...or at least a few miles past the hood where you're not really in the hood, but your neighbors don't seem to know they're not in the hood.
My next door neighbor is re-painting his truck.
With spray paint.
(And yes, Judy, I deleted my last post - email me if you want to know how things turned out.)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Mighty fine bread.
Great Harvest has mighty fine bread. Yes, they do. Good tasting. Only the best ingredients. Made right there in the store. By an angry lady who might kick your ass.
Their bread is so good, they can justify asking a ridiculous price. Or at least, they think they can justify it. Whether or not they can justify it, they charge it.
See, I had a coupon. I love coupons. I'm a coupon lady. I take the time to clip them, check them before I go to the store, and use them. It's like getting free stuff. In some cases, you actually get free stuff!
That was the lure yesterday. I could buy a loaf of bread and get one free. WHAT A DEAL!!! So, I hiked it on over to Westlake (a fru-fru part of town...where Great Harvest lives), and I showed the Angry Lady my coupon. She blandly directed me to "the board" where they had Monday's offerings listed. They're elite - they don't make everything everyday. They only make a portion of the menu each day. Hope you didn't go in there for something specific.
Anyway, the board listed the flavors, but not the prices. I didn't really notice that. At Amy's Ice Cream they do that, but all the flavors cost the same, so it doesn't matter. So, I selected Honey Wheat bread for my first choice, and then a flavored bread for my second. Angry Lady said they were out of the flavored one. So, I asked to sample a different flavor. She blandly handed me a sample. It was divine. Butterscotch. Wowowowowowow. I'll take it.
She rings me up. $7.30. With a coupon! It was 7 friggin 30 for ONE loaf of bread! My ears rang a little, but I didn't want to seem cheap (as I stood their with my 2-for-1 coupon), so I gave her a $20 bill, got my cash and left. I told my mom about it later, and she was sure they'd charged me for both loaves.
I got home and Angry Lady had given me no receipt, so I went back today. SURELY they had overcharged me...accidentally. With Angry Lady looking on (I had hoped she wouldn't be there), I asked the manager about it, and he pointed to a different sign above the counter area - one with prices. Dear God in Heaven, the butterscotch bread (which he informed me was actually considered a pound cake...because that's worth WAY more than bread, I guess) was $7.30. All by itself.
Embarrassed that I hadn't checked the price before ordering or when Angry Lady rang me up, and that I'd actually come all the way back across town for nothing - to stand there and be shown what the other customers present in the store probably already knew - that the friggin' bread is ridiculously expensive and if I lived in Westlake, I'd buy it without even noticing it cost $7.30 a loaf (for the pound cakes, that is) - I sheepishly said "Oh okay" and slinked out of the store.
I'm pretty sure Angry Lady will now will remember me if I go in again. That's not good. She seriously looks like she'd kick your ass as soon as look at you. And now I may have made her angry. The best case scenario is she spits in my bread if I go back.
So, I guess I'll enjoy my really good, really expensive bread, and never go back. It really must be different to be rich.
Their bread is so good, they can justify asking a ridiculous price. Or at least, they think they can justify it. Whether or not they can justify it, they charge it.
See, I had a coupon. I love coupons. I'm a coupon lady. I take the time to clip them, check them before I go to the store, and use them. It's like getting free stuff. In some cases, you actually get free stuff!
That was the lure yesterday. I could buy a loaf of bread and get one free. WHAT A DEAL!!! So, I hiked it on over to Westlake (a fru-fru part of town...where Great Harvest lives), and I showed the Angry Lady my coupon. She blandly directed me to "the board" where they had Monday's offerings listed. They're elite - they don't make everything everyday. They only make a portion of the menu each day. Hope you didn't go in there for something specific.
Anyway, the board listed the flavors, but not the prices. I didn't really notice that. At Amy's Ice Cream they do that, but all the flavors cost the same, so it doesn't matter. So, I selected Honey Wheat bread for my first choice, and then a flavored bread for my second. Angry Lady said they were out of the flavored one. So, I asked to sample a different flavor. She blandly handed me a sample. It was divine. Butterscotch. Wowowowowowow. I'll take it.
She rings me up. $7.30. With a coupon! It was 7 friggin 30 for ONE loaf of bread! My ears rang a little, but I didn't want to seem cheap (as I stood their with my 2-for-1 coupon), so I gave her a $20 bill, got my cash and left. I told my mom about it later, and she was sure they'd charged me for both loaves.
I got home and Angry Lady had given me no receipt, so I went back today. SURELY they had overcharged me...accidentally. With Angry Lady looking on (I had hoped she wouldn't be there), I asked the manager about it, and he pointed to a different sign above the counter area - one with prices. Dear God in Heaven, the butterscotch bread (which he informed me was actually considered a pound cake...because that's worth WAY more than bread, I guess) was $7.30. All by itself.
Embarrassed that I hadn't checked the price before ordering or when Angry Lady rang me up, and that I'd actually come all the way back across town for nothing - to stand there and be shown what the other customers present in the store probably already knew - that the friggin' bread is ridiculously expensive and if I lived in Westlake, I'd buy it without even noticing it cost $7.30 a loaf (for the pound cakes, that is) - I sheepishly said "Oh okay" and slinked out of the store.
I'm pretty sure Angry Lady will now will remember me if I go in again. That's not good. She seriously looks like she'd kick your ass as soon as look at you. And now I may have made her angry. The best case scenario is she spits in my bread if I go back.
So, I guess I'll enjoy my really good, really expensive bread, and never go back. It really must be different to be rich.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Mouse Hunt. Day One.
I went to Home Depot last night to check out the many pest control options for The Furry One (TFO).
They had some of the traditional Tom & Jerry style mousetraps. That was the cheapest option, but also the most brutal. I moved on.
