saw 109 on some thermometer today, which I believe is the highest temperature I've seen all week. (It is NOT, however, the highest I've ever seen here -- I remember one year where we hit 113, more than once in a summer...) Usually I'd spend a day like this holed up in an air conditioned building... and while we did spend a good part of the day at Rick's parents' house, for some reason it was decided that today was a good day to figure out how to use the new riding lawnmower in the garage. After about fifteen minutes in that garage, trying to help Rick and one of his sisters get the battery hooked up (which involved searching the house for wrenches), I retreated to the living room couch to cool off. I'm not usually one to absolutely HATE the heat, but I seriously felt like I might just dissolve into a mushy puddle on the driveway if I stayed out too long...
And meanwhile, friends and family in the northeast are contending with hurricane Irene (which will no doubt pour copious amounts of rain on a part of the country that COULD spare some rain for the parched south -- if everyone up there would just set out rain barrels and then ship them down here, it would be much appreciated). Our friend Eric (not to be confused with Eric my Chicago pet-sitter/second-favorite brother) apparently told my dad that hurricane Irene is so bad that it should be renamed hurricane Lisa. Heeeeeeeyyyyy -- I'm nice! I'm nice, and I'm quiet -- I can sneak up on people and they don't even realize I've arrived... you can't say THAT about Irene. I've never flooded anyone's basement, I won't turn off your power, and I don't chop down trees... In fact, I'm pretty sure Eric has downed a few trees in Montana, making him more like a hurricane than I have ever been...
But I do hope all of you up there in Irene's (NOT Lisa's) path will be safe and will avoid any major damage of any kind. (And IF you can figure out a way to ship all that water down here, please do so...)
Tomorrow we head back to the relative coolness of Chicago, and, possibly, to a condo with two angry cats who have sold most of our stuff on the internet. But like I told my brother -- it's hard to be mad at them when they're obviously so ingenious and intelligent. :) See you all back in Chicago...
I mean, it is just ridiculously hot right now. I saw 109 on some thermometer today, which I believe is the highest temperature I've seen all week. (It is NOT, however, the highest I've ever seen here -- I remember one year where we hit 113, more than once in a summer...) Usually I'd spend a day like this holed up in an air conditioned building... and while we did spend a good part of the day at Rick's parents' house, for some reason it was decided that today was a good day to figure out how to use the new riding lawnmower in the garage. After about fifteen minutes in that garage, trying to help Rick and one of his sisters get the battery hooked up (which involved searching the house for wrenches), I retreated to the living room couch to cool off. I'm not usually one to absolutely HATE the heat, but I seriously felt like I might just dissolve into a mushy puddle on the driveway if I stayed out too long...
And meanwhile, friends and family in the northeast are contending with hurricane Irene (which will no doubt pour copious amounts of rain on a part of the country that COULD spare some rain for the parched south -- if everyone up there would just set out rain barrels and then ship them down here, it would be much appreciated). Our friend Eric (not to be confused with Eric my Chicago pet-sitter/second-favorite brother) apparently told my dad that hurricane Irene is so bad that it should be renamed hurricane Lisa. Heeeeeeeyyyyy -- I'm nice! I'm nice, and I'm quiet -- I can sneak up on people and they don't even realize I've arrived... you can't say THAT about Irene. I've never flooded anyone's basement, I won't turn off your power, and I don't chop down trees... In fact, I'm pretty sure Eric has downed a few trees in Montana, making him more like a hurricane than I have ever been...
But I do hope all of you up there in Irene's (NOT Lisa's) path will be safe and will avoid any major damage of any kind. (And IF you can figure out a way to ship all that water down here, please do so...)
Tomorrow we head back to the relative coolness of Chicago, and, possibly, to a condo with two angry cats who have sold most of our stuff on the internet. But like I told my brother -- it's hard to be mad at them when they're obviously so ingenious and intelligent. :) See you all back in Chicago...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Randomness from Austin...
So yesterday Austin hit 100 degrees (actually, more like 103) for the 70th day in a row, which is the first time that's happened since 1925. Which kind of makes me wonder -- who in their right mind would've stuck around back in the un-air-conditioned 1920s for 70 days of 100-degree heat?? How did they stay cool back then? How did they get their ice to freeze so they could enjoy cold glasses of lemonade on the front porch? How could they stand wearing so much extraneous clothing?? I don't even enjoy walking from the comfortable, air conditioned house to the comfortable, air conditioned car, or from the comfortable, air conditioned car across a baking parking lot and into a comfortable, air conditioned store... (The only way to attain comfortability in these stifling temperatures is with air conditioning, obviously...)
Rick and I were waken up by a phone call around 2 in the morning (never a good thing...) from his mom, who told us that his sister and a friend (who work nights and were carpooling) were hit by a drunk driver. Rick's sister had to be cut out of the car. We spent a sleepless hour waiting for updates, and eventually learned that amazingly, neither Rick's sister nor her friend were seriously injured... the drunk, of course, was perfectly fine, which always seems to be the case. But really, what is WRONG with people??? How difficult is it to NOT DRIVE if you've had too much to drink? How difficult is it to NOT DRINK if you know you have to drive?? Either option is acceptable -- just choose one. It is astoundingly stupid to get behind of the wheel of a car when your judgment is impaired...
