bad news, emily!

Pink is the New Yellow

2007-12-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

In honor of their King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, who recently made an appearance wearing a pink shirt and blazer, people in Thailand have gotten all excited about the color pink.

See article.

"The Commerce Ministry is preparing to produce 30,000 pink shirts in the coming weeks to meet rising demand, said Yanyong Phuangrat, chief of the agency's domestic trade department."

-Washington Post

Catching up on old post drafts

2007-11-17T09:37:00.000-05:00

I've had about a dozen drafts of posts from this summer that I never finished, either because I hadn't uploaded my pictures to my computer yet, or because I was lazy.
Since it's November already, the former must stem from the latter, so let's just be honest with ourselves and call it laziness.
So there are about 15 "new" posts starting in June through present... if you care.

I almost didn't know my own strength

2007-10-19T22:29:00.000-04:00

Eddie is my witness.
I broke this apple in half with my hands.
(It really wasn't as graceful as it was supposed to be; I struggled with it for a long time - again, Eddie witnessed the ungracefulness of it)

But TA-DA!
I hadn't tried it for years, but I'm back in the game!

(update 11/17/07: I totally had a dream last night wherein I broke an apple with my hands! I was just around the house, talking with Lara, did it, and she was like "cool," and I was like "thanks."

Me and the future POTUS

2007-10-18T11:38:00.000-04:00

Stephen T. Colbert!

(POTUS = President of the United States)

Ads with a sense of humor

2007-10-10T23:39:00.000-04:00

I just saw this in a real estate ad:
"Small pets are ok w/ small deposit, and as long as they keep their deposits to themselves, it can be fully refundable."

heeheehee

Every Girl Needs a Good Hoodie

2007-09-21T08:34:00.000-04:00

Calista sportin' hers...

It Might as Well be Snow!

2007-09-14T15:07:00.000-04:00

It just started raining, and it's GLORIOUS!!!!!!!

I saw it out the window and almost squeeled like a little girl.

People are running around inside saying things like
"It's raining!" "Have you seen it?" "Rain!"
"Hey guys - you gotta see this!"

It seems like it hasn't rained in forever. That fact, plus the fact that we had temperatures in the 90s almost every day in August, this truly is a day of jubilation.

Standing out on the (covered) steps of building I work in, watching all the students running around, I thought of Sarah, Plain and Tall, celebrating that the drought has given way to much needed rain.

I love the smell of rain on concrete, and I can't wait to hear the ping-ing sounds it will make in the parking lot (there's something about the way that parking lot is paved that makes it ping - and I love it!)

Word of the Day: Solecism

2007-09-02T16:36:00.000-04:00

Today's word of the day is solecism

solecism \SOL-uh-siz-uhm\, noun:
1. A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction; also, a minor blunder in speech.
2. A breach of good manners or etiquette.
3. Any inconsistency, mistake, or impropriety.

Crush

2007-08-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

My old crush on Jason Bateman has come back around again.
I love watching him play Michael Bluth on the hilarious TV show "Arrested Development" and he has been in some more movies lately, too.
(And that's not "too" as in "Teen Wolf Too")

Knowing Durham vs. Knowing Durham

2007-08-29T14:55:00.000-04:00

In German, there is a distinction between knowing something (like a fact) and knowing someone or a place (being familiar with it).
Ich weiss _______ .
I know that there are a zillion things to do for fun in Durham, and hundreds of great places to eat.

Ich kenne _______ nicht.
I am not personally familiar with a lot of the fun things there are to do in Durham, and I haven't eaten at very many local (non-chain) restaurants.

I love living in Durham.
Ten years ago I never would have guessed that I'd be living in North Carolina.
Fifteen years ago I never would have guessed I'd live on the East Coast (including going to college out here).

ORD vs. PDX: The Toilet Wars

2007-08-29T14:31:00.001-04:00

On my last trip, the airports tried to do their best to impress me with the bells and whistles in their restrooms.

At Chicago's O'Hare airport they had automatic seat protectors.
There's a plastic covering - which reminded me of a shower cap - that covers the seat, and when you're done you push the button and it slides another length of the covering over the seat.
I was not impressed. Seems like a waste of plastic, especially if a user changes it when they're done and then the next person changes the unused one before they use it.
Plus, what our mothers told us for years about how you can catch diseases from toilet seats is just a myth.
The hover method works just as well as any seat cover or elaborate draping of a dozen strips of toilet paper. And it doesn't waste resources. AND it works your quads!

At the Portland (Oregon) airport each toilet had two options for flushing:
Flush up for #1 - uses less water
Flush down for #2 - uses more water than for #1
I especially love how they actually use the terms "#1" and "#2".
PDX wins!!!!!!!!!

(Update 11/17/07: They recently installed the dual flush system into the restrooms in my building at work! And here I thought it was all sci-fi, west coast technology.)

Raccoon Coat

2007-08-27T15:18:00.000-04:00

One of the restaurants in Oregon where my family gathered one night had a
rack of raccoon pelt coats near the front door as part of their decor.
My uncle dared me to try it on.

Dang, those raccoons were heavy!

Google Guest

2007-08-24T16:16:00.000-04:00

(While visiting old stopping grounds in CA...)

Anne's husband Heraldo works for Google, and she teaches Cardio Salsa and Hip-Hop classes there, so I got to enjoy a free lunch as their guest on the Google campus.
The place is unbelievable - and I just went to one of the dining halls and a courtyard. What did they have at the cafeteria? Well, try Italian, Indian, Japanese, American, and Mexican. Then have some german chocolate cake and a canoli for desert.

I love this:
One of the owners of Google rescued this cast of a T-Rex fossil from a museum that couldn't house it any longer and put it up in one of the courtyards. Some employees gave it a Google badge and planted a bunch of pink flamingos around it (including one in its mouth) to make it look like it was hunting them.

The Wonderful People in My Family

2007-08-24T14:17:00.001-04:00

I just enjoyed the weekend with extended relatives in Pendleton and Portland, OR and spent time basking in the love and joy they bring to my life. No matter how much time passes, I feel completely at home when I'm around my aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, great aunts, and cousins of all levels of removedness.

Highlights:
- cousin Katie taking over as bartender when the hired one didn't show
- uncle Carlos and aunt Julie swing dancing at the reception
- "table for 14" at every restaurant we went to
- uncle Marc pointing out that us "kids" all turned out well and our grandpa must be very proud of his family legacy
- the lingering hugs from everyone

Conversation Quote of the Day

2007-08-24T13:46:00.000-04:00

"Boys have cooties."
"And they come back when they get old."

Why I Love the Bull's Head Bookstore

2007-08-24T09:12:00.000-04:00

From today's edition of their email newsletter:

Events coming this year:
- Banned Books Week
- Dorothy Parker Day (martinis, olives, quotations)
- Proust Day (madeleines, moustaches, quotations)
- Faculty, Staff and Grad Student Discount Days
- the return of the Bull’s Head Sidewalk Sale
- Zombie/Pirate Day
- Youth Angst Society
- And of course, the piece de resistance: The Bilingual Reading of the Grinch in Latin and English.

i WILL post again!

2007-08-22T13:02:00.001-04:00

...and I mean to catch up and finish all those drafts I started months ago.
I meant to post about my last trip to CA, in June, and here I am having just returned from another trip to the West/Best Coast.
I promise... the posts will come!

Gimme a little four-point-something

2007-07-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

I heard in the news that there was a 4.1 earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area this morning around 4:30am.
My first response?

Disappointment...

...that I wasn't there to experience it.

My response made me laugh, but it's true - I really do enjoy small earthquakes. Not so big that they're scary, but just big enough to give you a rush.
So put that on my list of reasons I miss my home state of California, alongside the fact that the sun sets over the ocean and there isn't any humidity.

The Things I Never See Coming

2007-07-19T10:33:00.000-04:00

Okay, I just spent the last 25 minutes listening to this
very-much-not-right-in-the-head guy who walked into our office. I
wasn't afraid for my safety, but he was definitely having some mental
issues. Totally stream of consciousness, talking fast, very animated,
and probably a big fat liar (and self-professed thief?)
Within a 30-second period he talked about knowing Sarah Jessica
Parker, having gone to Columbia, how his skills as a bicycle mechanic
could translate into teaching skills, being involved in the "pickle
heist" (which I'm not supposed to mention to anyone), having spent
time at Dorthea Dix, wanting to help himself to the buffet spread at a
reception upstairs, how he wanted to take my Starbucks mocha but he
probably shouldn't, and then some reference to South Park, the Law
Library, and how he carries soap with him.
He also asked if he could make a copy of his resume on our machine to
send to A&E and proceeded to take one of each of the
handouts/brochures on display at my desk, asking if they were about a
new drug, and he ran through a list of 'v' names, including viagra and
vagisil before he landed on valium.

When he finally left I closed and locked the front door. I'm not
scared, I just don't want to deal with him right now.
I think he's still in the hall talking to his mother on the payphone.

Crazy.

This experience ranks up there with the time I got bit in the hand by
a parent at the music studio I worked at.

07.18.07 News of the Day

2007-07-18T16:34:00.000-04:00

1) Lately, I've found myself leaving off the last 'h' in my first name when I'm signing emails. How is that possible???? I've VERY particular about how my name is spelled and I offend myself every time I see myself type it 'h-less'.

2) My housemates and I took a "family" portrait this weekend. It was a fun way to memorialize the last 1.5 years the 5 of us have lived together, now that Lori is moving to Ecuador to live with her husband there.

3) I joined a gym and I am dedicated to reviving my physical health!

4) I'm making a Rainbow Brite costume for an 80's party I'm going to on the 28th. Our new housemate is too young to even know who Rainbow Brite was.