On the complete opposite end of the scale was a trap-and-release trap. I considered this one. No death. No dismemberment. No gore. No pain. I could catch the little guy(s) and then release him behind the fence onto the ranch behind my house. One problem with that scenario, though. TFO has tasted the good life. He's lived in the garage, in his cozy little nest under the lawnmower, safe from the elements and predators, with access to the carpeted car. He'd be back. He found me once. He'll find me again. And there's not much point in a continual cycle of him moving in and me moving him out. Keep going.
There was poison. There were sticky traps. Both of these would require me to dispose of bodies and see the mayhem I'd wrought. Like sausage, I don't want to see the reality. So, I finally settled on a trap that catches the little guy, closes behind him, and then I throw the whole trap away. It didn't say that the trap had anything in it to kill TFO, so I've decided to believe that it releases a gas. The gas smells like eucalyptus, and TFO relaxes, falls happily asleep to dreams of cheese, and then quietly passes away. I then throw his little plastic coffin away without disturbing him. It's humane...in my mind. So, do me a favor and don't tell me otherwise.
I bought a two-pack of these traps. I baited them with peanut butter and put one in my car and one by the lawnmower. So far, no mice have been caught. I do, however, have a trail of ants leading into the one by the lawnmower. Awesome. Yet another pest to deal with.
They had some of the traditional Tom & Jerry style mousetraps. That was the cheapest option, but also the most brutal. I moved on.
On the complete opposite end of the scale was a trap-and-release trap. I considered this one. No death. No dismemberment. No gore. No pain. I could catch the little guy(s) and then release him behind the fence onto the ranch behind my house. One problem with that scenario, though. TFO has tasted the good life. He's lived in the garage, in his cozy little nest under the lawnmower, safe from the elements and predators, with access to the carpeted car. He'd be back. He found me once. He'll find me again. And there's not much point in a continual cycle of him moving in and me moving him out. Keep going.
There was poison. There were sticky traps. Both of these would require me to dispose of bodies and see the mayhem I'd wrought. Like sausage, I don't want to see the reality. So, I finally settled on a trap that catches the little guy, closes behind him, and then I throw the whole trap away. It didn't say that the trap had anything in it to kill TFO, so I've decided to believe that it releases a gas. The gas smells like eucalyptus, and TFO relaxes, falls happily asleep to dreams of cheese, and then quietly passes away. I then throw his little plastic coffin away without disturbing him. It's humane...in my mind. So, do me a favor and don't tell me otherwise.
I bought a two-pack of these traps. I baited them with peanut butter and put one in my car and one by the lawnmower. So far, no mice have been caught. I do, however, have a trail of ants leading into the one by the lawnmower. Awesome. Yet another pest to deal with.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Only me.
I swear to God, some things that happen in my life don't happen to other people. They really don't.
The latest occurrence of this was yesterday and involves small, furry rodents and my car.
A couple of weeks ago, I drug out the lawnmower to mow the backyard. When I did that, out ran a little mouse who had built a nest under my lawnmower in the garage. "Hmmm," I thought. "I should do something about that." But I was focused on mowing, so that was a chore for another day.
I guess that day has arrived. Because yesterday, I picked up the windowshade that was in the foot/leg area of my front passenger seat, and under the window shade, in the floor, was the little trash bag I keep there. It was in tatters. Little shredded pieces of plastic were all over the floor where Mr. Mouse had tried to get at some food that I'd thrown into the trash bag.
Let me reiterate this: the mouse had somehow gotten in my CAR (which I do, in fact, park in my garage) and was hanging out - eating, sleeping, possibly pooping or whatever a mouse does when hanging out in your car. I just pray he hasn't been gnawing wires and such.
Does this happen to other people? Do other people get MICE in their car??? I'm not foul. I don't normally have food in my car. I'd bought a little package of Nibs on the way home from Houston on Sunday, and they were all crystallized and nasty, so I tossed the package in the trash and just hadn't gotten around to throwing out the trash bag. It had only been in there a few days - a closed container of melted ice cream. That's all. Nothing gross! It wasn't like meat or something. And it wasn't just loose in the trash or in the car. I know people with kids who find random french fries, skittles and all sorts of stuff in their cars. And they don't get mice!!
So, now I've got to go get a trap. I hate the thought of this. I hate the thought of a painful, brutal death to a little furry guy just tryin' to live his little rodent life. But he's going to gnaw a cable or a wire or something on my car, and I'm going to end up stranded on the road. Or he'll do that to an extension cord in the garage, and I'll end up electrocuted. Or he'll give me the plague or something. It's just not a good living arrangement.
So, he has to go. And I'll probably cry when I find him all dead in a horrible way. I suppose I could try to get my cat to take care of the problem for me. But she's likely to just play with it and then come inside to eat, rather than actually killing it, and then if I kill it, she'll blame me for killing her new friend/toy, so that's no good.
So, there we are. I guess I'll get a trap today and put it in my car tonight. I don't know that Mr. Mouse is actually still in the car. Probably he's just in the garage. He probably got through to the Nibs and said, "These things are all crystallized and nasty. I'm going back under the lawnmower." But I have to make sure I'm getting whoever is coming into the car, so that's where the trap will go. Wish me luck that The End is not too graphic.
The latest occurrence of this was yesterday and involves small, furry rodents and my car.
A couple of weeks ago, I drug out the lawnmower to mow the backyard. When I did that, out ran a little mouse who had built a nest under my lawnmower in the garage. "Hmmm," I thought. "I should do something about that." But I was focused on mowing, so that was a chore for another day.
I guess that day has arrived. Because yesterday, I picked up the windowshade that was in the foot/leg area of my front passenger seat, and under the window shade, in the floor, was the little trash bag I keep there. It was in tatters. Little shredded pieces of plastic were all over the floor where Mr. Mouse had tried to get at some food that I'd thrown into the trash bag.