So it looks like the northeast might get a hurricane to round out the week of natural disasters that began with the giant earthquake. (What was that California? It wasn't that big? Okay, well, you let us know the next time you have a "major" snowstorm or a "killer" tornado... :)) I think my favorite joke about the earthquake so far is the one about how the D.C. earthquake originated from a previously unknown fault called "Bush's Fault." Hahahaha... :)
I can't believe Steve Jobs is leaving Apple and making my stock crash. (Actually, from what I've seen, it's not doing that badly... I think I'll hold on to it for a while longer... :))
I'm a bit anxious to get back home, because Eric keeps sending me messages about all of the cat's shenanigans. Apparently, they've employed a personal chef, created a website to sell all my stuff, and have learned how to use pay-per-view. We need to get back before they list our condo for sale and figure out how to drive...
Does anyone else find it rather creepy that Gadhafi had a photo album full of pictures of Condoleeza Rice in his compound?? I'm also a bit unsettled by the fact that the rebels ransacked the home of Gadhafi's daughter Aisha... which may not have bothered me as much if there hadn't been so much little kid/baby stuff lying around in the photos... (Note to self: Do not ever become a part of a "regime"... because once it crumbles, people will break into your house and go through all your stuff...)
Okay, I'm off to do... something... to be determined...
Rick and I were waken up by a phone call around 2 in the morning (never a good thing...) from his mom, who told us that his sister and a friend (who work nights and were carpooling) were hit by a drunk driver. Rick's sister had to be cut out of the car. We spent a sleepless hour waiting for updates, and eventually learned that amazingly, neither Rick's sister nor her friend were seriously injured... the drunk, of course, was perfectly fine, which always seems to be the case. But really, what is WRONG with people??? How difficult is it to NOT DRIVE if you've had too much to drink? How difficult is it to NOT DRINK if you know you have to drive?? Either option is acceptable -- just choose one. It is astoundingly stupid to get behind of the wheel of a car when your judgment is impaired...
So it looks like the northeast might get a hurricane to round out the week of natural disasters that began with the giant earthquake. (What was that California? It wasn't that big? Okay, well, you let us know the next time you have a "major" snowstorm or a "killer" tornado... :)) I think my favorite joke about the earthquake so far is the one about how the D.C. earthquake originated from a previously unknown fault called "Bush's Fault." Hahahaha... :)
I can't believe Steve Jobs is leaving Apple and making my stock crash. (Actually, from what I've seen, it's not doing that badly... I think I'll hold on to it for a while longer... :))
I'm a bit anxious to get back home, because Eric keeps sending me messages about all of the cat's shenanigans. Apparently, they've employed a personal chef, created a website to sell all my stuff, and have learned how to use pay-per-view. We need to get back before they list our condo for sale and figure out how to drive...
Does anyone else find it rather creepy that Gadhafi had a photo album full of pictures of Condoleeza Rice in his compound?? I'm also a bit unsettled by the fact that the rebels ransacked the home of Gadhafi's daughter Aisha... which may not have bothered me as much if there hadn't been so much little kid/baby stuff lying around in the photos... (Note to self: Do not ever become a part of a "regime"... because once it crumbles, people will break into your house and go through all your stuff...)
Okay, I'm off to do... something... to be determined...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
What I've learned...
...the last few days I've been here... or "an excuse for a random picture post":
Wasps nests are BAD. This one was under the eaves at Rick's parents' house -- Rick got a can of wasp-killing Raid, aimed it at all these little flying daggers, and sprayed away. The wasps scattered outward (prompting Rick and me to perform a little "get me away from these wasps" dance... it was quite graceful, I assure you...), but to the credit of the "kills on contact" claims on that wasp spray, the bugs began to fall to the ground like tiny little skydivers, sans parachutes...
And this is Gracie, one of the cats who lives with Rick's parents... she was watching us spray the wasps and wondering why humans are so weird...
I've also learned that I look really, really short when I'm standing with my brothers and cousins... and I seem to have an abnormal amount of abnormally dark hair, comparatively speaking.
Sometimes, I can be sort of crazy...
But really, I'm quite sane. Most of the time...
There are cats I can put on the blog other than MY cats! Like this three-headed cat that used to live on mom and dad's couch... (That's Ozzie, Tiger and Koala... Ozzie, unfortunately, went to see Allegro and Echo and Kiko in pet heaven last week. As you can see, Tiger and Koala absolutely LOVED Ozzie and always wanted to be close to him... much to Ozzie's chagrin... :))
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The Land That Rain Forgot...
Hello from Austin, where the temperature has been above 100 for nearly 70 days in a row, and the last rain that fell was who-knows-how-long ago. Consequently, much of the city looks like this:
And this:
And this:
Thank goodness for THIS:
Yes, that looks MUCH better... (we won't talk about the fact that even the pool temperature is hovering around 90 degrees...)