5) My sister is coming to visit me for 10 days in October!

6) Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations" comes on the radio a lot more frequently than you'd expect.

7) Some of my housemates and I are totally addicted to this kids' cartoon show "Charlie & Lola" on the Disney Channel. Each episode begins with the boy Charlie narrating in his cute british accent "I have this little sister Lola. She's small and very funny."

05.18.07 News of the Day

2007-05-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

1) Today I saw a Tony Little lookalike walking across campus. Short, over worked-out and therefore awkwardly disproportionate, wearing spandex and sporting a long, blonde ponytail.

2) Yesterday a construction worker broke through one of the ceiling tiles in the room in which we were holding our fellowship program.

3) I netflixed the TV show "Beauty and the Beast" just to see if it was still as cool as I thought it was when I was ten years old. Oh my. It is SO CHEESY. But I still watched all four episodes this week. Linda Hamilton in her pre-Terminator 2 days - she still needed someone to save her all the time.

4) I rode the elevator too many times at work today. I couldn't even manage to walk to Franklin Street with KT, I was so dizzy. I came home and took a nap - something I almost never do - and felt much better.

5) I ate steak tonight. No, you don't understand - I'm not inclined to eat very much red meat so this was especially impressive. My roommate Sarah made strips of steak to go with our other fajita fixin's and it looked so go that I took 2 pieces. Then one more, and then a fourth. Mad points to Mexican Sarah for getting me to eat meat. "Sarah, you could make a vegetarian become a carnivore."

First Diaper Changed

2007-05-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

It's pretty unbelievable, but I'm almost 30 years old and up until this evening I had never changed a diaper. Before Calista was born I gave Joyce & Will a pack of newborn-size diapers. Joyce gave one back to me and told me to hang on to it and bring it back once the baby was born so I could change one.
Today was the day.
I was hoping for #1, but as we played in the living room I realized that Calista had other ideas. There were all kinds of gassy noises coming from that baby.
But it went well and I'm sure it has built character, or whatever.
I'm in no hurry to have my own little pooper.
But isn't Calista ADORABLE?

Americone Dream Fulfilled!

2007-05-14T23:56:00.000-04:00

I wouldn't say I'm obsessed, but I have been quite diligent in my watch for the new Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor "Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream." (see earlier post) Whenever I'm at Target I always swing by the ice cream section to see if they've started carrying the flavor. For days, nothing. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Until one day last week when I saw that they'd put up the little sign with the price sticker on it. They had made space on the shelf, but there was still no ice cream to occupy it.
But then, one day, there WAS!!!!!
There were only two pints on the whole shelf, so I bought them both and brought the delicious patriotism-in-a-pint home to my housemates.
And there was much joy in the land.

No Black Eyes for Frenchy

2007-05-10T12:20:00.000-04:00

I am happy to announce that I won't have to kill my coworker after all.
(see earlier post)

We were removed from the blacklist and I was able to reserve space on campus for our big TA training event in August.
This comes as a great relief because I'm not in the mood for confrontation and I was afraid I'd say something to her that I'd regret. She needs to know that her errors affect the Center as a whole, and messes things up for me specifically, and she doesn't get that yet.
But the crisis has been averted and my stress level is lowering.

Time, According to Our Independence

2007-05-09T13:12:00.000-04:00

Apparently today is State Employees Day in North Carolina. I never knew such a day existed until our office manager brought in donuts this afternoon.
I looked up the official proclamation that Governor Easley made and found this interesting bit at the bottom:

"IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this nineteenth day of February in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America two hundred and thirty-first."

I've never heard of anyone counting dates based on the date of U.S. independence.
That's kinda cool. Unusual, but cool.

5.3.07 New of the Day

2007-05-03T15:20:00.000-04:00

1) I've had the Justin Timberlake song "My Love" stuck in my head ever since my morning commute (especially the chorus with the wik-wi-wi-wi-wi sounds). I think I've only heard the song on the radio 3 or 4 times in my life... and today was one of them. And now I'm stuck with it.

2) Our associate director and I had a short run of potty jokes when she shared, giggling, that when someone gets a master's degree in music at UNC it's not a B.A., but rather a B.M. ("I'm working on my...", etc.)

3) The light grey cardigan I'm wearing today is a hand-me-down from my roommate. It's my new favorite.

4) I want a thunderstorm tonight!!!

5) For lunch I had leftovers: citrus shrimp pasta. Lara rocks!

6) Today is my sister-in-law's 30th birthday - Happy Birthday Elise!!!! (but I'm sure she's not reading this)

7) My friend Kristin gets to meet Queen Elizabeth today in Virginia.

8) By coincidence, my other friend Kristin and I are watching "The Queen" tonight

If Quoted, Be Smart

2007-04-23T16:35:00.000-04:00

This quote sounds utterly ridiculous
"There was not anybody that I can remember that was black," she said. "The white people have theirs, and the black people have theirs. It's nothing racial at all."
It was in an article about a school in Georgia that is holding it's first integrated prom.
My reaction reading the headline: WHAAAATTTTT?????????
Read the article here.

Just one of thousands of broken hearts

2007-04-19T09:59:00.000-04:00

I'm surprised by how hard I am taking the recent shootings at VA Tech. I've been feeling a constant state of unease, even edginess to the point of fear ever since the killings occurred on that campus. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I work on a college campus and it seems so incredibly possible that a similar thing could happen here. There was an incident last year when an alum drove an SUV through a crowded part of our campus right near our building, intending to run people over. Thankfully, there were only a few injuries. But I still think about it from time to time.
It's also really close to home because I knew, even if only casually, a German teacher who was killed at VA Tech. Jamie Bishop used to work here at UNC at OASIS, the language labs, and the German department, and I had interacted with him a number of times in the course of our jobs. I know a lot of people who were close to him and I've had an intense reaction of empathy that brings me close to tears just thinking about their loss. I had met his wife, too, when she was a grad student here. My heart goes out to her - I don't know how she'll survive the pain.
Unintentionally, I find myself playing out scenarios in my mind of how I would react if a shooter came into our building. How would I alert everyone in my office? Where would be the best place to hide? Would I be brave and pro-active or would I be paralized with fear? I don't mean to, but I think about it dozens of times a day.
I've had restless nights and have been in an irritable mood this week. I almost blew up at a few coworkers and almost lashed out at my boss yesterday over something small.
Really I just want to go home, sleep soundly for a few hours, watch movies or non-news TV to distract me from my thoughts, eat comfort foods, and snuggle with my cats.
And I want this underlying nausea to go away.
One thing that has really moved me since the shootings has been how other communities have expressed their support. The chancellor here at UNC sent out an email to everyone on campus and closed with the words "Today, we are all Hokies."

Pats on the Head

2007-04-13T10:24:00.000-04:00

It's amazing sometimes how much people fish for compliments... needing the pat on the head, wanting to be sure that everyone knows how popular they are with certain important people, or how something they did was recognized or rewarded.

One of my colleagues started a random conversation with an off-handedish "you know how I'm writing this Encyclopedia article..." as if that was the old news, and then continued with "well it turns out it's about international pedagogy, so I have to do more research..." He knows that he's never mentioned writing the article to me because that's not his way. He's been using this technique with me for years but I totally see through it and refuse to feign the "we're not worthy" praise he's trying to get from me.

Cat Herders

2007-04-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

This is an ad from a Super Bowl a couple years back.
It's kinda like life at our house.

I read somewhere that there were like 40 trained cats involved and 6 or 7 of them were trained swimmers.

FAQs

2007-04-09T16:25:00.000-04:00

I was googling "nc driver's school" to see if I could take a class or something to get my car insurance lowered and I found something hilarious on the Mecklenburg Country Sheriff's Dept website.

One of the frequently asked questions is

"Can you tell me if there are any warrants out for me?"

Dude, if you have to ask...

Special Guest Star...

2007-04-09T10:45:00.000-04:00

I had a bizarre dream the other night.

The plot and a lot of details became fuzzy in the first few minutes after having woken up (I hate how that happens) but here are some of the basics:

At one point Fidel Castro called me up and asked me if I could donate any furniture to his family because their home had been bombed out. I said he should probably ask Lara & Daniel because most of the furniture in our house belongs to them.

Then later in the dream I was with my dad, who was Hawkins from the show "Jericho" and all of a sudden I was his son, but I was actually Walt from "Lost".

It doesn't happen a lot, but I have been difference ages, genders, and ethnicities in my dreams. Once I was a young Asian girl and this time I was a young black boy. I think it's pretty cool.

Does anyone else have any dreams they remember where they were someone other than themselves? I'd love to hear about them.

Bodies, Beautiful Bodies

2007-04-05T10:09:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited about a new exhibit that has come to Durham:
Bodies The Exhibition
I'd heard about it in the news awhile back but I think it was located in Florida at that point and I figured I'd never get a chance to see it. Of course, if it came to D.C., which I'm sure it will, I would make the trip for that (visiting friends, too, of course).
But here it is, at Southpoint Mall of all places! At first I couldn't imagine where they would set it up. Inside the mall next to Abercrombie & Fitch or The Gap? Across from the food court? Wisely, they've set it up in a detached building on "The Streets."