Let me reiterate this: the mouse had somehow gotten in my CAR (which I do, in fact, park in my garage) and was hanging out - eating, sleeping, possibly pooping or whatever a mouse does when hanging out in your car. I just pray he hasn't been gnawing wires and such.
Does this happen to other people? Do other people get MICE in their car??? I'm not foul. I don't normally have food in my car. I'd bought a little package of Nibs on the way home from Houston on Sunday, and they were all crystallized and nasty, so I tossed the package in the trash and just hadn't gotten around to throwing out the trash bag. It had only been in there a few days - a closed container of melted ice cream. That's all. Nothing gross! It wasn't like meat or something. And it wasn't just loose in the trash or in the car. I know people with kids who find random french fries, skittles and all sorts of stuff in their cars. And they don't get mice!!
So, now I've got to go get a trap. I hate the thought of this. I hate the thought of a painful, brutal death to a little furry guy just tryin' to live his little rodent life. But he's going to gnaw a cable or a wire or something on my car, and I'm going to end up stranded on the road. Or he'll do that to an extension cord in the garage, and I'll end up electrocuted. Or he'll give me the plague or something. It's just not a good living arrangement.
So, he has to go. And I'll probably cry when I find him all dead in a horrible way. I suppose I could try to get my cat to take care of the problem for me. But she's likely to just play with it and then come inside to eat, rather than actually killing it, and then if I kill it, she'll blame me for killing her new friend/toy, so that's no good.
So, there we are. I guess I'll get a trap today and put it in my car tonight. I don't know that Mr. Mouse is actually still in the car. Probably he's just in the garage. He probably got through to the Nibs and said, "These things are all crystallized and nasty. I'm going back under the lawnmower." But I have to make sure I'm getting whoever is coming into the car, so that's where the trap will go. Wish me luck that The End is not too graphic.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Older and wiser
The reunion was an interesting experience. It was a lot like stepping into a time machine.
I grew up in Houston. I graduated high school and moved to Austin to go to college. After college, I returned to Houston for a couple of years, but ended up back in Austin in 1994 and have been here ever since. That means I've been in Austin almost as many years as I was in Houston - not quite, but getting there.
I still go to Houston pretty regularly, but usually it's to visit my family there. I don't go out there or have any kind of social network. I have a friend or two there, but we don't usually get together when I'm there. It's not home anymore. Austin is. Austin is where my life is - the life I created, rather than the life I was born into. It's my friends, my work, my literal home, some family, and it's most of my experiences for the last 13 years. It's my life. Houston is the stage my past played out on.
I had a good childhood, and I like Houston. It has a lot to offer, and I like that I know the city - that I can get around in this enormous expanse with a fair degree of confidence. And I never feel uncomfortable there. Until this weekend.
Suddenly, in this place of my past, surrounded by people from my past, I felt out of place - like I was in some weird dream that just kept going for two days. Many of the people were familiar, though some were not, and everyone was very nice. It was actually really good to see that most people had outgrown the old cliques and juvenile crap and they were genuinely interested in finding out what had happened with everyone. It was neat to see who I remembered and who remembered me. But it truly felt like a moment out of synch with my reality.
These people aren't part of my life anymore. I remember them, but in a vauge, imprinted kind of way - like a tattoo that's gotten really old and faded and kind of run and doesn't really belong anymore.
I came away feeling glad that I went - happy to see the old faces and learn what had happened with everyone and see how everyone had sort of levelled. But I also came away feeling a strong conviction about how much I like my life now. I was really ready to get back to it. I may not have everything I want the way I want it, but the life I've made for myself is a good one. It fits me. It works. I have wonderful friends and a great family and a house I like and a career that I'm proud of, and...well, I'm just grateful for the way my life has turned out.
So, I'm glad I went to my reunion. And I'm glad to be back. I don't think I'll need to go to another reunion, but this time (I said that before), it's in a good way.
I grew up in Houston. I graduated high school and moved to Austin to go to college. After college, I returned to Houston for a couple of years, but ended up back in Austin in 1994 and have been here ever since. That means I've been in Austin almost as many years as I was in Houston - not quite, but getting there.
I still go to Houston pretty regularly, but usually it's to visit my family there. I don't go out there or have any kind of social network. I have a friend or two there, but we don't usually get together when I'm there. It's not home anymore. Austin is. Austin is where my life is - the life I created, rather than the life I was born into. It's my friends, my work, my literal home, some family, and it's most of my experiences for the last 13 years. It's my life. Houston is the stage my past played out on.
I had a good childhood, and I like Houston. It has a lot to offer, and I like that I know the city - that I can get around in this enormous expanse with a fair degree of confidence. And I never feel uncomfortable there. Until this weekend.
Suddenly, in this place of my past, surrounded by people from my past, I felt out of place - like I was in some weird dream that just kept going for two days. Many of the people were familiar, though some were not, and everyone was very nice. It was actually really good to see that most people had outgrown the old cliques and juvenile crap and they were genuinely interested in finding out what had happened with everyone. It was neat to see who I remembered and who remembered me. But it truly felt like a moment out of synch with my reality.
These people aren't part of my life anymore. I remember them, but in a vauge, imprinted kind of way - like a tattoo that's gotten really old and faded and kind of run and doesn't really belong anymore.
I came away feeling glad that I went - happy to see the old faces and learn what had happened with everyone and see how everyone had sort of levelled. But I also came away feeling a strong conviction about how much I like my life now. I was really ready to get back to it. I may not have everything I want the way I want it, but the life I've made for myself is a good one. It fits me. It works. I have wonderful friends and a great family and a house I like and a career that I'm proud of, and...well, I'm just grateful for the way my life has turned out.
So, I'm glad I went to my reunion. And I'm glad to be back. I don't think I'll need to go to another reunion, but this time (I said that before), it's in a good way.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Withdrawal looms
I will not get my usual fall Saturday football-o-rama this week. My friend that I'm going to the reunion with is not a football fan, so we shall not spend Saturday frantically switching among sports channels with every timeout to see what's happening with the other 4-6 games that are on that I might be interested in.