Strangely, the heat doesn't feel THAT bad during the day -- the humidity is practically non-existant, which helps. But for some reason, as soon as the sun goes down, it is stifling out there... it's as if the temperature control center in my brain KNOWS that when the sun goes down it's supposed to be cooler. Breezy. Maybe even slightly chilly. So when I walk outside after dark and it's still 95 degrees out there, it feels like a suffocating blanket of heat...
We drove down past my old place of employment and ate at Uno pizza for lunch -- it was one of my favorite lunch places in the area where I worked. And before we left the restaurant this afternoon, I had to get one of their frozen blended coffee drinks, which I think are the best of any coffee place I've ever tried. Which is saying a lot for someone who's a Starbucks/Caribou/Seattle's Best coffee junkie. I used to get one before I returned to work on Friday afternoons, so I could sip it while I counted down the minutes to weekend freedom...
I'm not sure I ever got a decent picture of the 360 bridge up on the blog -- so I took one today while mom was driving:
One of Austin's landmarks...
And hello Ex-Place of Employment!
Okay, I believe I'm monopolizing mom's computer right now, so I'll wrap this up. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
Strangely, the heat doesn't feel THAT bad during the day -- the humidity is practically non-existant, which helps. But for some reason, as soon as the sun goes down, it is stifling out there... it's as if the temperature control center in my brain KNOWS that when the sun goes down it's supposed to be cooler. Breezy. Maybe even slightly chilly. So when I walk outside after dark and it's still 95 degrees out there, it feels like a suffocating blanket of heat...
We drove down past my old place of employment and ate at Uno pizza for lunch -- it was one of my favorite lunch places in the area where I worked. And before we left the restaurant this afternoon, I had to get one of their frozen blended coffee drinks, which I think are the best of any coffee place I've ever tried. Which is saying a lot for someone who's a Starbucks/Caribou/Seattle's Best coffee junkie. I used to get one before I returned to work on Friday afternoons, so I could sip it while I counted down the minutes to weekend freedom...
I'm not sure I ever got a decent picture of the 360 bridge up on the blog -- so I took one today while mom was driving:
And hello Ex-Place of Employment!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Odds 'n' ends...
... a.k.a. "random thoughts." :) Not much time to write today, since I'm getting ready for our trip down to Austin tomorrow. I'm sort of half-packed (which means I've created a pile of clothes in the closet that I WANT to pack... but nothing has actually made its way into a suitcase yet), but I still have a lot to do before tomorrow. I must not forget to pack a swimsuit, as it's about fifteen thousand degrees in Austin right now, and mom and dad have a pool...
Speaking of the heat in Austin -- Texas SERIOUSLY needs some rain. A few days ago, a grass fire broke out in a little town north of Austin -- about 20 mobile homes were either damaged or destroyed. Some people lost everything they owned. And I can't help but think that the fire was started by some idiot who threw a cigarette butt out a window... that seems to be the cause of about 90 percent of those grass fires in Texas... (Hint: if it's a million degrees outside and it hasn't rained in fourteen years, do NOT toss any kind of burning object into the grass... I make the assumption that this is common sense, but perhaps not...)
I saw someone walking down the street holding a clipboard earlier today, and it reminded me of one of the things I REALLY like about living in a condo -- no solicitors! I used to HATE it when my doorbell would ring at random times during the day if I wasn't expecting anyone... because I always had to make the decision to either take a chance and open the door, or hide in my closet until the person left. (And I wasn't literally hiding in the closet -- our closet had a window that overlooked the front porch, so I could see who was standing there... I would check to see who it was, and then wait to make sure they eventually walked away. This, of course, makes me sound like some kind of creepy reverse-voyeur -- yeah, I don't walk around looking into unsuspecting people's houses, but I DO look out of my OWN house to watch unsuspecting doorbell-ringers...) When I DID take a chance and answer the door, nine times out of ten it was someone trying to sell me something. And if they happened to have a really good story (like the single mom who was selling magazines to make ends meet...), I was always too nice to turn them away or say no. Which means I ended up with far too many candy bars for charity and magazines for single moms...
I'm getting a little freaked out by the maneuvers of several military jets which have been flying over the city for the last twenty minutes. I'm not sure what they're doing, but they're making a lot of noise and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to their flight... (They've also obviously disrupted the commercial flights in the area, since no one else can fly when these things are zipping around the airspace...)
We're meeting up with Eric for dinner tonight, so I can give him our keys and he can take care of these crazies while we're gone:
And no, I did NOT just say that so I could put more pictures of my cats on the blog...
Okay, maybe I did...
Speaking of the heat in Austin -- Texas SERIOUSLY needs some rain. A few days ago, a grass fire broke out in a little town north of Austin -- about 20 mobile homes were either damaged or destroyed. Some people lost everything they owned. And I can't help but think that the fire was started by some idiot who threw a cigarette butt out a window... that seems to be the cause of about 90 percent of those grass fires in Texas... (Hint: if it's a million degrees outside and it hasn't rained in fourteen years, do NOT toss any kind of burning object into the grass... I make the assumption that this is common sense, but perhaps not...)