I completely understand how the idea of an exhibition of cadavers could be horrifying to some people. I, on the other hand, am totally fascinated by it. I think my personal beliefs about the human soul play a large part in my non-horrification (if that's not a word yet, it is now, citing LiD). I believe that the soul separates from the human body after death, and the physical body is nothing but a frame of cells.
My friend Sarah recently went to her grandma's funeral, which once again brought up the topic of cremation vs. burial. For me, I'm all about cremation. Citing my beliefs about the human soul and the physical body, I figure why take up space in the ground for something that's scientifically built to rot away? It made no sense for Sarah's grandmother to pay for an extra layer around her casket to delay the decay of her body 10 more years. It's still going to decay. I love Sarah's dad. He told his kids he wants to be cremated and have his ashes put in a leaf blower to be blown out across a lake, as a final farewell to the fish (he loves to fish).
I hereby make a formal announcement: I wish to be cremated. I don't need my ashes scattered anywhere, but if someone really wants to do that, they're welcome to find a place and do it. And then use the money that would have been spent on a casket, grave, etc. to throw a party. And be sure to serve mini quiches. Those things are yummy.

Everyone has their own tradition

2007-04-05T08:35:00.000-04:00

This is a gem I read off of Powells Books newsletter this morning and it made me smile. Like the people at the Bull's Head bookstore here on campus, the Powells staff are clever folks and their newsletters are always entertaining. I'd want them to live in my neighborhood.

"INTERMISSION WITH BROCKMAN, BLOGMASTER:
Every year we were wakened by my father's voice, speaking in a soft but firm whisper: "Let's go, sleepy-heads, it's Easter Sunday."

We always rose, heavy-lidded but eager, and quickly dressed in the clothes he'd laid out for us on the ends of our beds. We gathered in the backyard, forming a semicircle around my father, who held sway like a ringmaster — or a drill sergeant who gave hugs. "The Easter Bunny was here," he'd inform us in a solemn tone. "And here's the proof." He'd hold up a colored egg that seemed suspiciously similar to the ones we'd dyed only a few nights earlier. (If anyone were foolish enough to express this seeming coincidence, however, my father suggested the speaker hadn't gotten enough sleep, and sent him back to bed to miss out on the Easter fun.)

"So we know the bunny's around," my father would continue, "and he must be stopped. You know what rabbits do, right? Unless we want to drown in these damn colored eggs, we've got to turn him into fricassee. First one to get the Easter Bunny between the eyes wins the prize."

And so began the annual Brockman family Easter Bunny Hunt. Next came the drawing of the straws, the biggest getting first pick of the weapons Dad laid out on the picnic table. Of course we each wanted the BB gun. I always wound up choosing last and usually ended up with the rusty hatchet we used for chopping firewood — which made dispatching the bunny a horrendous, truly messy affair. Luckily I never found the varmint myself. My brothers seemed to have more skill in tracking the colored eggs to the culprit who had laid them.
Although I never won the basket of candy and G.I. Joe toys, I always managed to sneak a few jelly beans when the victorious sibling wasn't looking. Besides, rabbit fricassee and a week of colorful hardboiled eggs for lunch is truly its own reward."

Downplaying the Crisis

2007-04-04T11:40:00.000-04:00

I am very proud of myself.
I refrained from going ballistic on one of my coworkers who could very well have screwed us over in a big way. Us in general and me and one of my big projects specifically.
I had every chance to get mad at her outwardly and even played out some furious "chew out" scenarios in my imagination, but I managed to keep it contained and use a calm tone of voice when I was dealing with her in person.
I refrained from running to our boss to tattle on her incompetence (though when I was asked point-blank about something I couldn't lie) and I'm really proud of myself for that. It was such a temptation because this woman has screwed up a number of similar things in the past.
I'm proud of myself for initially giving her the benefit of the doubt even if she really didn't deserve it.

So now I just have to wait to see if there has been irreversible damage, and that waiting could take up to 2 weeks.
And I have to manage this anger that isn't dissipating.

That Cat is Unbelievable

2007-04-03T08:20:00.000-04:00

I just can't believe it. It's too absurd. I was outsmarted by my cat.

If you know me, you've probably heard me talk about how Zoë has annoying quirks. One of her two biggest - and the one she shares with her brother - is that she wakes me up at ungodly hours of the morning to try to get me to feed her. We're talking anywhere from 4:30 to 6:30, usually around 5:15. I've had very few solid nights' sleeps in the last year.
I try to ignore the rustling in my room, or the shaking and banging on the door if I've left that closed, but even if I ignore their pleas, I still can't sleep through it all. Even if I sleep on the couch downstairs Zoë will wake me up by chewing on magazines and papers on and under the coffee table. It really is ridiculous pet drama.
So I had a plan.
My housemate Sarah is out of town for a few days, so I decided I'd fake out the cats by sleeping in her bed with the door closed. They wouldn't know where to find me and I would be able to sleep until my alarm went off. The cats never bother anyone but me and Lara & Daniel (parents of the other two cats who also wait patiently by my door in the mornings) so I figured Sarah's closed door wouldn't hold any interest for them. And, I know this sounds silly, I even took the precaution of sneaking into the room when Zoë wasn't looking.
But can you guess what happened at 6:15 this morning?
ZOË WAS RATTLING THE DOOR OF SARAH'S ROOM!!!!!!
I couldn't believe it - how did she find me???
I stood behind the door just to be sure that it was really this door and not mine next to it. I opened the door and found Zoë sitting there, looking up at me with an expression that said "silly Mommy, why are you sleeping in here?"

It's ridiculous. I don't get it. My cat totally outsmarted me.
Maybe I should stop calling her a Freak Show.

03.30.07 News of the Day

2007-03-30T10:55:00.000-04:00

1) My car smelled like graham crackers this morning. I don't eat graham crackers, so that was strange.
2) The bus I caught was one of the ones with the high seats. My feet don't touch the ground in those seats.
3) There was a guy on the bus who I swear looked just like Art Garfunkel.
4) I've already paid all my bills for this payperiod, and today is the first day. I love doing that.
5) I gave into the strange - though not entirely uncommon - urge to eat sweets when I first woke up. This time I was better: sugar-free, fat-free chocolate Jell-O pudding cup. Man, those things are good!
6) I was determined to not give in to my cats' annoyingly insistent behavior when they wanted food at o'dark-thirty this morning. I held my ground.
7) Tucker threw up twice in my room this morning.
8) There was $36.62 extra in my paycheck this morning that I wasn't expecting - the result of there being three paychecks this month instead of the regular two. Sweet!
9) It's only 11am and I'm SO ready to go home.
10) Someone called about an application to one of our programs (due today) and she got indignant when she said "it doesn't say I needed a recommendation." I read it verbatum from the instructions. People can be real idiots sometimes.
11) There's nothing I want more right now than a huge piece of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. And a big ol' glass of milk. And being in my pjs at home. Watching old movies.
12) My knee is out of whack this morning and I don't know why.
13) There's nothing important to do at work today, so I'm tempted to pull out my book - a murder mystery by P.D. James. Dare I do it before lunch break? No. However, I do dare to blog. Funny how that is.

The day ain't over yet, so there may be more...

"The Dumbest Day Ever"

2007-03-26T14:58:00.000-04:00

I feel like this guy.

I've caught myself saying it in my head a number of times today at work.
"Today is the dumbest day ever."
I had the Monday Morning Blahs all morning and they've turned into the Monday Afternoon Blahs.
So what's the problem? Nothing really. I guess I didn't get enough sleep. But that's not such a big deal. I just don't have the energy to sympathy laugh at my non-funny coworkers' non-funny jokes. They're not even jokes. It's like "I'm gonna go get a sammich (sandwich)" and then he laughs really loud and for a long time, like it's the funniest thing he's ever said.

I'm bored.

The humming of various pieces of office equipment and the mechanical closet down the hall are really getting on my nerves, even thought I've been listening to the same noises every day for 6 years. (But I can't really complain because Karin and Neal have it worse - the HVAC system sounds like an airplane taking off in their lab... constantly.)
It's just a blah kind of day.
The only thing keeping me sane is a really long group email dialog I've been having with friends today. I think it has beaten the record for # of messages from one subject line (God bless Gmail)...74 and counting! It started with discussion about the latest episode of "24", moved on to Campus Harvest, then to friends having babies, then to Richard being awesome for being an established family man in a sea of pre-family men.

I'm so glad I have friends. They're great distractions from the blah of everyday life.
Oh yeah, and internet. I'm glad I have internet, too, because how else would I be able to talk to my friends at work!

Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

2007-03-12T13:18:00.000-04:00

This place is amazing!
Gina and her roommate took me to this amazing German bakery when I stayed with them in Arlington this past weekend.
The Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe surpasses Guglhupf Bakery in Durham in its ability to leave me weak in the knees.
They had a table of samples awaiting us as we walked in the door: chocolate mint brownies, pistachio cheesecake, irish creme cake, soda bread, and more - all in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

$900... or a dog

2007-03-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

I thought this was hilarious.
This is from an ad for a complete living room set on Raleigh's Craigslist:

"COMPLETE SET ASKING 900.00 OR WILL TRADE FOR EQUAL VALUE OR LONG HAIRED CHIHUAHA PUPPY PLEASE EMAIL OR CALL"

"That's one stubborn Scandinavian!"

2007-03-01T14:11:00.000-05:00

In Offbeat News:

'Stubborn Scandinavian' sticking around in Seattle'

I want one

2007-03-01T11:03:00.000-05:00

These Bumbo things are brilliant!

I bet my friends Amy & Chris could use a pair for their twins they're having in a month or two. People use them to put their kids on counters and chairs (and in the sand, as you can see) in them so the little tikes can watch what's going on without getting into trouble. I think little James has one.

My question is, do they make them for grown-ups?

WHERE ARE YOU ?????

2007-02-27T14:17:00.000-05:00

Look, kid, I want to buy some, but I still haven't seen any rugrats selling them on campus. The smart scouty girls park themselves in at the corner of Wilson Library to catch the Lenoir flow.

Thin mints! Thin mints! Thin mints! Thin mints!

It's to keep you SAFE

2007-02-27T13:43:00.000-05:00

To all of you who made fun of me in the past for always having a safety pin or two in my bag and/or inside a jacket...