That means I had to get my fix last night with the Thurday games. It went well. For a while, Maryland kinda hung in there with West Virginia, so I switched between that and Air Force/TCU. But then West Virginia began to pull away, and Air Force began to come back, so I switched exclusively to Air Force/TCU, which was a good decision. That turned into a good game!
My policy on the service academies is that when any of them play anyone but UT, I root for the service academy. It's like rooting the America. When you root for a soldier, airman or seaman, you're rooting for the U.S. I like the idea that our servicemen are stronger, faster and tougher than the average beer-drinking, pot-smoking, reckless driving, possibly assault-committing prima donna college football player (I'm a little disgusted with UT players at the moment and their many run-ins with the law - can you tell?).
When they play each other, I only care about Army winning, because my dad is an Army vet. I don't care who wins when Air Force plays Navy.
So, I have nothing against TCU when I say that I was excited to see Air Force come back last night and I'm glad they won. Shoot, if anything, it'd be better for TCU if they ran the rest of the table. Considering the trouble we had with them, it would help us if they looked like a powerhouse. But I hate to see any U.S. military team lose anything, so I was glad Air Force rallied.
Let's just hope that'll hold me until next week. Maybe I can tape the UT game and watch it Sunday night...
That means I had to get my fix last night with the Thurday games. It went well. For a while, Maryland kinda hung in there with West Virginia, so I switched between that and Air Force/TCU. But then West Virginia began to pull away, and Air Force began to come back, so I switched exclusively to Air Force/TCU, which was a good decision. That turned into a good game!
My policy on the service academies is that when any of them play anyone but UT, I root for the service academy. It's like rooting the America. When you root for a soldier, airman or seaman, you're rooting for the U.S. I like the idea that our servicemen are stronger, faster and tougher than the average beer-drinking, pot-smoking, reckless driving, possibly assault-committing prima donna college football player (I'm a little disgusted with UT players at the moment and their many run-ins with the law - can you tell?).
When they play each other, I only care about Army winning, because my dad is an Army vet. I don't care who wins when Air Force plays Navy.
So, I have nothing against TCU when I say that I was excited to see Air Force come back last night and I'm glad they won. Shoot, if anything, it'd be better for TCU if they ran the rest of the table. Considering the trouble we had with them, it would help us if they looked like a powerhouse. But I hate to see any U.S. military team lose anything, so I was glad Air Force rallied.
Let's just hope that'll hold me until next week. Maybe I can tape the UT game and watch it Sunday night...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
I'm too plugged in.
It's official. I have too many email addresses and too many passwords to sites, accounts, etc.
For years, I had three email accounts at any given time - a work one, a home one and then a home/business one that I could use to conduct personal business (my regular home one has a UT slant to the name, and sometimes you need to look professional, not like a football fan, and sometimes you just don't want everything under the sun coming to the same account that your friends send happy hour emails to).
My home/business one had my name in it, though, so then I started a 4th email account to use for stuff where I don't want my name showing (like eBay), but again, don't necessarily want cluttering up my "friend" email.
Then blogger made me start a Google account. That's when the downhill slide started. I was able to set it up using one of my existing email accounts for sign-in information, but still - 5 accounts was a little unwieldy. Then I started my business - email #6, to reflect the business name. Then, and this is went it all went off the rails, at my regular job, we started using a shareable Google calendar. To use the calendar, you have to tie into it using a Google Gmail account. Well, I couldn't use the Gmail account for my business for obvious reasons, and I didn't want to tie my personal Gmail account to it, so, you guessed it, I opened email account #7 - a Gmail account that uses my work email stuff for sign-in information.
That's officially too many. I don't remember to check them all. And at times I need one up and have to close one to open the other and I worry I'll have the wrong one up at work. Plus, when I got my high-speed at home, they asked me if I wanted to tie my AT&T high speed account to an existing Yahoo account, and I did, not knowing that they would change my password! So, even when I use one of the accounts I've had forever, I have to keep remembering that the password has changed!
It's too much. And yet, I can't close any of them down because they're all used for different things and tied to different things and it would be a pain to go in and re-tie things around. Oy. This modern world. It's getting to me.
For years, I had three email accounts at any given time - a work one, a home one and then a home/business one that I could use to conduct personal business (my regular home one has a UT slant to the name, and sometimes you need to look professional, not like a football fan, and sometimes you just don't want everything under the sun coming to the same account that your friends send happy hour emails to).
My home/business one had my name in it, though, so then I started a 4th email account to use for stuff where I don't want my name showing (like eBay), but again, don't necessarily want cluttering up my "friend" email.
Then blogger made me start a Google account. That's when the downhill slide started. I was able to set it up using one of my existing email accounts for sign-in information, but still - 5 accounts was a little unwieldy. Then I started my business - email #6, to reflect the business name. Then, and this is went it all went off the rails, at my regular job, we started using a shareable Google calendar. To use the calendar, you have to tie into it using a Google Gmail account. Well, I couldn't use the Gmail account for my business for obvious reasons, and I didn't want to tie my personal Gmail account to it, so, you guessed it, I opened email account #7 - a Gmail account that uses my work email stuff for sign-in information.
That's officially too many. I don't remember to check them all. And at times I need one up and have to close one to open the other and I worry I'll have the wrong one up at work. Plus, when I got my high-speed at home, they asked me if I wanted to tie my AT&T high speed account to an existing Yahoo account, and I did, not knowing that they would change my password! So, even when I use one of the accounts I've had forever, I have to keep remembering that the password has changed!
It's too much. And yet, I can't close any of them down because they're all used for different things and tied to different things and it would be a pain to go in and re-tie things around. Oy. This modern world. It's getting to me.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Reunion
Oh boy. This weekend should be interesting. It's my 20-year high school reunion.