I saw someone walking down the street holding a clipboard earlier today, and it reminded me of one of the things I REALLY like about living in a condo -- no solicitors! I used to HATE it when my doorbell would ring at random times during the day if I wasn't expecting anyone... because I always had to make the decision to either take a chance and open the door, or hide in my closet until the person left. (And I wasn't literally hiding in the closet -- our closet had a window that overlooked the front porch, so I could see who was standing there... I would check to see who it was, and then wait to make sure they eventually walked away. This, of course, makes me sound like some kind of creepy reverse-voyeur -- yeah, I don't walk around looking into unsuspecting people's houses, but I DO look out of my OWN house to watch unsuspecting doorbell-ringers...) When I DID take a chance and answer the door, nine times out of ten it was someone trying to sell me something. And if they happened to have a really good story (like the single mom who was selling magazines to make ends meet...), I was always too nice to turn them away or say no. Which means I ended up with far too many candy bars for charity and magazines for single moms...
I'm getting a little freaked out by the maneuvers of several military jets which have been flying over the city for the last twenty minutes. I'm not sure what they're doing, but they're making a lot of noise and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to their flight... (They've also obviously disrupted the commercial flights in the area, since no one else can fly when these things are zipping around the airspace...)
We're meeting up with Eric for dinner tonight, so I can give him our keys and he can take care of these crazies while we're gone:
Okay, maybe I did...
Monday, August 15, 2011
Werewolf and Jungle Girl...
My awesome friend Faisal bestowed upon me another Indian music playlist -- 25 songs of a ridiculously addictive nature, which I have been compelled to listen to more than I care to admit over the last few days. The weird thing is, the first listen-through of each song is always the same -- sort of a, "okay, yeah, this is pretty good... not bad..." And then the SECOND listen-through is more like, "oh my gosh, I LOVE this song!! This is the best song EVER! No, wait -- THIS is the best song ever!!" What the heck?? It's like music infused with heroin or something... (Is that possible? Heroin music?? Is there a market on the street for this stuff?)
But I'll get back to Indian music in a minute... first, I must ask: if I think that teenagers are idiots, does that mean I'm getting old? (In my defense, I thought that teenagers were idiots when I WAS a teenager. It's pretty much been my opinion for most of my life...) I ask because over the last two days, I've had a bizarre text message exchange with a girl (who, I'll admit, I'm assuming is a teenager) named Faith, who mistakenly punched in MY phone number when she was attempting to reach a guy named Jacob. I actually ignored the messages last night, which were something along the lines of, "hey jacob this faith kayla gave me ur #." After a couple messages, Faith decided to go ahead and CALL the number, at which point I thought, "okay, as soon as she hears my voicemail and realizes this number belongs to a girl named Lisa, she'll give up..."
But nooooooo... of course not. Around midnight I got "goodnight faithy out." Well, at least she was done for the night. I figured she'd wake up today, meet Kayla and Jacob at Starbucks, and ask Jacob why he kept ignoring her last night. At which point Jacob would explain that he'd never gotten her messages, they would double-check the number, and Faith would realize that she'd been texting the wrong person. The little trio would laugh over their frappuccinos and lament the rapidly approaching school year and gossip about unpopular kids.
So you can imagine my frustration when I got another message around noon today, that once again said something like, "you there jacob this faith." (And by the way, EVERY time this girl said who she was, it was "this faith." I'll let the lack of capitalization slide, because depending on the phone, it can be a pain to capitalize words in mid-sentence. But the lack of "is" was seriously annoying. This Faith?? Who is she, some sort of jungle kid? Like "me Tarzan, you Jane"??) At this point, I figured I should go ahead and tell this girl that she had the wrong number, so I sent a message back to that effect. She then sent one to me that said, "wht?" (You can't even be bothered to throw the "a" in there???) So I replied with a very clear, "you have the wrong phone number -- I don't know you." That seemed to do the trick...
And then two hours later, once again -- "ae u jacob? this faith." (I'm guessing "ae" is Jungle Girl shorthand for "are.") The reply sent: Nope, sorry, you still have the wrong number. I then received a strange message which said, "rhen which jacob are." That's it. Rhen which jacob are. WHAT?? Is that even English? (Remember how I said I'd get back to the Indian music? Here ya go -- the Hindi lyrics I've been listening to the last few days make more sense to me than that message did.)
After considering it for a while, I thought perhaps what she was TRYING to say was something like, "then which jacob are you." Because perhaps she was absolutely convinced that she was talking to someone named Jacob, but it was not the correct Jacob. Wow. I didn't bother to reply again -- I'm just hoping that eventually the light bulb came on and her Jungle Girl brain was able to process the concept of a "wrong number." C'mon Faith... I have... well, I have YOU in you...
Is THIS who you were looking for??
But I'll get back to Indian music in a minute... first, I must ask: if I think that teenagers are idiots, does that mean I'm getting old? (In my defense, I thought that teenagers were idiots when I WAS a teenager. It's pretty much been my opinion for most of my life...) I ask because over the last two days, I've had a bizarre text message exchange with a girl (who, I'll admit, I'm assuming is a teenager) named Faith, who mistakenly punched in MY phone number when she was attempting to reach a guy named Jacob. I actually ignored the messages last night, which were something along the lines of, "hey jacob this faith kayla gave me ur #." After a couple messages, Faith decided to go ahead and CALL the number, at which point I thought, "okay, as soon as she hears my voicemail and realizes this number belongs to a girl named Lisa, she'll give up..."
