I'm moving some entries from my old myspace blog over to this one, and just saw the entry "the most tragic thing ever". well, in retrospect, that wasn't such a big deal, but let me tell you the really most tragic thing ever:
I went to dinner with some friends at Wagamama in Harvard Square. They have a really amazing raw juice so I got a glass. I was eating my noodles and sipping my raw juice. The juice always goes too quickly and I am a fan of saving the best for last, so I saved one little sip in my cup to top off my meal after I was done with the rest. Then, the tragedy. The waiter swooped in and, while I was stooped over a big slurpful of noodles, whisked away my precious last sip of glorious, delicious raw juice! Oh, the agony!!! It still hurts my heart to think of it.
Actually, I was at a sushi place the other night I had an avocado salad I was eating slowly throughout the meal. The amount of sushi and salad was diminishing together, and when it got down to it, I wanted avocado to be my last bite. The waitress was really eager to take my empty sushi plate, last slice still getting chewed, and reached for my avocado plate. I learned from my previous tragic experience though and touched my chopsticks to the plate and told her through my sushi that I wasn't done.
Why are waiters so eager to take stuff away?? Are people really so wasteful that they leave food all over? Probably so, sadly. Well, I'm not!! So, if you're ever saving a really amazing last bite, guard it with your life. The end.
15 May 2009
catch-up
Backtracking a little...
Here's the story of Texas:
Once upon a time, two buddies wanted to take a little trip to big ol' Texas, land of the cowboys, to visit their buddy. They nabbed up some cheap tix and flew out, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. They didn't know the tix were so cheap cuz US Airways is LAME. The first leg seemed ok, but in Charlotte, their connection was inexplicably cancelled. "Maintenance", they were told. ugh. They talked to the nice lady at the counter and she got them a hotel. The nicer ones were booked, and they were sent to the Days Inn. The Days Inn looked like a public swimming pool, bright blue paint on the lower part of the walls and white on the upper, with a faint smell of chlorine. The buddies took their meal vouchers to the hotel just to find out the airport lady was wrong and there was no restaurant. The surly-turned-sweet Sharon (name changed due to failed memories) gave us our room then gave them a different room when that one wouldn't open (even though they tried to body slam it) and gave them conditioner and lotion. An array of snacks was displayed on the table and dinner was served.
Back to the airport for a morning flight to Dallas, where the buddies met their other buddy and went to the temple. Then all the buddies got their camping gear and headed to Dinosaur Valley State Park, home of dino footprints, deer, cardinals galore and a very noisy armadillo. Dino valley was way cool, and nobody had to use the life jugs. 
The buddies packed up and got lunch at a BBQ place. 
Wow, what a lot of meat! It was tasty meat. Pretty much, the buddies (at least the two visiting buddies) ate more meat during their 4 days in Texas than they had in the whole previous year. 
The waitress recommended the scenic drive, so the buddies headed that way. They were going to Dublin, home of Dr. Pepper, via a town with a name not quite known due to the waitresses accent. Hacko? haco? The buddies found they were headed to Hico, TX, home of the death place of Billy the Kid. 
In fact the next day was the annual Billy the Kid festival, and a nice old lady shop owner offered to let the buddies camp in the alley behind her shop so they could attend the festival the next day. It would have been awesome, but the buddies needed to move on. They asked a girl outside a candy store how to say the name of the town and it turned out to be HI-CO. The buddies got to Dublin just in time for the last tour of the day of the original Dr. Pepper factory. Dublinites are very proud of their Dr. Pepper because it is the only place that still uses cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. 
They gave a little sample bottle to tour participants, and one buddy got a Dr. Pepper Frosty and another buddy got a Big Red Frosty after the tour. The third buddy got a Dr. Pepper cake mix and frosting mix. The buddies headed home after driving by the famous Stockyards and Billy Bobs in Fort Worth. The next day was the first day of the spring General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is a 2-hr morning session and a 2-hr afternoon session. The buddies watched these and learned how to crochet. Between the sessions they went to a park in Frisco, near the buddy's house. There was a neat big world fountain, a pond and a woodsy part with paths. 
They walked on the "Interpretive Trail" and interpreted. (One buddy says something and the other buddies strike an interpretive pose.) During the interpreting, a buddy turned to see a bright green snake in the brush at eye level, posing along with them! 
After a little visit, they left the little fellow alone and returned home. Sunday was similar-- conference sessions in the morning and afternoon. They went out for some TexMex for dinner and discovered that TexMex is pretty amazing in the place of origin and that Dallas folk don't know about Dublin Dr. Pepper, even though they are so close. The buddies made that Sunday their honorary Easter and dyed eggs. 