First off, I can't get my head around the fact that it's my 20th reunion. That suggests that it's been 20 years since I graduated from high school. It practically says it positively. And that just can't be right.
Second, there's the matter of humiliating myself at my five-year reunion. "Five-year reunion?" you ask. Yes, we had one at five years. No one does that. They all wait until 10 years. That's the reasonable approach. By the 10th year, your lives have begun to settle down a bit into something resembling one another. At the 5-year mark, you're all in different places. Some people are still in college, others have just graduated, some never went and have been working all that time, some are married, some have kids, some haven't even considered a family yet, some are already divorced - you're all over the map.
So, the five-year thing is stupid to begin with. I was one of the folks just out of college and still in party mode - no spouse, no kids, no job, barely employed. Add a wee bit too much alcohol and a dance floor to the mix and you have the disaster of my first reunion. As I tentatively approach my 20-year, it weighs on me that I must live that down as part of the bargain.
Thirdly, there's the marital status thing. I'm considering keeping count of how many times I have to announce that "No, I've never been married" to the incredulity of whoever is asking. Because it's simply inconceivable (yes, you can say that like the guy in Princess Bride) that anyone, particularly female, could reach the age of 38 without having walked down the aisle at least once. The friend I'm going with assures me that she'll be equally chagrined to keep sharing the news that she's divorced, but I figure half the people there will be divorced, so that won't be awkward for long.
Fourthly, there's the question of whether anyone good will actually be there. Yeah, I know how that sounds, but it's true. If it's just all the old cheerleaders and jocks, still hangin' in their little cliques and trying to recapture the glory of some long-forgotten past of superiority...ick.
On the upside, I have a good career, look good for my age and haven't been to jail (narrow miss with that traffic ticket thing a couple of weeks ago - dodged the bullet!), so I should be able to hold my head up high. And it's going to be in a really nice hotel in downtown Houston, so it's a good venue (the 5-year was at some kind of VFW thing). And I think I'll have a lot of fun with the friend I'm going with. We were only acquaintances in high school, but we got to be friends in college and were actually roommates for a year. When we weren't having some kind of 20-year-old female spat, we laughed ALOT, so I think we'll have a blast now that we're grownups.
So, wish me luck. I'm giving myself a drink limit. That'll be a good start.
First off, I can't get my head around the fact that it's my 20th reunion. That suggests that it's been 20 years since I graduated from high school. It practically says it positively. And that just can't be right.
Second, there's the matter of humiliating myself at my five-year reunion. "Five-year reunion?" you ask. Yes, we had one at five years. No one does that. They all wait until 10 years. That's the reasonable approach. By the 10th year, your lives have begun to settle down a bit into something resembling one another. At the 5-year mark, you're all in different places. Some people are still in college, others have just graduated, some never went and have been working all that time, some are married, some have kids, some haven't even considered a family yet, some are already divorced - you're all over the map.
So, the five-year thing is stupid to begin with. I was one of the folks just out of college and still in party mode - no spouse, no kids, no job, barely employed. Add a wee bit too much alcohol and a dance floor to the mix and you have the disaster of my first reunion. As I tentatively approach my 20-year, it weighs on me that I must live that down as part of the bargain.
Thirdly, there's the marital status thing. I'm considering keeping count of how many times I have to announce that "No, I've never been married" to the incredulity of whoever is asking. Because it's simply inconceivable (yes, you can say that like the guy in Princess Bride) that anyone, particularly female, could reach the age of 38 without having walked down the aisle at least once. The friend I'm going with assures me that she'll be equally chagrined to keep sharing the news that she's divorced, but I figure half the people there will be divorced, so that won't be awkward for long.
Fourthly, there's the question of whether anyone good will actually be there. Yeah, I know how that sounds, but it's true. If it's just all the old cheerleaders and jocks, still hangin' in their little cliques and trying to recapture the glory of some long-forgotten past of superiority...ick.
On the upside, I have a good career, look good for my age and haven't been to jail (narrow miss with that traffic ticket thing a couple of weeks ago - dodged the bullet!), so I should be able to hold my head up high. And it's going to be in a really nice hotel in downtown Houston, so it's a good venue (the 5-year was at some kind of VFW thing). And I think I'll have a lot of fun with the friend I'm going with. We were only acquaintances in high school, but we got to be friends in college and were actually roommates for a year. When we weren't having some kind of 20-year-old female spat, we laughed ALOT, so I think we'll have a blast now that we're grownups.
So, wish me luck. I'm giving myself a drink limit. That'll be a good start.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Round it up
Time for a round-up!
- Longhorns 2-0, but it's been ugly so far. The performances thus far are NOT going to get us past OU next month. So, I'd better see some butt-kicking for the next three weeks. If you're going to ask $75 for TCU tickets (sorry - I swooned for a second), you'd better look like a top-5 team. We do not.
- Britney. Britney, Britney, Britney. I didn't watch VMAs. I never do. I don't watch videos, so it seems pointless to watch the VMAs. But I've seen the video of Britney's performance, and all I can say is "Get thee to a therapist." That girl looked lost. The dancing was half-ass and the singing was most likely lyp-synched and her expression most of the time seemed to be, "What's going on?" I don't know if she was high or if she's just having a complete breakdown, but she clearly needs some help. What a mess.
- Sen. Larry Craig. Shut up and go away. You tried to have anonymous sex in an airport bathroom (ewwwww) and you got busted. What are the odds it was the first time? You clearly do not have the judgment to run this country and you need to have enough shame to get out of the limelight.