Safety pin and stick freed snatched boy

White Glittery Tabletop

2007-02-24T11:10:00.000-05:00

I had Froot Loops this morning - a cereal I haven't eaten in YEARS - and just the smell of it brought back a strong memory. Sitting in my grandparents' kitchen at Tejon Ranch in Southern California as a little kid. When we would come for visits during the summers without our parents my Grandma would let us choose one sugary cereal for our stay. Froot Loops was a popular one. We'd sit at the classically 60's white metal table with the flecks of gold on it, in front of the corner windows overlooking the back yard terrace.
The packaging was even like it was back then - and I haven't seen cereal packed this way in years - in a silver, non-crinkly, almost waxy foil.
Memory Lane can be so sweet. Literally. That cereal will really wake you up in the morning.

"Taste the Truthiness!"

2007-02-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

This is awesome!!!
Daniel told me there is a new Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor named after Stephen Colbert, called "Americone Dream" - vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel.
Read article here.
(Bummer that I have to wait until Easter to try it.)

Bad Cop, Good Cop

2007-02-22T09:34:00.001-05:00

I love this story.
A police officer passes a stopped school bus, but then he gives himself a ticket for the moving violation, and also tacks the appropriate 4 points onto his driving record.
I tip my hat to you, sir. For the second part, that is. The first part was just inexcusable. Which I guess is why he didn't excuse himself.

This is actually more of a "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" story, a la Stephen Colbert.

Spring Forward!

2007-02-15T18:51:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across an article about Daylight Saving Time and how they changed it for 2007 from the traditional dates. The writer warned that electronic devices (like PDAs, PCs, TiVO, phones, etc.) that have clocks that may have been pre-set for Daylight Saving Time calendars might get thrown off between March 11 and the first weekend in April. That would totally suck if our DVR didn't tape "24" !!!!!!!!

Read all about it on the California Energy Commission website.
Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time is extended one month and begins for most of the United States at:
2 a.m. on the Second Sunday in March to 2 a.m. on the First Sunday of November.

Wait a minute... I have a funny feeling that I've written a post about Daylight Saving Time before. Let me check. Yep, on January 19, 2006.

"The Pit Break-Up"

2007-02-14T15:23:00.000-05:00

Update: It turns out that this was a publicity stunt after all.
"Burke said the breakup was an experiment to show the power of Internet communities and the amount of money that companies make from them." Read here.
_________________________________________________

There was a student out in The Pit at UNC yesterday (Valentines' Day) who set it up to break up with his girlfriend publicly. What I heard was that she had cheated on him, and he got the word out to hundreds of students via Facebook who all gathered in the Pit at a particular time to watch the free episode of Jerry Springer. He got her there by telling her he had gotten an a cappella group to serenade her for Valentine's day. Well, she got serenaded alright. The song was the Dixie Chicks' "I'm Not Ready to Make Nice". Some people were sitting on walls and others were watching from the windows of the dining hall next door and some were even in trees.
Wow. That's nerve to gather a crowd like that. She's a @#$%! for cheating on him, but I think that kind of public humiliation is going a bit too far.
The thing is up on YouTube and Google. It's like a train wreck, but I just had to watch. I won't post a link, to spare those of you with a more discerning palate, but if you want to watch it on YouTube it's called "The Pit Breakup".
Karin said it well: "he looks like a fraternity jerk". Yep, he does. As heartless as she was to cheat on him, I have to admit that I'm impressed that she stuck around to "talk" afterwards. What's funny is that she politely complimented the girls on their singing!
Warning: the video contains expletives once the two get into it after the song. It gets VERY Jerry Springer.
HAPPY VALENTINES' DAY.

01.18.07 News of the Day

2007-01-18T22:57:00.000-05:00

1) Our first SNOW !!!!!!!!!
2) I like snow.
3) This morning's Ovaltine had a shot of Kahlua in it.
4) My "college years" scrapbook is almost finished!
5) I've decided not to look for another job at this time.
6) The TV show "The Office" had me laughing throughout when we watched two episodes tonight.
7) This is the same shirt I wore yesterday. That's unusual for me.
8) I'm wearing the monkey socks that Amy & Kim gave me.

I gotta get me one of those monkeys

2007-01-18T15:47:00.000-05:00

I laughed outloud at this "Offbeat" news story from WRAL.com

"Escaped chimp gets snack, cleans bathroom"

I want a monkey to clean toilets for me. But she better stay away from my Cheetos.

"I told you NEVER TRUST A MONKEY!"
The End.

Zoe & Applejack's 2nd Birthday

2007-01-08T23:19:00.000-05:00

PARTY ANIMALS!!!!
(Zoe was a bit camera shy tonight)
Kristin and Lara holding Applejack and Carolina, respectively. (I love this picture)

Daniel holding Tucker in a way that he will only let Daniel do.

Cupcakes and birthday cards.

Applejack in his party hat.

Carolina sneaking a cupcake. (She had already licked the frosting off two of them in the kitchen earlier)

Presents included a new water bowl, some Greenies kitty treats, a scratching post (which is really more a present for us humans so they won't scratch the walls), and the most exciting thing of all: a bottle of spray catnip. I test-sprayed some on a piece of paper and Tucker licked it for like 10 minutes straight.

I love my kitties!!!

Muenster

2006-12-16T23:09:00.000-05:00

Today I went to visit my host family from my summer abroad program back in 1999. I lived with Heinz and Christel, and their daughter Katja, for a month while taking classes with the other students in the program. Being back in the city felt like home. I just wanted to wander around the streets by myself, intentionally getting lost so that I could find my way again. My trip was short, however, and I wanted to spend all my time with Christel and Heinz.

At the market, Christel, her friend Claudia, and I ate some really good Reibekuchen mit Apfelmus (potato pancakes with applesauce) and I laughed when I saw the drinks they were selling. I haven't seen Capri-Sun in years!

I just love the family - they're so much fun and we had a wonderful relationship right from the start. I was really lucky to get such a great host family, especially hearing other students' experiences. So today we reminisced about the time I had spent living with them and they remembered things I had forgotten - like that, when they used to tease me about silly things, I would tease back with "ich will eine andere Familie" (I want a different family) and they'd retort "ich will ein andere Student".
I felt so loved with them and they already started planning what we'll do the next time I visit - which I plan to make happen much sooner than the 7 year gap this last time.

Munich

2006-12-13T23:39:00.000-05:00

Dampfnudle mit Vanille-Sosse = YUMMY!!!!!! It's a big steamed dumpling that they drench in this heavenly vanilla sauce and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Salzburg!

2006-12-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

Cake!
The Alps and the city of Salzburg

All a girl needs...

2006-12-07T23:51:00.000-05:00

...is a passport and a journal.

And I'm OFF!

Deck the HALLS (tm)

2006-11-29T21:39:00.000-05:00

I have the beginnings of a sore throat (boo! Hiss!) so I started poppin’ my HALLS brand throat lozenges today at work. While the first one was slowly dissolving in my mouth, the rush of menthol hit my sinuses and I found my inside-my-head voice sighing “aaah, Christmas.”

What?

Yes, you heard it. Halls cough drops remind me of Christmas. It all goes back to one year when my mom… er, Santa… included a pack of cherry-flavored Halls cough drops with the rest of our stocking stuffers. (My great-grandma had knitted all of us these ridiculously huge stockings and Santa had to resort to putting things like pencils, erasers, sticks of gum, pocket-sized Kleenex packs, Post-It notes, and… cough drops in them just to fill up the space.) Anyway, it was also the year that my sister and I both got our beloved Cabbage Patch Kids bed tents (I even found an old photo of us putting them up!)

The rectangular sticks of 9 square-shaped cough drops. Don’t you all remember them?
I swear those things tasted like candy when I was a kid. So, that night, I hid my pack of cherry Halls in the secret pocket of my Cabbage Patch Kids tent and ate one.
And then another.
And another.
Until I found myself eating the whole pack that night.

Mmmm... candyyyyyy.
In the years that followed, I would be mocked for my love of cherry-flavored cough drops.
But I have found some redemption in that, after searching on the web for a photo of HALLS cough drops, I should find them on a website called www.candyfavorites.com

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a soothed throat!

7 Wonders: By the People and for the People

2006-11-28T20:31:00.000-05:00

It's true - everyday folk like us can vote on The NEW 7 Wonders of the World. I didn't even know that the list could change.

"Candidates for the new list have been narrowed down to 21, including the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal and Peru's Machu Picchu. The public can vote until July 6, 2007, by Internet or phone. The seven winners will be announced July 7 in Lisbon, Portugal."

A spokewoman for the campaign spoke about Bernard Weber, a Swiss who started the campaign in 1999, saying he "felt it is time for something new to bring the world together" and to "symbolize a common pride in the global cultural heritage."

I think that's something we can all get behind.
But somehow it just feels wrong to put the Sydney Opera House on the same list as the pyramids or the Colosseum. But maybe it's just that it's still shiny and new, and I've always thought of the Seven Wonders as places and things that have been around forever - like the pyramids.

So let's get out there and vote, everyone!

Read the article on CNN

p.s. UNESCO is fun to say. UN-ES-CO!

Word of the Day: Oligarchy

2006-11-28T15:35:00.000-05:00

(Note: This is actually a post I wrote back on October 9th, but it somehow got sucked back into Draftland, never to be seen again... until today)

ol‧i‧gar‧chy
1. a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.
2. a state or organization so ruled.
3. the persons or class so ruling.

I don't know why this word popped into my head this morning. I don't know the last time I read it, but I think the last time I said it was in my 11th grade history class.
However, upon reflection I find that it does have remarkable relevence in my life. Our neighborhood's Architectural (something something) Committee recently felt the need to mention in their newsletter that the committee is, in fact, "not a dictatorship."