But nooooooo... of course not. Around midnight I got "goodnight faithy out." Well, at least she was done for the night. I figured she'd wake up today, meet Kayla and Jacob at Starbucks, and ask Jacob why he kept ignoring her last night. At which point Jacob would explain that he'd never gotten her messages, they would double-check the number, and Faith would realize that she'd been texting the wrong person. The little trio would laugh over their frappuccinos and lament the rapidly approaching school year and gossip about unpopular kids.
So you can imagine my frustration when I got another message around noon today, that once again said something like, "you there jacob this faith." (And by the way, EVERY time this girl said who she was, it was "this faith." I'll let the lack of capitalization slide, because depending on the phone, it can be a pain to capitalize words in mid-sentence. But the lack of "is" was seriously annoying. This Faith?? Who is she, some sort of jungle kid? Like "me Tarzan, you Jane"??) At this point, I figured I should go ahead and tell this girl that she had the wrong number, so I sent a message back to that effect. She then sent one to me that said, "wht?" (You can't even be bothered to throw the "a" in there???) So I replied with a very clear, "you have the wrong phone number -- I don't know you." That seemed to do the trick...
And then two hours later, once again -- "ae u jacob? this faith." (I'm guessing "ae" is Jungle Girl shorthand for "are.") The reply sent: Nope, sorry, you still have the wrong number. I then received a strange message which said, "rhen which jacob are." That's it. Rhen which jacob are. WHAT?? Is that even English? (Remember how I said I'd get back to the Indian music? Here ya go -- the Hindi lyrics I've been listening to the last few days make more sense to me than that message did.)
After considering it for a while, I thought perhaps what she was TRYING to say was something like, "then which jacob are you." Because perhaps she was absolutely convinced that she was talking to someone named Jacob, but it was not the correct Jacob. Wow. I didn't bother to reply again -- I'm just hoping that eventually the light bulb came on and her Jungle Girl brain was able to process the concept of a "wrong number." C'mon Faith... I have... well, I have YOU in you...
Is THIS who you were looking for??
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Up in the air...
For the first time in -- uh... since I can remember? -- I wore a jacket on an August afternoon when I was walking outside. (Have I EVER needed a jacket in August? Maybe when I was a kid and lived in Buffalo...) It was about 70 when we went out for lunch today -- which wouldn't have been jacket-worthy if it had been sunny and calm, but it was cloudy and very windy, so I threw one on just in case I got too chilly. Granted, I WAS a bit warm by the time I got back home, but I was glad I had it at first...
I'm also glad we're heading to Austin at the end of the week, where the temperatures are still hovering around 100 every day -- because I really want a good dose of Super Summer Overkill before settling in for autumn in Chicago. Spending a week in oven-like temperatures will remind me of how nice the changing of the seasons can be... :)
I can't even remember the last time we were in Austin -- it's a been a while. In fact, it's been a while since I've flown anywhere. (Rick, on the other hand, has been jetting off to exotic locales like Kansas City and Fargo on a weekly basis...) We actually drove past the airport last night on our way to dinner with some friends out in the 'burbs (I also haven't been out in the 'burbs in a while... and why do I keep saying "burbs"?? It's a really weird word). And I did what I always do when we're near the airport -- stared in fascination at the low-flying planes overhead, simultaneously wondering how they stay aloft and where they've been or happen to be going. I especially like to see something big, like a 747, just after it takes off or right before it touches down -- I'm amazed by those things. They defy all logic... they should NOT be able to float in the air the way they do. In fact, the one time I traveled on a 747, I was slightly disconcerted by the amount of time our plane stayed in contact with the runway before lifting off... I had time to read an entire chapter of a book before that thing was airborne (that may be a slight exaggeration... :)).
I'm also just, in general, fascinated with airports. Or rather, not the AIRPORT itself, but the idea that everyone inside the airport is traveling somewhere. I walk through the terminal, reading every destination on every board at every gate, jealous of the cool places ("aw, why can't I be on that plane to Milan??") and curious about the not-so-cool places ("I wonder why all those people are headed to Fargo..."). I'm amazed, when I get to my own gate, that so many OTHER people have reasons to travel to the SAME place I'm going, at the SAME time that I'm going. I guess airports, for some reason, bring out some sort of naturally curious streak in me... there are so many stories in an airport. Would it be weird for me to go from person to person and ask them where they're going and why? Yeah, that would probably be weird...
But at least I know where I'M going this week... which reminds me, I really should start thinking about what to pack for Super Summer Overkill weather...
