Even at summer camp, the smart, funny, nice ones are either married or gay.
Making me think it's almost genetic or something, I have just been on an INXS Kick-inspired nostalgia rush and discovered that the first boy I had a really serious crush on, the first boy I ever slowed danced with, seems to be gay. (Evidence is that he is in the LGBT alliance and student support program at the university he works in. Evidence part 2 is that he is in the theater department.) (Thank you Google.) This brings my total to 4. I didn't even know what gay was then. Why, why? What exactly is my problem - for 18 years? Gah.
It is a sad day indeed when your South Park portrait is cuter than the actual you.
This is me if I were a South Park character. The hat, scarf, and mittens are because I knit and becuase I like winter. The puppet is in tribute to Willa, my sock puppet.
You can make one too - at Planearium.
You can make one too - at Planearium.
ring-a-ding-ding
There was an ice cream man outside work today, with tinkling music and everything!!! We got slushies. Mmmm, slushy. Mine is now sitting happily in a travel mug, with hole in lid for straw, so as not to be spilled on white shirt. Safety first!
What's next: bratworse?
Note to local Fox station: the Illinois state fair serves neither "elephant ears" nor "lemonade shake-ups," as your spokesmodel claims on your promotional spots for a chance to win admission tickets. 'Round these parts, they're called "funnel cakes" and "lemon shake-ups."
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Milwauk-wheeeeee!
Chris, distinguished from the other Chrises as "my Australian friend," was on the continent for a few days between conferences, and since he was flying in and out of O'Hare and we had already visited Chicago and Champaign-Urbana, we decided to hang in Wisconsin. A good time was had indeed, although it was strangely humid without being hot, while also being windy. I am a lame-o who forgets to bring her camera on trips so once Chris sends me his I will add them.
Before I get to a list of what we did, I need advice on an ethical dilemma. Chris has brought two packets of Tim Tams: one Tia Maria, specifically requested by Jenny, and one regular, for me. Am I under any ethical obligation to share them with my Australia-knowledgeable friends? It seems they have mythic power to Australians abroad or to others who have lived there long enough to buy cookies - so I would not want to deny anyone of this simple, pure pleasure. And do I need to share them among people who have never had them but who are curious, thus acting as an Tam-Tam-vangelist? As long as I have a few to do the slam with, I'm happy.
However, I am definitely not sharing my Cherry Ripes because they ROCK and I love them more than anyone else possibly could. Ha ha ha. Maybe one for Kevin since he likes foreign candy so much. Kevin, if you're reading this, do you want a candy bar that is cherry-flavored coconut (and pink, too) wrapped in chocolate? With a jaunty, shiny red wrapper?
In looking for images of said treat, I have discovered that "cherry ripe" is part of a line from a seventeenth-century poem. Well, gather ye rosebuds!
Anyway! More on thew way....
Before I get to a list of what we did, I need advice on an ethical dilemma. Chris has brought two packets of Tim Tams: one Tia Maria, specifically requested by Jenny, and one regular, for me. Am I under any ethical obligation to share them with my Australia-knowledgeable friends? It seems they have mythic power to Australians abroad or to others who have lived there long enough to buy cookies - so I would not want to deny anyone of this simple, pure pleasure. And do I need to share them among people who have never had them but who are curious, thus acting as an Tam-Tam-vangelist? As long as I have a few to do the slam with, I'm happy.
However, I am definitely not sharing my Cherry Ripes because they ROCK and I love them more than anyone else possibly could. Ha ha ha. Maybe one for Kevin since he likes foreign candy so much. Kevin, if you're reading this, do you want a candy bar that is cherry-flavored coconut (and pink, too) wrapped in chocolate? With a jaunty, shiny red wrapper?
In looking for images of said treat, I have discovered that "cherry ripe" is part of a line from a seventeenth-century poem. Well, gather ye rosebuds!
Anyway! More on thew way....
bad math
Doooom! Doooooooooooom! Everyone is leaving! Champaign-Urbana is down four more - Mark, Frank and Anna, and Dana - all within less than a month of each other. So, the total since I started counting is -6. Down Jason, Josh, Mary, Mark, Frank, Anna, and Dana. Up Abby.
-6. I mean, really.
But on the up side, August always brings new people to a college town. Who knows what next month will bring!
It won't bring Jason, Josh, Mary, Mark, Frank, Anna, or Dana, though. Sniff.
-6. I mean, really.
But on the up side, August always brings new people to a college town. Who knows what next month will bring!
It won't bring Jason, Josh, Mary, Mark, Frank, Anna, or Dana, though. Sniff.
Ioan can stretch any which way he wants
Fantastic Four neither added to nor detracted from my love of Ioan Gruffud. On the down side, his accent was somewhat problematic, and he seemed to be thinking about it too hard to pay much attention to his timing, although to be fair none of them were given much to work with. On the up side, he was on the big screen and smiled at least as much as he does as Horatio. I am quite excited by the talk of him being - and wanting to be! - the next Bond.
subito piano
The other day Melina told me about a beautiful piano she saw for sale - for only $100. So I made an appointment to go look at it - and try it out - but when I showed up at the scheduled time the woman said it had already been sold - their son had taken my appointment but not told them about it or given them my number so they could call me. I was really surprised how sad that made me. On the way to their house I had been fretting about whether I could handle making moving arrangements for it, or whether was ready to commit to such a big, complicated physical object. For me, you can't get a piano and then not play it - you have to play it becuase that's its purpose - that's how it knows it's loved. I'm no professional, but music has a significant role in my... my what, my life? my mind? - it's a mental joy, an emotional joy - and because piano was my first musical experience, an instrument is a tie to my childhood, to the house I grew up in, to my dad who encouraged me to play, to high school choir practice, to moments when my parents were out and I'd haul out my Beatles sheet music and just wail away at the top of my lungs, loudly, not playing well, but with feeling, as they say. I was never exceptionally good at the piano, but I loved it anyway.
It's weird to have sudden opportunities, and get all caught up in the swirl of a possibility, and then just as quickly have to let go and detach. Oh well. Someday, my piano will make itself known, even if I have to smuggle my dad's out of their basement and haul it across time zones.
It's weird to have sudden opportunities, and get all caught up in the swirl of a possibility, and then just as quickly have to let go and detach. Oh well. Someday, my piano will make itself known, even if I have to smuggle my dad's out of their basement and haul it across time zones.