- To anyone else seeking sex in an aiport bathroom - anonymous or otherwise - STOP IT. I fly occasionally, and I often have to use the bathroom in the airport before or after a flight. When I enter the bathroom to use the facilities, I am NOT agreeing to enter the champagne room! Granted, I am female and this nastiness seems to confine itself largely to mens' rooms, but I have to think that many a male traveler feels the way I do. If he wanted to go to The Man Hole, he'd pay a cover downtown - he just wants to pee without a floor show. Go home, get a friggin' room or do it in your car, but keep your pants ON or your winkie confined to pee-related activities when in a public place, and that includes a public restroom of any kind (airport, park, etc.). In fact, let's clarify that. If you're in a public place other than a restroom, keep your pants on and zipped with nothing hanging out that shouldn't be. If you need to pee, do it in a restroom with no extracurricular activity. Does that cover it?
- The Democrats held a Spanish-language debate. I can't even bring myself to comment on this one.
- Apparently, Buzz Aldrin has said that former astronaut Lisa Nowak should be admired, but not absolved, for her resolve in confronting the woman her ex-lover had taken up with. Um...yeah...not really. You don't get points for being *really committed* to your jealous insanity.
- Longhorns 2-0, but it's been ugly so far. The performances thus far are NOT going to get us past OU next month. So, I'd better see some butt-kicking for the next three weeks. If you're going to ask $75 for TCU tickets (sorry - I swooned for a second), you'd better look like a top-5 team. We do not.
- Britney. Britney, Britney, Britney. I didn't watch VMAs. I never do. I don't watch videos, so it seems pointless to watch the VMAs. But I've seen the video of Britney's performance, and all I can say is "Get thee to a therapist." That girl looked lost. The dancing was half-ass and the singing was most likely lyp-synched and her expression most of the time seemed to be, "What's going on?" I don't know if she was high or if she's just having a complete breakdown, but she clearly needs some help. What a mess.
- Sen. Larry Craig. Shut up and go away. You tried to have anonymous sex in an airport bathroom (ewwwww) and you got busted. What are the odds it was the first time? You clearly do not have the judgment to run this country and you need to have enough shame to get out of the limelight.
- To anyone else seeking sex in an aiport bathroom - anonymous or otherwise - STOP IT. I fly occasionally, and I often have to use the bathroom in the airport before or after a flight. When I enter the bathroom to use the facilities, I am NOT agreeing to enter the champagne room! Granted, I am female and this nastiness seems to confine itself largely to mens' rooms, but I have to think that many a male traveler feels the way I do. If he wanted to go to The Man Hole, he'd pay a cover downtown - he just wants to pee without a floor show. Go home, get a friggin' room or do it in your car, but keep your pants ON or your winkie confined to pee-related activities when in a public place, and that includes a public restroom of any kind (airport, park, etc.). In fact, let's clarify that. If you're in a public place other than a restroom, keep your pants on and zipped with nothing hanging out that shouldn't be. If you need to pee, do it in a restroom with no extracurricular activity. Does that cover it?
- The Democrats held a Spanish-language debate. I can't even bring myself to comment on this one.
- Apparently, Buzz Aldrin has said that former astronaut Lisa Nowak should be admired, but not absolved, for her resolve in confronting the woman her ex-lover had taken up with. Um...yeah...not really. You don't get points for being *really committed* to your jealous insanity.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
A poem
Sippin
mocha frappuccino
love-a java
love-a Starbucks
Don't hate!
Corporate giant
But damn.
frappucino
dulce de leche latte
white chocolate mocha
In the fridge
Mexican Coke
Heaven on earth
sugar
not corn syrup!
burst of bubbles
perfection sliding
across my tongue
down my throat
(don't be dirty)
Caffeine
sugar
liquid wonder
Yeah, yeah, water
drink that, too
get off my back
tend to your own vice
Wait a second. Did I just see a topless woman in a Nutrisystem commercial?
mocha frappuccino
love-a java
love-a Starbucks
Don't hate!
Corporate giant
But damn.
frappucino
dulce de leche latte
white chocolate mocha
In the fridge
Mexican Coke
Heaven on earth
sugar
not corn syrup!
burst of bubbles
perfection sliding
across my tongue
down my throat
(don't be dirty)
Caffeine
sugar
liquid wonder
Yeah, yeah, water
drink that, too
get off my back
tend to your own vice
Wait a second. Did I just see a topless woman in a Nutrisystem commercial?
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Raise the Red Remote
Saw a great movie last night. It's called Raise the Red Lantern. It's kind of like Big Love, only in Chinese and without the humor. But don't let the fact that it's tragedy instead of comedy scare you away if you have the chance to see it somewhere. It's very powerful. It's full of intrigue and tension. I was telling a co-worker about it this morning, and I swear I could've been describing a season of Dynasty...except Blake would've been married to Crystal and Alexis at the same time.
Another evening of intrigue and tragedy was had on Sunday. My friends and I played a TV trivia game, and many lessons were learned. Among them:
1. I am NOT the TV trivia ringer we all dreamed I would be (that's the tragic part).
2. Dave IS a trivia ringer, apparently for any subject. Thus, from now on, when we play a trivia game of any kind, Dave will constitute a team unto himself, and the rest of us may band together as a team against him. Sorry man - it's lonely at the top.
3. Don't let Tony have the remote and a cocktail at the same time.
4. Ridley is destined to fall in love easily and often.
5. Julia picks great gifts.
My parting thought for the day: I *love* short weeks! It's already Wednesday, people!!
Another evening of intrigue and tragedy was had on Sunday. My friends and I played a TV trivia game, and many lessons were learned. Among them:
1. I am NOT the TV trivia ringer we all dreamed I would be (that's the tragic part).
2. Dave IS a trivia ringer, apparently for any subject. Thus, from now on, when we play a trivia game of any kind, Dave will constitute a team unto himself, and the rest of us may band together as a team against him. Sorry man - it's lonely at the top.
3. Don't let Tony have the remote and a cocktail at the same time.
4. Ridley is destined to fall in love easily and often.
5. Julia picks great gifts.
My parting thought for the day: I *love* short weeks! It's already Wednesday, people!!