Now I can say with confidence that
they are an oligarchy.

If they had claimed that title themselves, I would have at least admired them for that. As it stands, however, our household remains embittered by the group's endless chiding for letting grass grow too long or not seeding our yards enough. Apparently, there has been significant ill will between the committee, er, oligarchy, and some of the residents. Enough so that they had to write a letter to everyone saying they didn't mean to cause anger or resentment. They ended the letter by saying that they'd be sending another letter soon and asked us to not chuck it in the trash without reading it.
I think they actually said "chuck it".

P.S. Zoe went to town on the letter the other night and chewed pieces of it off.
Good kitty.

Oh, the things I've seen

2006-11-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I went to Jiffy Lube for a last-minute oil change before my Thanksgiving trip. The TV in the lobby was playing a BBC soap/drama program, complete with the classic "I need to tell you something... I'm pregnant" storyline. The Jiffy Lube just seems like more of a WB than a BBC sort of place.

On the drive in to work this morning I passed a field where a horse was rolling around on the ground.

Walking across campus this morning - a very cold morning, with a bitter wind - I saw a student wearing, not a long coat, but a long cape. I stared at him, just to be sure. Yes, it was a cape. Not only that, but I think I could make out a clasp that resembled those worn by hobbits.

11.16.06 News of the Day

2006-11-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

1) F-15 fighter jets flew over campus this afternoon as practice for a fly-over they're doing at a football game this weekend. I'd heard they were going to be doing it, but it didn't stop my adrenalin from rushing when they did. It really sounded like they were skimming over the building I was in.
2) I was going to buy a few books at the campus bookstore's 25% off sale for all staff tomorrow but I just looked on Amazon.com and their prices are even cheaper that the sale prices would be.
3) My roommate Sarah is sitting next to me on the couch working on her laptop and quietly started humming the Death March from "Star Wars".
4) Tonight I ate some peppermint ice cream - the seasonal Christmassy kind that's vanilla with little bits of pink peppermint sticks in it. I love that ice cream and I think I'm going to stock up on a bunch of cartons before the season ends so I'll still be able to enjoy it months later.
5) I just sent in my bio for my high school 10-year reunion booklet they're making and I realized I'd handled it much like a school assignment: left it to the absolute last-minute and stressed over my writing.
6) I've decided to get bottles of different kinds of German beer so I can try them in the next few weeks to see if I'll want to order any of them while I'm in Germany.
7) Daniel, Sarah and I are sitting in the living room trying, unsuccessfully, to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit in our heads. It makes me want to read "Fahrenheit 451" again. Or watch the 1966 movie version.
9) M " " ke is still sticking on m ke board.

Deutschland!

2006-11-15T10:38:00.000-05:00

December 8-17, 2006

Beanbags... minus the beans

2006-11-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

My housemate is getting her degree in early childhood education and always has stories to share with us.
She recently informed us, while she was making projects for her class, that in her training she has been told that teachers are no longer supposed to use beans in beanbags or macaroni in art projects. The logic behind it is that with such a diverse population in preschools, etc. teachers need to be sensitive to those children whose families are economically disadvantaged. If a kid's family is scraping by, wasting beans or macaroni on an art project is offensive and hard to handle.
Sometimes kids will have an assignment to take some beans or some dry noodles home to make something out of them and they come back the next day not having done the projects. The reason: their family cooked the food for dinner.
I never would have thought of that being an issue.

Are you for real?

2006-11-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

Delusion of the Day: Capgras syndrome:

"The belief that those you love are imposters, played by actors or robots"

Happy Halloween!

2006-11-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's that time of year again...
My kitties got all dressed up for Halloween, and their cousins Tucker and Carolina got in on the fun, too. Fun? Well, that's my word, not theirs.

Carolina was Cinderella first, but her skirt kept falling off.

So Zoe was Cinderella, but eventually shed all but her neck ribbon and one puffed sleeve.

Tucker wasn't too keen to be in the Superman costume, but I think the utility belt was an excellent touch.

Applejack was surprisingly calm in his Batman costume (despite the unruly cowl).
He even kept it on long enough for Sarah S. to come home and see him in it.

Until next year!

Scraping By

2006-10-24T08:53:00.000-04:00

This was the first time this season that I had to use an ice scraper on my windshield in the morning. I have two ice scrapers and they both suck.
Anyone have any recommendations for a brand that works?

Maybe I should order this pink ice scraper/mittens set. If you have to scrape, do it in style.

Jack, in the Meantime

2006-10-24T08:40:00.000-04:00

I confess, I'm on the FOX "24" update mailing list. Kinda dorky, I know, but I don't care. I'm waiting impatiently for Season 6 to start on January 14th.
The 24 Season 6 Sneak Peek Trailer is going online today. I know KC will be checkin' it out.
I'm totally psyched.

Family Photo

2006-10-20T19:47:00.000-04:00

And I just love this one of my brother dancing with Mom at the reception. She looked so beautiful.

Word of the Day: Sephardic

2006-10-19T00:24:00.000-04:00

Se‧phar‧dim [suh-fahr-dim, -fahr-deem]

Jews of Spain and Portugal or their descendants, distinguished from the Ashkenazim and other Jewish communities chiefly by their liturgy, religious customs, and pronunciation of Hebrew: after expulsion from Spain and Portugal in 1492, established communities in North Africa, the Balkans, Western Europe, and elsewhere.
[Origin: 1850–55;

I think I probably saw the word written on the sign of a temple we passed while driving through L.A. - but it didn't ping my brain until we were walking through the parking lot to Baja Fresh tonight.
The word just sounds cool. As does its compliment Ashkenazi.

Ash·ke·naz·i (äshk-näz)
n. pl. Ash·ke·naz·im (-nzm, -näzm)
A member of the branch of European Jews, historically Yiddish-speaking, who settled in central and northern Europe.

I remember these terms from one of my German classes for which I wrote a paper of the history of Zionism. Too bad I can't remember a lick of it, nor can I find the paper. Too bad, because Daniel recently mentioned wanting to learn more about Zionism. I could very well have thrown it away with all the other work from that class (I had actually wanted to burn it all) because I really, really hated the class. Just ask my tocaya. I still can't hear the words "Weimar Republic" without cringing. Nor do I ever want to visit Weimar itself again. It was just that painful.

Maybe I'll use my free movie coupon from Blockbuster to rent "Exodus." That's the only Zionism movie I can think of. Huh - I just noticed that Hugh Griffith was in the movie. I just saw him in "How to Steal a Million", a Peter O'Toole/Audrey Hepburn comedy that I highly recommend. Hugh Griffith is a very... unique looking man. His eyebrows - which should have an IMDB entry all of their own - remind me of the moustache competition website that Neal found. If only I could find it again...

Avocado Tally

2006-10-17T00:28:00.000-04:00

The last time I was out in L.A. (two Christmases ago - visiting my brother) I found myself eating avocados with alarming consistency. If I recall correctly, I ate avocados (including the glorious avocado derivitive, guacamole) on 6 out of the 7 days I was in California that vacation.

Living in North Carolina, I get teased a lot for my affinity for avocado.
One of the best parts about going back to CA for a visit is the abundance of items on restaurant menus that include some form of avocado. Whenever I'm in my homestate, I make a point to avail myself of these offerings.

My avocado consumption on my most recent trip to CA:

Thursday
Grandma picked me up from the airport and we grabbed dinner at Red Robin. Turkey, avocado and bacon on a croissant. It seemed that avocado/guacamole was an ingredient on almost half of the sandwiches and burgers.
Friday
Breakfast was the 2nd half of the previous night's turkey avocado bacon sandwich. Lunch with bride-to-be, her mom, and bridesmaids was a cobb salad. What was on top? Oh, right. Avocado.
Saturday
Breakfast at IHOP with my aunt and uncle. It is important to note that, while IHOP is a chain, the menu varies regionally. There was no chicken-fried-(fill in the blank) on that menu, like there is in backwards places like the South, but there was plenty of the glorious fruit we know as the avocado. On the menu: Avocado and bacon omlet. I got The Hook Up.
Sunday
Lunch was a CPK turkey club = bacon and avocado. Dinner was a burrito from Baja Fresh, and that's spelled g-u-a-c-a-m-o-l-e.
Monday
A California day completely devoid of avocado. I felt lost.
Tuesday
Leftover half of CPK turkey club.

I didn't plan on giving bacon second billing, but let me just say that I like bacon. Obviously. Never gonna be a vegetarian, cuz I love me some bacon.

And now we come to our bonus item.
I had dinner with Sunghee at Indo Cafe and found this on their menu. You may not be able to read it, but it's an avocado shake. Not pictured: the avocado smoothie.
(Sorry kids, I didn't order it. I think you'll agree that the concept is downright disgusting)

Well, kids...

2006-10-16T00:21:00.000-04:00

I don't even know where to begin.

I came out to L.A. on Thursday to be here for my brother's wedding on Saturday.
Now, I'm the kind of person who makes it a point to avoid drama in my life.
But there was drama. Oh, baby, was there drama.

I can't even get into it right now. I need to sleep it off.