I'm also glad we're heading to Austin at the end of the week, where the temperatures are still hovering around 100 every day -- because I really want a good dose of Super Summer Overkill before settling in for autumn in Chicago. Spending a week in oven-like temperatures will remind me of how nice the changing of the seasons can be... :)
I can't even remember the last time we were in Austin -- it's a been a while. In fact, it's been a while since I've flown anywhere. (Rick, on the other hand, has been jetting off to exotic locales like Kansas City and Fargo on a weekly basis...) We actually drove past the airport last night on our way to dinner with some friends out in the 'burbs (I also haven't been out in the 'burbs in a while... and why do I keep saying "burbs"?? It's a really weird word). And I did what I always do when we're near the airport -- stared in fascination at the low-flying planes overhead, simultaneously wondering how they stay aloft and where they've been or happen to be going. I especially like to see something big, like a 747, just after it takes off or right before it touches down -- I'm amazed by those things. They defy all logic... they should NOT be able to float in the air the way they do. In fact, the one time I traveled on a 747, I was slightly disconcerted by the amount of time our plane stayed in contact with the runway before lifting off... I had time to read an entire chapter of a book before that thing was airborne (that may be a slight exaggeration... :)).
I'm also just, in general, fascinated with airports. Or rather, not the AIRPORT itself, but the idea that everyone inside the airport is traveling somewhere. I walk through the terminal, reading every destination on every board at every gate, jealous of the cool places ("aw, why can't I be on that plane to Milan??") and curious about the not-so-cool places ("I wonder why all those people are headed to Fargo..."). I'm amazed, when I get to my own gate, that so many OTHER people have reasons to travel to the SAME place I'm going, at the SAME time that I'm going. I guess airports, for some reason, bring out some sort of naturally curious streak in me... there are so many stories in an airport. Would it be weird for me to go from person to person and ask them where they're going and why? Yeah, that would probably be weird...
But at least I know where I'M going this week... which reminds me, I really should start thinking about what to pack for Super Summer Overkill weather...
Friday, August 12, 2011
You'll never guess what this post is about...
Did you say cats?? Ha! You're wrong! (If, however, you went with the second most obvious answer and were thinking "random stuff," you are absolutely correct...)
So Rick is off to the thriving metropolis of Fargo, North Dakota today. My guess is he'll absolutely love the place, come home, and announce that we're moving. (Okay, maybe that's the OPPOSITE of what I imagine will happen...) I've been to Fargo once, years and years ago when I was a teenager (okay, maybe not THAT many years ago... ;)) when we were taking a family road trip across the country and stopped to visit some friends from New Jersey who had moved there. Apparently there wasn't much to do in Fargo, because we hopped over the border into Minnesota to visit a Swedish heritage museum. I remember there were huge Viking ships in that museum... I actually recommended it to Rick, since he has some time to kill tonight, but I guess he's not all that enamored by the idea of Viking ships and Swedish heritage...
I stumbled upon an episode of Fraggle Rock earlier today, and, since I am apparently an eight-year-old, I watched the whole episode. (The sad thing is, I think I actually remembered the episode from back when I was a kid...) The show was obviously on a channel aimed at kids, with commercials aimed at their moms... so it wasn't a surprise when I saw an ad for a little mini blender designed to make baby food. It was a cousin of the popular "magic bullet" blender, which is a small, compact blender that doesn't take up much kitchen space. But I WAS a bit taken aback by the name of the baby food blender -- am I the only one who thinks that "Baby Bullet" sounds a bit disturbing?? Maybe it's just me...
I'm watching a show about jellyfish on the National Geographic channel. It's sort of freaking me out. I'm not sure I ever want to swim in the ocean again. (Not that I was particularly fond of it to begin with... I prefer to just lay on the beach and listen to the waves...)
I'm slightly disappointed that someone has finally decided to change the color of the lights on the top of the Hancock Building from red, white and blue to just plain white. Not that I'm über-patriotic and expect them to keep the colors of the flag up there at all times -- but plain white is just... boring. Now it's just like a bunch of really bright office lights. A little color adds a bit of interest to the skyline... (but why is there never any purple?? Just sayin'...)
Well, it's probably close to my bedtime... I will no doubt have nightmares about giant jellyfish tonight. Perhaps I should read for a while before bed... (And on a side note: Do you suppose my brain will ever be organized enough that I can write an entire, coherent post again? All these random thoughts are so... random.) Good night!
So Rick is off to the thriving metropolis of Fargo, North Dakota today. My guess is he'll absolutely love the place, come home, and announce that we're moving. (Okay, maybe that's the OPPOSITE of what I imagine will happen...) I've been to Fargo once, years and years ago when I was a teenager (okay, maybe not THAT many years ago... ;)) when we were taking a family road trip across the country and stopped to visit some friends from New Jersey who had moved there. Apparently there wasn't much to do in Fargo, because we hopped over the border into Minnesota to visit a Swedish heritage museum. I remember there were huge Viking ships in that museum... I actually recommended it to Rick, since he has some time to kill tonight, but I guess he's not all that enamored by the idea of Viking ships and Swedish heritage...
I stumbled upon an episode of Fraggle Rock earlier today, and, since I am apparently an eight-year-old, I watched the whole episode. (The sad thing is, I think I actually remembered the episode from back when I was a kid...) The show was obviously on a channel aimed at kids, with commercials aimed at their moms... so it wasn't a surprise when I saw an ad for a little mini blender designed to make baby food. It was a cousin of the popular "magic bullet" blender, which is a small, compact blender that doesn't take up much kitchen space. But I WAS a bit taken aback by the name of the baby food blender -- am I the only one who thinks that "Baby Bullet" sounds a bit disturbing?? Maybe it's just me...