Sunday, September 02, 2007
For Judy
I'm supposed to be on my way to a Labor Day barbecue. We decided to do it Sunday instead of Monday so we could stay up late if we so chose and not be tired for our return to work on Tuesday. They should make the Mondays after Super Bowl Sundays a holiday for the same reason. But I digress.
Incidentally, I've thought of renaming my blog that - "But I digress." I kinda snicker whenever I type it now. It's kind of inside joke. If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I do that alot. That is, I digress, and I type, "But I digress." It's kind of like Columbo's "Just one more thing.." But you know what? Even this paragraph is a digression. So, I'll get back to my point.
My point was that I'm supposed to be on my way to Pflugerville for a BBQ, but I'm trapped at a coffee shop. I came here to do a little writing and enjoy a decadent coffee drink (a yummy concoction of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and coconut, iced...zowie), but literally 2 minutes before I was going to shut down my computer and head north, the sky opened up, and now it is pouring. And I don't have an umbrella. And I have to stop at the grocery store around the corner to grab meet to grill. So, you see, I'll get completely soaked running to the car, then running to the store, then running back to my car. And this is BEFORE I get to the BBQ. I don't care if I get caught in the rain after I leave an event. Who cares if I arrive home looking like drowned rat? I just want to look decent at the event. And besides, I'm wearing a white t-shirt. Who do you think I am - Britney?
So this means I have to wait for the rain to let up before I can leave the coffee shop. I've finished the writing I needed to do for the day, and I've called my host and alerted them to the situation, so they know I'm detained. That left me with some time on my hands, a computer, and a high-speed connection. That equals a blog post.
So, here it is! I think I'll quickly address the comment on my post from yesterday. Judy lamented that I changed my original post from yesterday. Yes, I did. My original post was a diatribe on the sanctity of football. I related it to the Va Tech situation - how the media now is in mad love with Va Tech - wants them to win every game, and the unenviable position that puts any of their opponents in. The rain is letting up a bit, so I'll hurry and try to remake my point.
Football is football. Football isn't a social soapbox. It isn't a political event. It isn't charity. Football is not the moment for all of us to say, "If there is a God, they will win a national championship because they had an awful thing happen to them." First of all, Va TEch would trade a national championship for the lives of the students that were lost any day of the week. As would LSU to have their city back. As would Texas A&M to have the students back who died in the bonfire collapse. As would UT to have the students back that the Tower Shooter murdered. So on and so forth.
Second of all, if you want life to return to normal, you behave normally. That means not turning every single one of their games into a retrospective of the shooting. You focus on the football. You let the students cheer. You let the players play. And (and here's the important part) you let the opponents play. If they win, you don't act like it's a disappointment and take away from those players what they've accomplished. You don't act like the other team should pull their punches. You don't act like the shooter somehow gave the Va Tech players super powers. You let them play, and you let it play out the way it would if the tragedy had never happened. That's how you give that community back its normalcy.
Football is football. It's hits, passes, tackles, penalties, scoring and running like hell on an open field to the roar of the crowd. It's rough. It's fun. It's awesome. And the emotion and passion that abound in a full stadium isn't about what happens outside the stadium. It's about what happens on the field. There are no terrorists. There are no plane crashes, mass murderers, hurricanes or race riots. There's no room for agendas. It's not a statement. It's not a sign. It's a game. For 3 glorious hours, it's a game. Let the players play. Let the fans cheer or curse or whatever is appropriate based on the action. Let them all escape what happened before they entered the stadium and what might be waiting when they get out, and let them enjoy it - whatever the outcome.
For 3 hours, just focus on the game, media. Just let football be football.
(Happy, Judy? I hope so, because I gotta go now and I don't have any time to perfect this post!)
Incidentally, I've thought of renaming my blog that - "But I digress." I kinda snicker whenever I type it now. It's kind of inside joke. If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I do that alot. That is, I digress, and I type, "But I digress." It's kind of like Columbo's "Just one more thing.." But you know what? Even this paragraph is a digression. So, I'll get back to my point.
My point was that I'm supposed to be on my way to Pflugerville for a BBQ, but I'm trapped at a coffee shop. I came here to do a little writing and enjoy a decadent coffee drink (a yummy concoction of coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and coconut, iced...zowie), but literally 2 minutes before I was going to shut down my computer and head north, the sky opened up, and now it is pouring. And I don't have an umbrella. And I have to stop at the grocery store around the corner to grab meet to grill. So, you see, I'll get completely soaked running to the car, then running to the store, then running back to my car. And this is BEFORE I get to the BBQ. I don't care if I get caught in the rain after I leave an event. Who cares if I arrive home looking like drowned rat? I just want to look decent at the event. And besides, I'm wearing a white t-shirt. Who do you think I am - Britney?
So this means I have to wait for the rain to let up before I can leave the coffee shop. I've finished the writing I needed to do for the day, and I've called my host and alerted them to the situation, so they know I'm detained. That left me with some time on my hands, a computer, and a high-speed connection. That equals a blog post.
So, here it is! I think I'll quickly address the comment on my post from yesterday. Judy lamented that I changed my original post from yesterday. Yes, I did. My original post was a diatribe on the sanctity of football. I related it to the Va Tech situation - how the media now is in mad love with Va Tech - wants them to win every game, and the unenviable position that puts any of their opponents in. The rain is letting up a bit, so I'll hurry and try to remake my point.
Football is football. Football isn't a social soapbox. It isn't a political event. It isn't charity. Football is not the moment for all of us to say, "If there is a God, they will win a national championship because they had an awful thing happen to them." First of all, Va TEch would trade a national championship for the lives of the students that were lost any day of the week. As would LSU to have their city back. As would Texas A&M to have the students back who died in the bonfire collapse. As would UT to have the students back that the Tower Shooter murdered. So on and so forth.