10.4.06 News of the Day

2006-10-04T15:13:00.000-04:00

1) I'm really excited about the BLT I brought for lunch. And it's real B, not just turkey B like I have been eating lately.
2) I only had to pay a $20 co-pay for my eye doctor appointment yesterday. I didn't faint at the eye doctor; she didn't put drops in my eyes because I'm one of her "special patients." Translation: I'm a wuss.
3) Steve Carrell was in my dream the other night, but he was a normal person-type character in my dream, so he wasn't really "Steve Carrell" the actor/comedian. We were climbing this steep spirally hill, on some kind of mission, and I commented that I shouldn't have brought my heavy backpack and he took it off my back and put it on his, on top of the big backpack he was already carrying. I was surprised and said "oh, I actually meant that I didn't need to bring it," and I was touched that he'd take the burden for me. But then a minivan magically appeared in front of us and we both put our backpacks in it.
4) My cat Zoe is now back in her old routine of waking me up at 5:30am by chewing on paper and magazines because she's getting hungry.
5) Men are handing out Gideon Bibles all over campus today.
6) Out of curiosity, I counted the number of pens that have ended up in my purse. Nine total, including the mandatory black Sharpie.
7) I had a really long email conversation with my brother yesterday. It was like 16 messages, which is amazing because he usually just shoots back one-line answers. He's applying to business school and I'm really proud of him.

Walking in Memphis with My Grammy

2006-10-03T15:56:00.000-04:00

Sometimes how you read something isn't what the author actually wrote.

From an article on CNN.com about the guy who tried to kill singer Marc Cohn last year:
"Cohn, who is married to ABC News anchor Elizabeth Vargas, had a hit with 'Walking in Memphis' and won a Grammy in 1991. Neither was in the courtroom during the sentencing Monday."

Yep, neither Marc Cohen nor his Grammy were in the courtroom.

Pathology Report from Day 3

2006-09-23T17:56:00.000-04:00

I had my old medical records sent to me awhile ago. They'd been scanned and put on a CD so I just printed them out today and was reading through them. I came across one that sounded cool. It was a pathology report from when I was 3 days old.

SPECIMEN: Preauricular skin tags

GROSS: Two pieces of tissue, one a skin-covered lobulated mass about 12mm in greatest dimension. The other is smaller. The entire specimen is embedded in 1 block.

MICROSCOPIC: Section shows normal skin, subcutaneous tissue and pieces of cartilage.

DIAGNOSIS: ACCESSORY EARS.

Yes, you read that right. I had an "accessory ear" that they removed. My mom didn't even tell me about it until I was 13, and it came out because she was talking to my orthodontist about my jaw assymetry. I think it's a cool story.

09.21.06 News of the Day

2006-09-21T21:27:00.000-04:00

1) I turned the heat on in my car this morning because it was cold.
2) The cats were chasing each other around the house this morning and as the chasee was rounding the corner she slid on the hardwood floor and finally got traction... on my foot. She totally gouged my toe.
3) I resisted really intense temptation to eat a brownie for breakfast. You don't even understand. These are super moist brownies with Bailey's icing on them. I'm so proud of myself.
4) I'm getting my hair cut short tomorrow.
5) Last night I watched the first of four chapters of the National Geographic special "Guns, Germs, and Steel", based on Jared Diamond's book of the same title. I can't wait for the next chapter.
6) When I was at the mall tonight, a hot israeli guy gave me a free sample of hand lotion and made me promise to visit his country.

Where's Olive?

2006-09-18T10:20:00.000-04:00

I went to a matinee showing of "Little Miss Sunshine" on Friday, by myself, as a little treat to myself. I love going to the movies alone. And sometimes I just need to take a quiet break from people.
The movie was fantastic. It had been strongly recommended to me by KC and JR and I was not disappointed.
A seriously disfunctional family takes a roadtrip from New Mexico to California in an unreliable VW van to get the little daughter to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. It was a brilliant ensemble cast. Toni Collette, Steve Carrell, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano (who I had never heard of, but he was fantastic), and the little girl is played by Abigail Breslin who you may remember from "Signs" and "Raising Helen". She's a real star. I hope someone gets recognized at the Oscars. Maybe Steve Carrell?
I was brilliant how the writers took secondary plotlines that could have been really depressing and wove comedy into them.
I cried. I laughed. I laughed until I cried.
All this to say: Go see it.

Just in case you have an outhouse

2006-09-17T22:28:00.000-04:00

I was reading an article on wral.com about cold weather predictions for this winter and I read the following:

"Published since 1792, the Old Farmer's Almanac is North America's oldest continuously published periodical. The little yellow magazine still comes with the hole in the corner so it can hang in outhouses."

Y, oh Y

2006-09-16T13:50:00.000-04:00

Bless his little ignorant heart.
Applejack just broke off the "y" key on my laptop. I turned away and he climbed on top of it and then when I turned around he jumped off, knocking the "y" out of position. I tried for 20 minutes to get the darn thing back in, aided by overhead lights, a lamp, a flashlight, tweezers and a cross-stitch needle. (Sidenote: When those people in the movies and on TV hold flashlights in their mouths so they can use two hands on whatever they're working on, it's totally fake because, as I have learned - unless it's just me - it's hard to hold it without starting to drool out the side of your mouth after about 15 seconds) Anyway, I was comforted with the knowledge that I could still type "y"s without the actual key, but I wanted it back in. Finally, I got it back in. But then it kept getting stuck and I'd tyyyyyyyyyyyyyyype like this.
But, as you can see, it's working again. It's not totally 100% what it was, but it works and that's what really matters.
The End.

Orange Mocha Frappuccino!!!

2006-09-11T10:18:00.000-04:00

(Male model friends Brint, Meekus, and Rufus take Derek Zoolander on a joyride with their Orange Mocha Frappuccinos, while blasting Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".)

My housemates had a Ben Stiller Reconciliation Party on Saturday where we watched a double-feature of "Zoolander" and "Mystery Men". The goal was to help those who didn't like one of them to come to appreciate it. It didn't have the results we'd hoped for, but between the two movies everyone was entertained at some point during the evening.

Me Lucky Charms

2006-09-04T20:57:00.000-04:00

As Daniel went to pour himself a bowl of Lucky Charms, Applejack jumped up on the chair, ready to eat what he assumed had just been poured for him.

Leprosidic Armadillos

2006-08-30T21:41:00.000-04:00

This post is dedicated to Mehend, who spent the entire day today BORED TO TEARS by the great state of Kansas. She commented that she saw 2 armadillo road pizzas, which reminded me about how these guys at a camp I worked at convinced some of us girls that we had to be careful to stay away from the armadillos because they carry leprosy.

So I googled it, and I found a Biology professor Joshua Nixon's Armadillos Online! webpage that I'm going to quote, because it's wonderfully informative.
Plus, his FAQ page made me laugh.

Highlights:

4. Do armadillos carry diseases, such as leprosy?

Wild armadillos have been known to be infected with the bacterium that causes leprosy (Hansen’s disease). The only cases of transmission from armadillos to humans have occurred in rare incidents in which people ate undercooked armadillo meat.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Do people really eat armadillos?

Yes. In many areas of Central and South America, armadillo meat is often used as part of an average diet. I have heard that some peoples of South America keep small varieties of armadillos as edible housepets. During the Depression, armadillos were often eaten by hungry people. They were called “Hoover hogs” by people angry with then-President Herbert Hoover’s broken promise of a chicken in every pot. The meat is said to taste like fine-grained, high-quality pork.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11. Where can I buy an armadillo (Live or dead, for food or otherwise)?

I know of no company or restaurant that sells live armadillos. I have heard that some shops in San Francisco’s Chinatown sell dead armadillos for food.

So there you have it, folks.
Armadillos.

The One Left Behind

2006-08-30T20:07:00.000-04:00

My sister left for California on Sunday, to go to grad school at UCLA. We've lived within 20 minutes of each other for 22 of the 26 years of our sisterhood. That's impressive, considering we've lived in 3 states. But now she has returned to the land of our roots, the Golden State, and it's pretty much a guarantee that she will never live in North Carolina again.

My dad flew in from CA on Friday night to hang out with me for a day and then to drive cross-country with Melanie back to CA.
There was comfort in the knowledge that I would be seeing both of them in 7 weeks at my brother's wedding, so I didn't cry when I said goodbye. I take that back - I teared up as they rounded the corner.

Those of you who have never been emotionally attached to a pet won't understand this, but my heart broke to see Melanie have to say goodbye to Applejack and Zoe. She loves my babies so much. Even my dad was smitten with them after just 2 days. They're easy to fall in love with.

It was wonderful to spend time with my dad. We didn't do anything special, we just hung out. We watched an episode of (one of my new favorite shows) "Psych". He took a nap while I made CD mixes for their trip. He took us out to dinner twice - CPK and Panera. (Thanks, Dad!) It was great. It's just now starting to sink in that I'm the only one left on the East Coast. It leaves me feeling sort of lonely, in a strange way. But I'm waiting in eager anticipation for my trip to L.A. in October.
Brian & Elise are getting married, and I couldn't be more thrilled! It'll also be a wonderful family reunion. Good times, great people.

A Periodical for Everything

2006-08-29T22:31:00.000-04:00

I was just reading an article that cited research published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
I'm not even kidding.

I pictured the wannabe goth kids played by Chris Kattan and Molly Shannon on Saturday Night Live printing a newsletter about death and gloom on an inkjet printer in their basement.
In reality, it's a report published - yes, you guessed it... weekly - by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Do It Like Shakespeare

2006-08-26T16:44:00.000-04:00

I read a quote from FBI Assistant Director Mark Mershon: "We've had a number of uncomfortable questions and some upsetment with these foreign intelligence services that had been working with us."

Upsetment.

I was sure it wasn't a real word, but I looked it up anyway because it sounded like such a practical word. I knew exactly what he meant. It sounds better than upsettedness.

Upsetment?

It is, in fact, not a "real" word. However, even thought I'm embarrassed for him for sounding stupid for saying it, I can't disapprove entirely of his use of it.