I'm watching a show about jellyfish on the National Geographic channel. It's sort of freaking me out. I'm not sure I ever want to swim in the ocean again. (Not that I was particularly fond of it to begin with... I prefer to just lay on the beach and listen to the waves...)
I'm slightly disappointed that someone has finally decided to change the color of the lights on the top of the Hancock Building from red, white and blue to just plain white. Not that I'm über-patriotic and expect them to keep the colors of the flag up there at all times -- but plain white is just... boring. Now it's just like a bunch of really bright office lights. A little color adds a bit of interest to the skyline... (but why is there never any purple?? Just sayin'...)
Well, it's probably close to my bedtime... I will no doubt have nightmares about giant jellyfish tonight. Perhaps I should read for a while before bed... (And on a side note: Do you suppose my brain will ever be organized enough that I can write an entire, coherent post again? All these random thoughts are so... random.) Good night!
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Sorry...
... but it appears we have more cat pictures...
As you can see, Riff REALLY likes the new carpet we just bought for the living room. (Actually, we bought it several weeks ago... but it was finally delivered yesterday.)
It does look rather comfy...
I really did just want to get some pictures of the new carpet, but Riff pretty much camped out on it as soon as it was on the floor. But hey, he's such a photogenic little guy. Plus, I know Faisal is slightly freaked out by him, which I find amusing. Not that I can totally blame him... Riff can be a bit disconcerting. Like when I wake up in the middle of the night and see him on my nightstand, sitting patiently, staring at me. (Why does he DO that??) And when he shoots lasers from his eyes:
And when he sleeps in THIS bizarre position:
(How is that comfortable???)
But really, Riff has much more to fear from Faisal than vice versa... I mean, Riff has never threatened to EAT Faisal... (or HAS he? Mwahahahahaha... :))
Anyway... I like the new carpet except for one thing: the "new carpet" chemical smell. It started bothering me last night, to the point that I actually sort of felt a bit nauseous. And this morning I woke up with a huge headache, which has, so far, failed to disappear... I've decided to blame the carpet (although I suppose it COULD be a weather-related headache). I've opened the door of our balcony and turned on the ceiling fan, hoping I can air out the condo and convince the odoriferous carpet to be a good little accent piece and stop making me (almost literally) sick. The funny thing is, Rick can't smell anything at all -- and he usually has a much more sensitive nose. And Riff obviously doesn't care, either...
But I believe I'll find some excuses to leave the house today so I can get away from this new carpet smell and immerse myself into the fresh air of downtown Chicago... hey, it's not ALL car exhaust and sewer drains... :)
But really, Riff has much more to fear from Faisal than vice versa... I mean, Riff has never threatened to EAT Faisal... (or HAS he? Mwahahahahaha... :))
Anyway... I like the new carpet except for one thing: the "new carpet" chemical smell. It started bothering me last night, to the point that I actually sort of felt a bit nauseous. And this morning I woke up with a huge headache, which has, so far, failed to disappear... I've decided to blame the carpet (although I suppose it COULD be a weather-related headache). I've opened the door of our balcony and turned on the ceiling fan, hoping I can air out the condo and convince the odoriferous carpet to be a good little accent piece and stop making me (almost literally) sick. The funny thing is, Rick can't smell anything at all -- and he usually has a much more sensitive nose. And Riff obviously doesn't care, either...
But I believe I'll find some excuses to leave the house today so I can get away from this new carpet smell and immerse myself into the fresh air of downtown Chicago... hey, it's not ALL car exhaust and sewer drains... :)
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Discombobulated post...
I seem to have about a million different topics running through my head today, yet none of them are sure they want to be full-fledged blog posts. You know what that means -- randomness! (I know, it's much too exciting for words... :))
We got more thunderstorms last night... lots and lots of lightning. A bit TOO much, in my opinion. Actually, sometimes I wonder if I'm more afraid of the lightning, or the sudden claps of thunder that follow. I've never been a fan of sudden loud noises. And when you see that lightning flash, you never know if what follows will be a low rumble, or a sharp crack. In fact, after a particularly bright flash of lightning, I tend to instinctively cover my ears in preparation for what I assume will be a sudden loud noise. (Don't EVER sneak up on me and make a loud noise -- I WILL hit you in the face... fair warning.)
Rick and Faisal and I went to see Captain America over the weekend. It was pretty good, but I feel like I need to see it again because I was distracted by the people in the row we happened to be sitting in. There was a couple with a little girl -- I'd say no older than two? -- who, for some reason, thought it would be perfectly acceptable to bring a toddler to a 10:45 pm showing of a PG-13 movie. Sure, why not?? Just because kids should be in bed at that hour and a PG-13 movie probably has some scary-for-a-two-year-old stuff in it doesn't mean a family outing isn't in order. But here's the best part: this couple FELL ASLEEP for the ENTIRE movie, while their wide-awake, two-year-old child sat on her mother's lap and watched the whole thing. We were sitting in the front row of the second section of seats, which meant there were railings and a little ledge drop-off to the floor in front of us. At one point, this little girl dropped something on the floor, and, while her oblivious parents slept, looked as if she might attempt to crawl over the railings to get down to the floor. I'm not usually one to meddle in the affairs of strangers -- or one to even TALK to strangers -- but if that girl made a move for the railings, I was ready to jump up and start yelling at those people. (And don't think I can't yell at people when I need to -- remember Rick's encounter with a possible pickpocket in Naples? Rick told his mom he'd never heard me talk so loudly...) Fortunately, the girl settled down for the second half of the movie... her parents literally did not wake up until the lights came on after the movie. It was strange... very, very strange...