Second of all, if you want life to return to normal, you behave normally. That means not turning every single one of their games into a retrospective of the shooting. You focus on the football. You let the students cheer. You let the players play. And (and here's the important part) you let the opponents play. If they win, you don't act like it's a disappointment and take away from those players what they've accomplished. You don't act like the other team should pull their punches. You don't act like the shooter somehow gave the Va Tech players super powers. You let them play, and you let it play out the way it would if the tragedy had never happened. That's how you give that community back its normalcy.
Football is football. It's hits, passes, tackles, penalties, scoring and running like hell on an open field to the roar of the crowd. It's rough. It's fun. It's awesome. And the emotion and passion that abound in a full stadium isn't about what happens outside the stadium. It's about what happens on the field. There are no terrorists. There are no plane crashes, mass murderers, hurricanes or race riots. There's no room for agendas. It's not a statement. It's not a sign. It's a game. For 3 glorious hours, it's a game. Let the players play. Let the fans cheer or curse or whatever is appropriate based on the action. Let them all escape what happened before they entered the stadium and what might be waiting when they get out, and let them enjoy it - whatever the outcome.
For 3 hours, just focus on the game, media. Just let football be football.
(Happy, Judy? I hope so, because I gotta go now and I don't have any time to perfect this post!)
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Football. Need I say more?
Halle-booyah!! It's the first Saturday of college football! Happy, happy, day.
The only things adversely affecting my ability to enjoy this holy day to its fullest are:
1. I'm having to focus my attention largely on the online defensive driving course I'm taking as I try to keep up with the numerous games on TV at any given time today (Let's not worry about why I have to take defensive driving. Just assume that it's not for the insurance discount.). The good news is that my spiffy new DSL connection even makes it possible for me to do defensive driving while sitting on my couch in front of the TV. Count your blessings where you find them.
2. I sold my UT game tickets because I was going to go out of town this weekend. It's Labor Day weekend, and I thought it'd be nice to take a long weekend as a mini-vacation somewhere. I could watch the game on TV. But thanks to the ticket that led to my defensive driving and my new washer purchase, my budget didn't really support a mini-vacation anymore. And now I find out the UT game is only on pay-per-view! Sonofab... Okay. I'll listen to the radio broadcast. It'll be old school.
Despite my bad fortune with tickets and pay-per-view and whatnot, I'm enjoying my first marathon day of college football. I got to see Appalachian State take out Michigan, which is unfrigginbelievable. And Virginia Tech has now gotten their first game of the season out of the way, and they won, so maybe now we can stop having 24-hour coverage of "Virginia Tech: After The Tragedy." Probably not. No disrespect intended. I can just see that this will be like LSU after Katrina. Their entire season is going to be one continual rehash of the tragedy they experienced. "Hokies score! This will help them forget the tragedy. Here's a video tribute, though, so you won't." Before the game. Time-outs. Half-time. After the game. All season. Oy.
I realize it's recent, so right now, the Va Tech community probably appreciates the attention and the media favor. But I have to assume they will eventually get like UT did about the Tower Shooter - so beyond sick of hearing about it and so sick of people only seeming to know that about you. I hate to tell you guys, Va Tech, but it ain' nevuh goin' to go away. From now until forever, it's going to come up when anyone talks about mass murderers, gun control, college campus crime, mental health, your school in any capacity - someone will probably find a way to work it into a conversation about Fedex, NBC and Pho noodles eventually. And you'll grit your teeth. But I digress.
Back to football. I've watched pieces of I don't know how many games so far today. I intend to continue that into the night. God bless the PAC-10 and their games that start around the time I'm usually going to bed. My, how I love this time of year. :)
The only things adversely affecting my ability to enjoy this holy day to its fullest are:
1. I'm having to focus my attention largely on the online defensive driving course I'm taking as I try to keep up with the numerous games on TV at any given time today (Let's not worry about why I have to take defensive driving. Just assume that it's not for the insurance discount.). The good news is that my spiffy new DSL connection even makes it possible for me to do defensive driving while sitting on my couch in front of the TV. Count your blessings where you find them.
2. I sold my UT game tickets because I was going to go out of town this weekend. It's Labor Day weekend, and I thought it'd be nice to take a long weekend as a mini-vacation somewhere. I could watch the game on TV. But thanks to the ticket that led to my defensive driving and my new washer purchase, my budget didn't really support a mini-vacation anymore. And now I find out the UT game is only on pay-per-view! Sonofab... Okay. I'll listen to the radio broadcast. It'll be old school.
Despite my bad fortune with tickets and pay-per-view and whatnot, I'm enjoying my first marathon day of college football. I got to see Appalachian State take out Michigan, which is unfrigginbelievable. And Virginia Tech has now gotten their first game of the season out of the way, and they won, so maybe now we can stop having 24-hour coverage of "Virginia Tech: After The Tragedy." Probably not. No disrespect intended. I can just see that this will be like LSU after Katrina. Their entire season is going to be one continual rehash of the tragedy they experienced. "Hokies score! This will help them forget the tragedy. Here's a video tribute, though, so you won't." Before the game. Time-outs. Half-time. After the game. All season. Oy.
I realize it's recent, so right now, the Va Tech community probably appreciates the attention and the media favor. But I have to assume they will eventually get like UT did about the Tower Shooter - so beyond sick of hearing about it and so sick of people only seeming to know that about you. I hate to tell you guys, Va Tech, but it ain' nevuh goin' to go away. From now until forever, it's going to come up when anyone talks about mass murderers, gun control, college campus crime, mental health, your school in any capacity - someone will probably find a way to work it into a conversation about Fedex, NBC and Pho noodles eventually. And you'll grit your teeth. But I digress.
Back to football. I've watched pieces of I don't know how many games so far today. I intend to continue that into the night. God bless the PAC-10 and their games that start around the time I'm usually going to bed. My, how I love this time of year. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)