The more I read about William Shakespeare - which isn't much at all, but it's more than it was when it was nothing - the more I respect him. Aside from any personal opinions about his plays and sonnets, just take a look at what he did for the English language. According to scholars, he beefed it up with more than 1,600 new words.

Dang. That's some serious love of language!

He took great liberties with the English language and for that he is a hero in my book.
Granted, in his time, though he surely got major flack from the traditionalists, he was afforded more creativity in his writing because there weren't dictionaries to declare that something was or wasn't a "real" word.

L.I.D.* forever, baby.

Baugh & Cable wrote in their book A History of the English Language (yes, KC, I kept the book from Tally's class) that "Shakespeare had the largest vocabulary of any English writer. This is due not only to his daring and resourceful use of words but also in part to his ready acceptance of new words of every kind."

(*L.I.D. = Language is dynamic)

"Sigh no more, ladies"

2006-08-26T00:24:00.000-04:00

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more;
Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never;
Then sigh not so, But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny;
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into "Hey nonny, nonny."

Sing no more ditties, sing no mo,
Or dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leavy.
Then sigh not so, But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into "Hey, nonny, nonny!"

from Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing"

I recently watched the Kenneth Branaugh movie version of "Much Ado About Nothing" and I've got the verse above stuck in my head - alternating between Emma Thompson's Beatrice's rendition and the song version the men sing around the fountain.
I must say, Kenneth Branaugh is a fantastic Shakespearian actor. Add Emma Thompson and you can't possibly go wrong. In a discussion about the most disappointing Hollywood breakups, Thompson and Branaugh's was one of the saddest to me because they're such great actors together.

OK Go

2006-08-25T23:40:00.000-04:00

Ever since I saw their amazing treadmill video on Eddie's blog, I've been a fan of OK Go. Here's another song/dance of theirs called "A Million Ways"

There's also a video of them performing the song in a music store

Here's their contest announcement
And a Lego-style version of the treadmill dance.

By a total coincidence, my housemates and I just saw one of the guys on The Colbert Report this afternoon.

Kicked to the Curb

2006-08-24T13:31:00.000-04:00

It seems we're back to 8 planets.
Pluto got the boot today

Sure, we all thought Pluto was a goofy name when we learned about the solar system in 3rd grade, but we never imagined it would have to walk away from the club, head hung in shame. The kid who all he ever wanted to do was to sit at the "cool kids'" table at lunch.
Poor Pluto.

"The International Astronomical Union decided Thursday to demote Pluto -- the solar system now has 8 planets."

I would like to form a union so I can demote things. Who's with me?

8.23.06 News of the Day

2006-08-23T11:15:00.000-04:00

1) The copy machine at work smelled like buttered popcorn this morning. I swear.
2) The voice of the French dude saying "Rhicky Boobby" keeps popping into my head and I'm starting to get sick of it.
3) I was late to work today because I thought it was worth it to sit down and have a bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast.
4) It was.
5) I'm on crossword puzzle #54 in my book and the last word I put down was diva.
6) I keep thinking about people I care about very much and ought to write to, but haven't. Namely Kristin in Charlottesville, Bethany in South Africa, and Rachel in Palo Alto.
7) A faculty member practically chewed me out over the phone for holding our noon workshops in a room that doesn't allow food or drink. She's lucky we have workshops at all because it's nearly impossible to find any room on campus that's even available at noon.
8) I tried and failed to repair the paper shredder at work. It was a matter of pride that I have been able to fix it in the past; I guess that was my downfall.
9) I plan on watching some "Band of Brothers" tonight.
10) Classes just started again this week and I'm already resenting the presence of students on campus. Well, mostly those who don't know how to form an orderly queue or move out of pedestrian traffic.
11) Lunch will be A&W root beer and leftover pizza.

Obey Your Thirst... or suffer the consequences

2006-08-18T21:28:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, I had to buy 300+ beverages for a big TA orientation I'm helping coordinate at work. With limited space in our office fridge, I decided to put the rest of the cans of soda in large coolers borrowed from various coworkers. I bought 7 bags of ice and dropped them off at the office last night. (Shout out to the two campus police officers who responded when we set off a silent alarm in the building.) Apparently, the ice had melted enough on the ride from the store to the office that after refreezing overnight, the bags of ice became blocks of ice. But I didn't find that out until later in the story.

I was working late tonight, getting all the final pieces together for my early arrival and event set-up tomorrow morning. I wanted to wait to the last minute to put the ice in the coolers with the drinks, so the ice would melt as little as possible before we needed the drinks. It was 8:00pm before I remembered that the buses stopped running before 8:30. I checked the schedule and the last bus was due at 8:17pm. I packed up my stuff and ran to the storage closet down the hall, where our fridge/freezer is located. Expecting to just be able to put some sodas in a cooler and pour some ice over them, I was horrified to find that the ice was now in blocks. "Knife!" I said, and ran to get one from the kitchen.
8:04
I put some six-packs of Sprite in the smaller of the two coolers and proceded to hack away at the ice to pack around the soda. I was almost done when I accidentally stabbed the top of one of the cans.
"Crap!"
No time to deal with an open can of soda. Set it aside and moved on to the mondo cooler. Put in a 36-pack of water and two 6-packs of Diet Coke. There's just not enough time to chip away at another bag of ice, so I just put two whole bags (aka blocks) in. Added some 6-packs of Sprite to the top layer and another bag of ice next to it. Tried to close the lid. Didn't close. I opened it up, gave the bag of ice a little push, and heard a pop. Sprite started spraying everywhere from an unknown source. All over the inside of the cooler, all over the floor, and mostly all over me. I dug around to find that the sharp corner of the last bag of ice had punctured the side of a can of Sprite.
"Nooooo!!!!"
8:10
"Screw this!"
Pulled out the offending can of Sprite and turned it on its side to stop it from spraying. I carried the two renegade cans of Sprite through the office to our sink and poured them out, for fear of ants. In a brief moment of clarity, I pulled the tabs off the two cans and put them in my pocket. My housemate is collecting the tabs for an art project.
8:12
"Go! Go, go, go!!!"
I flung my heavy-laden backpack onto my back and ran for the door.
"CRAP!"
I had to dig through my bag to find my key card to open two separate doors to get out of the building
"Crap! Crap! Crap!"
Fumble, fumble, swipe, run, swipe, RUN!!!!!
8:13
Now, friends, I'm sure a lot of you, in your youth, had moments when you had to run fast with a large backpack. Did you ever feel stupid, clopping along, body awkwardly swaying side-to-side, heavy backpack bouncing on your back, threatening to topple you backwards? Add sandals and a long skirt and that was me. I ran like there was no tomorrow. Across the parking lot, down the street, past a throng of amused freshmen, across the street, and then I finally slowed down. I was home free: there was someone else waiting at the bus stop, with an air about him that said simply "I'm just chillin' here cuz I know my bus will come any minute now." I heaved a sigh of relief. Then another. Then another.
No, I was actually just out of breath.

The bus came 2 minutes later and I boarded it. I was sticky, the whole front of my clothes were wet, and I smelled like lemon-lime. But I was on the bus, and that was what mattered the most.

Now I'm home, recently showered, in my PJs, eating leftover quiche and watching my cats rumble.

I wonder what adventures await me tomorrow...

Word of the Week: Nee

2006-08-15T09:13:00.000-04:00

Okay, so this word seems to have taken over my life.

née also nee (adj.)
1. Born. Used to indicate the maiden name of a married woman.
2. Formerly known as.
[French, feminine past participle of naître, to be born, from Old French naistre, from Latin nsc. See gen- in Indo-European Roots.]

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Sarah declared nee to be the offical Word of the Week in our household, and we get imaginary points every time we use it.
What I want to know is whether it counts if I use it in a crossword puzzle.
I'm totally addicted to the crossword puzzle book that Mehend just gave me. It's a much-needed boost to my self-esteem. The cover doesn't indicate that it's a crossword puzzle book for people who suck at crossword puzzles, but that's what it is. I feel brilliant. I've flown through those things like a banshee this last week.

Back to "nee"...

I had never heard the word before, but it has shown up in 7 of the last 20 crossword puzzles I've completed.
The clues they've given for the word have been:
-Previously named
-Wedding announcement word
-Born as
-Originally named
-Named by birth
-Born (appeared twice)

"Empty Larder Days"

2006-08-14T09:36:00.000-04:00

I confess that there are still a number of song lyrics that I don't know, but I continue to mimic the sounds I think I'm hearing, regardless of whether they form a real or logical word.

I had a revelation this morning.

The clue in my crossword puzzle was a 7-letter word for "pantries". I was stuck. I had no idea. Eventually, all the other words around it were filled in and I was left looking at larders. Larder... where had I heard the word before?
Then it hit me.
Dodger in the musical "Oliver!" sang the song "Consider Yourself". We sang the song in elementary school chorus a gazillion years ago and, in the tradition of all children's choruses, we didn't understand half the words we were singing - let alone say them correctly.

The line goes "If it should chance to be, we should see some harder days, empty larder days, why grouse?"
(Nevermind the fact that none of us knew what grouse meant - heck, I don't know what it means even now!)

The whole song:
Consider yourself at home.
Consider yourself one of the family.
We've taken to you so strong.
It's clear we're going to get along.
Consider yourself well in
Consider yourself part of the furniture.
There isn't a lot to spare.
Who cares?..What ever we've got we share!

If it should chance to be
We should see
Some harder days
Empty larder days
Why grouse?
Always a-chance we'll meet
Somebody
To foot the bill
Then the drinks are on the house!
Consider yourself our mate.
We don't want to have no fuss,
For after some consideration, we can state...
Consider yourself
One of us!