I just heard a girl from India say that the chai tea lattes at Starbucks are better than any chai tea lattes she's ever had in India. Wow, for some reason, I never would've expected that from Starbucks. I've never tried a chai tea latte at Starbucks. Not because I don't like tea -- I love tea, but usually when I'm at Starbucks I'm looking for a caffeine fix... and tea never has enough caffeine for someone who's addicted to coffee like I am. When I drink tea, it's usually at night when I'm winding down and wanting to get sleepy anyway. So perhaps some evening when I'm not worried about staying awake I'll try a Starbucks chai tea latte...
We've actually made some decent progress with our unpacking/getting settled endeavors this week. Still a few things that need to be taken care of... and we're waiting for a carpet that we ordered a zillion years ago to show up (I think it's finally been shipped, so hopefully it'll show up this week), and two of the chairs we ordered for our dining table have been on backorder (hoping those will show up within the next couple weeks, too). But I'm starting to think that MAYBE this place will be organized soon. I wasn't sure for a while there... And then I can actually do things like invite people over without feeling like the world's most horrible housekeeper...
And now I'm off to fend for myself in my search for lunch, as Rick is walking someplace downtown for a "business" lunch. (I put "business" in quotes because I think it's really just a reason for people to go out to lunch and charge someone else for it... :)) Hope everyone is having a good week...
We got more thunderstorms last night... lots and lots of lightning. A bit TOO much, in my opinion. Actually, sometimes I wonder if I'm more afraid of the lightning, or the sudden claps of thunder that follow. I've never been a fan of sudden loud noises. And when you see that lightning flash, you never know if what follows will be a low rumble, or a sharp crack. In fact, after a particularly bright flash of lightning, I tend to instinctively cover my ears in preparation for what I assume will be a sudden loud noise. (Don't EVER sneak up on me and make a loud noise -- I WILL hit you in the face... fair warning.)
Rick and Faisal and I went to see Captain America over the weekend. It was pretty good, but I feel like I need to see it again because I was distracted by the people in the row we happened to be sitting in. There was a couple with a little girl -- I'd say no older than two? -- who, for some reason, thought it would be perfectly acceptable to bring a toddler to a 10:45 pm showing of a PG-13 movie. Sure, why not?? Just because kids should be in bed at that hour and a PG-13 movie probably has some scary-for-a-two-year-old stuff in it doesn't mean a family outing isn't in order. But here's the best part: this couple FELL ASLEEP for the ENTIRE movie, while their wide-awake, two-year-old child sat on her mother's lap and watched the whole thing. We were sitting in the front row of the second section of seats, which meant there were railings and a little ledge drop-off to the floor in front of us. At one point, this little girl dropped something on the floor, and, while her oblivious parents slept, looked as if she might attempt to crawl over the railings to get down to the floor. I'm not usually one to meddle in the affairs of strangers -- or one to even TALK to strangers -- but if that girl made a move for the railings, I was ready to jump up and start yelling at those people. (And don't think I can't yell at people when I need to -- remember Rick's encounter with a possible pickpocket in Naples? Rick told his mom he'd never heard me talk so loudly...) Fortunately, the girl settled down for the second half of the movie... her parents literally did not wake up until the lights came on after the movie. It was strange... very, very strange...
I just heard a girl from India say that the chai tea lattes at Starbucks are better than any chai tea lattes she's ever had in India. Wow, for some reason, I never would've expected that from Starbucks. I've never tried a chai tea latte at Starbucks. Not because I don't like tea -- I love tea, but usually when I'm at Starbucks I'm looking for a caffeine fix... and tea never has enough caffeine for someone who's addicted to coffee like I am. When I drink tea, it's usually at night when I'm winding down and wanting to get sleepy anyway. So perhaps some evening when I'm not worried about staying awake I'll try a Starbucks chai tea latte...
We've actually made some decent progress with our unpacking/getting settled endeavors this week. Still a few things that need to be taken care of... and we're waiting for a carpet that we ordered a zillion years ago to show up (I think it's finally been shipped, so hopefully it'll show up this week), and two of the chairs we ordered for our dining table have been on backorder (hoping those will show up within the next couple weeks, too). But I'm starting to think that MAYBE this place will be organized soon. I wasn't sure for a while there... And then I can actually do things like invite people over without feeling like the world's most horrible housekeeper...
And now I'm off to fend for myself in my search for lunch, as Rick is walking someplace downtown for a "business" lunch. (I put "business" in quotes because I think it's really just a reason for people to go out to lunch and charge someone else for it... :)) Hope everyone is having a good week...
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