Word of the Day: Wase

2006-08-10T10:27:00.000-04:00

wase

\Wase\, n. [Cf. Sw. vase a sheaf.] A bundle of straw, or other material, to relieve the pressure of burdens carried upon the head. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Bridesmaids' Dress Game

2006-08-04T12:58:00.000-04:00

I was wandering around the internet to get advice on what kind of dress I should wear to my brother's wedding - as a non-bridesmaid - and I stumbled across this gem.

Torture Your Sister: The Bridesmaid's Dress Game

Please note: My dear sister, I would NEVER put you through this.

An Excellent Pointe

2006-08-03T21:15:00.000-04:00

Wow. This chick is amazing. If you don't watch the whole thing, at least watch the last third.

She goes up on pointe on top of his shoulders AND his head.

I've never seen anything like it.

(If it doesn't play, go to the website

heck no

2006-08-02T14:40:00.000-04:00

www.doineedajacket.com

According to weather.com,
the "feels like" temperature outside right now is 106.
Dang.
Praise the Lord for A/C, that's all I gotta say.

Celebrity Watch: Brian Henderson

2006-08-01T13:44:00.000-04:00

My brother Brian is a very talented writer and we're all waiting for a big, super influential producer or whoever to realize it and hire him to write for them full-time. He's had short stints writing for a couple different shows and has submitted a lot of pieces to various shows. Personally, I think he'd be a great asset to SNL or Conan O'Brien. He showed me a bunch of skits he was submitting to SNL and they were hilarious. I can't believe they haven't snatched him up yet. The fools.

Mystery surrounds my brother's work, as he doesn't reveal much about it to me or our sister. It's surely not because of a need for secrecy, because he does seem to tell Dad about some of his projects, but it's like pulling teeth for me to get anything out of him.

For example, I recently found out from my dad that my brother is a writer on the Discovery Channel show "Cash Cab".
Why do I never hear about his work from Brian himself?

I set our DVR to tape the show. After about 15 tries I was able to take a picture of his name in the credits. Here's the really cool thing: apparently he had never even heard of the show until they contacted him and they had tracked him down because of his work on "Before They Were Rock Stars" on VH1 back in 1999.
My brother is totally famous and I'm so proud!
[brag, brag, brag]

Huggies, please?

2006-07-28T21:10:00.000-04:00

I was at Target this evening, running down my list of things I needed to get. Next on the list: baby powder. I went up to a Target "Team Member" and asked him where I could find the diaper section because I hadn't found any baby powder in the general cotton balls, lotion, etc. sections. He leaned in a bit and asked "What?"
"Diapers."
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."
"Diapers."
"Sorry, I can't hear very well." (leans in) "What are you looking for?"
"Diapers, like for babies."
"What? (cups his ear) What are you saying?"
"Diapers! Di-i-i-i-per-r-r-rs!"
and then I found myself shouting in the middle of the busy store:
"DIAPERS!!!!!!"

"Oh," he said. "Diapers are over there."

I think the humor of the whole scene - and I can't kid myself that it wasn't a scene - was more powerful than the embarrassment factor. And so I giggled all the way to the diaper section.

Standing in that aisle, I found the second thing at Target that made me laugh...

(It's this sort of thing makes the camera-phone totally worth it.)

Almost witnesses

2006-07-25T09:05:00.000-04:00

Though we did have a wonderful time in Williamsburg this weekend, there was one really freaky thing that happened. Well, it was over by the time we arrive at the location, which we now know we are VERY thankful for.
On our way to turn in my stolen silverware at the University Center at William & Mary, we saw that the Zable Stadium parking lot was roped off with police tape. We parked further down the road and started walking through the parking lot on our way to the UC. It's a small parking lot with only two rows of parking spaces, so we weren't far from all the activity. There was an SUV that appeared to have had the driver's side tires blown out, that was smashed into a parked car near the entrance to the parking lot. There must have been six police cars right there, with a lot of officers walking around. We started walking past the scene, speculating on what had happened. Further down the parking lot we noticed that there was more police tape, cordoning off most of the courtyard of the Bryan Complex (dorms that Sarah and I had lived in when we were in college), and there were more police cars. In the middle of the grass, there appeared to be some trash and maybe a jacket or blanket of some sort, and then a much larger shape. The way people were standing around, my mind jumped to the conclusion that it was the body of a dead person.
We were close enough to one of the officers standing around, so I asked him what had happened and he simply said "he ran." I asked who he ran from and the offiicer replied "from a lot of people."

I couldn't take my eyes off the shape that was lying on the ground in the middle of the courtyard. From our vantage point I was unable to rule out that fact that it might have been a body. I wanted to rule out the possibility, but it just looked too much like it could have been one, and the two words the officer had used, "he ran", made it sound like they had done something to stop him from running. It was truly frightening, but I confess that my curiosity was piqued - I wanted to know exactly what had happened. My friends and I debated back and forth about what the shape was, and it seemed I was the most convinced that it could, indeed, have been a person. We went back to our car and as we drove away we saw 3 more police cars pull up, as well as a TV news van. When we got back to our hotel, we looked online to try to find a police report, but we didn't find any.

The next day, Daniel found some news reports and emailed them to us. Thankfully, it hadn't been a body that we saw, but someone had shot himself right there less than an hour before we had gotten there. It's strange that I feel comfort in knowing that the incident involved a man shooting himself, rather than shooting another person. That sense of relief, while it makes sense, still feels wrong.
Here are a first and a second article describing the incident.

We are SO thankful that we hadn't been there earlier. We could definitely have been in harm's way. It's pretty scary to think about.

Ignorant blogger

2006-07-23T18:17:00.000-04:00

I don't know how I could be so foolish. I'd been wondering how everyone creates their posts with varying fonts, font sizes and colors and here was the answer right before my eyes. I'd been working out of the...

"Edit Html" mode,
completely oblivious to the
"Compose" mode.
I guess I just assumed that everyone else was
fluent in Html.
Sheesh. I feel like an idiot.

Well, and plus I've been using Safari during the day, which I guess doesn't support all of Gmail's beautiful functions, so I didn't know what all I was missing until I was at home with reliable ol' Explorer.

"Foodcation" for short

2006-07-23T18:08:00.000-04:00

My household went to Williamsburg, VA this weekend. It was packed with tourists doing their touristy things in the colonial historical part of town. Us? Well, we came for the food and nothing else. We were on a Food Vacation, or Foodcation for short.
Our first stop Friday night was Paul's Deli. At William & Mary, when you say "I went to the delis" you're usually saying you went out drinking with your pals. But we didn't go to Paul's to drink, rather to enjoy a great meal. Sarah and I got delicious turkey subs, mine with bacon, just like I'd always get in college. Lara boldly ordered the calzone despite the fact that no one offered to split one with her. The thing stretched the entire length of a large pizza pan. Needless to say, she didn't make it through the whole thing. Daniel ordered a rueben and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Next stop: the glorious Sno-to-Go!
I mis-spoke in an earlier post by calling them "sno-cones", as they are really called "snoballs." When hearing the word sno-cone, one usually envisions a cone-shaped paper tube filled with crunchy beads of ice that has had sticky, too-sweet syrup poured over it. Eventually, the syrup starts sinking to the bottom and you're left with a lump of crunchy ice and once you make it through that you're left with only a pool of syrup at the bottom.
Snoballs are VERY different, smooth like a Slurpee, only a little bit thicker. Order it "stuffed" and you'll get a layer of soft-serve in the middle and another dollop on top. Choose from over thirty flavors, like Bahama Mama, Tiger's Blood, Maui Wowie, and other concoctions, or you can stick with single flavors like cherry, raspberry, pineapple, etc. My personal favorite is stuffed rootbeer. It was delicious!

We drove to Richmond to stay the night. In the morning we were off again to Williamsburg. We spent the morning wandering down "DOG" Street (its official name being Duke of Gloucester Street), wandering in and out of shops, taking pictures of ourselves in the stocks and enjoying the fife and drum corps.
Then it was lunch time. And you know what that means...
CHEESE SHOP!!!!!!!!
I got to the front of the line and flowed out, "turkey on french with provolone, house, and sprouts." Because of the possibility of there being multiple Sarahs standing in line (in addition to our own), I gave them the name Betsy instead. They called "my" name and I grabbed my sandwich, a birch beer, and a cheesecake brownie and I was off to enjoy the tasty goodness.
It was ridiculously hot that day, so we spent most of the rest of the afternoon in the Barnes & Noble - the official campus bookstore - enjoying the A/C and some good books. We decided to have dinner in Richmond, but to stop at Sno-to-Go again on our way out of town.
But there was one more stop we had to make.
It was an event 6 years in the making.
I was going to finally return the silverware that I had stolen from the campus dining facility in the University Center my sophomore year, 9 years ago. At the time, I had justified my crime by saying that I was going to return them before I graduated. Needless to say, I never did. But I had promised myself that I would return them, and I wasn't about to break that promise - no matter how long it took. In fact, I have been to Williamsburg many times since I graduated and have even brought the silverware with me, but never got around to returning it.
But I always knew I would do it. It's a matter of principle, which is ironic, really, because if I was acting on moral principle at the time, I never would have stolen the darn things.
But I did it, and I beamed with pride. I even have documentation.
(insert picture here)
Our return to Sno-to-Go was great, as expected, and I savored my Bahama Mama.
Back at the hotel, we ordered dinner in and watched "The Fugitive" on TV. We ate the glorious, famous "Death By Chocolate" from The Trellis. Daniel took his Ambien and got hilariously loopy before he finally fell asleep. The next morning we woke up and ate the Big Apple Bagel muffins we had bought in Williamsburg the day before and we headed back home to Durham.

It was such a wonderful weekend, spending time with my housemates, with no pressures but to decide what we wanted to order from various menus.
(pictures will be added soon)