They hid them between the sessions and had a grand time finding them. In the evening they had a traditional ham Easter dinner and the Dr. Pepper cake for dessert. What a great time! The Texas buddy had to work on Monday so she dropped the two buddies off at the airport at 6:30am for their 1pm flight. The two buddies found neat chairs to relax on and found lots of neat art in the international terminal. 
They got so interested in the airport, they almost missed their flight!! Silly buddies. Lucky for them their flight was delayed (but it was just another demonstration of USAirway's incompetence.) This flight was delayed so they were put on a later one at the transfer airport. Fortunately they still got home at a decent time, and lived happily ever after.
Here's the story of Texas:
Once upon a time, two buddies wanted to take a little trip to big ol' Texas, land of the cowboys, to visit their buddy. They nabbed up some cheap tix and flew out, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. They didn't know the tix were so cheap cuz US Airways is LAME. The first leg seemed ok, but in Charlotte, their connection was inexplicably cancelled. "Maintenance", they were told. ugh. They talked to the nice lady at the counter and she got them a hotel. The nicer ones were booked, and they were sent to the Days Inn. The Days Inn looked like a public swimming pool, bright blue paint on the lower part of the walls and white on the upper, with a faint smell of chlorine. The buddies took their meal vouchers to the hotel just to find out the airport lady was wrong and there was no restaurant. The surly-turned-sweet Sharon (name changed due to failed memories) gave us our room then gave them a different room when that one wouldn't open (even though they tried to body slam it) and gave them conditioner and lotion. An array of snacks was displayed on the table and dinner was served.
Back to the airport for a morning flight to Dallas, where the buddies met their other buddy and went to the temple. Then all the buddies got their camping gear and headed to Dinosaur Valley State Park, home of dino footprints, deer, cardinals galore and a very noisy armadillo. Dino valley was way cool, and nobody had to use the life jugs. 
The buddies packed up and got lunch at a BBQ place. 
Wow, what a lot of meat! It was tasty meat. Pretty much, the buddies (at least the two visiting buddies) ate more meat during their 4 days in Texas than they had in the whole previous year. 
The waitress recommended the scenic drive, so the buddies headed that way. They were going to Dublin, home of Dr. Pepper, via a town with a name not quite known due to the waitresses accent. Hacko? haco? The buddies found they were headed to Hico, TX, home of the death place of Billy the Kid. 
In fact the next day was the annual Billy the Kid festival, and a nice old lady shop owner offered to let the buddies camp in the alley behind her shop so they could attend the festival the next day. It would have been awesome, but the buddies needed to move on. They asked a girl outside a candy store how to say the name of the town and it turned out to be HI-CO. The buddies got to Dublin just in time for the last tour of the day of the original Dr. Pepper factory. Dublinites are very proud of their Dr. Pepper because it is the only place that still uses cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. 
They gave a little sample bottle to tour participants, and one buddy got a Dr. Pepper Frosty and another buddy got a Big Red Frosty after the tour. The third buddy got a Dr. Pepper cake mix and frosting mix. The buddies headed home after driving by the famous Stockyards and Billy Bobs in Fort Worth. The next day was the first day of the spring General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is a 2-hr morning session and a 2-hr afternoon session. The buddies watched these and learned how to crochet. Between the sessions they went to a park in Frisco, near the buddy's house. There was a neat big world fountain, a pond and a woodsy part with paths. 
They walked on the "Interpretive Trail" and interpreted. (One buddy says something and the other buddies strike an interpretive pose.) During the interpreting, a buddy turned to see a bright green snake in the brush at eye level, posing along with them! 
After a little visit, they left the little fellow alone and returned home. Sunday was similar-- conference sessions in the morning and afternoon. They went out for some TexMex for dinner and discovered that TexMex is pretty amazing in the place of origin and that Dallas folk don't know about Dublin Dr. Pepper, even though they are so close. The buddies made that Sunday their honorary Easter and dyed eggs. 
They hid them between the sessions and had a grand time finding them. In the evening they had a traditional ham Easter dinner and the Dr. Pepper cake for dessert. What a great time! The Texas buddy had to work on Monday so she dropped the two buddies off at the airport at 6:30am for their 1pm flight. The two buddies found neat chairs to relax on and found lots of neat art in the international terminal. 
They got so interested in the airport, they almost missed their flight!! Silly buddies. Lucky for them their flight was delayed (but it was just another demonstration of USAirway's incompetence.) This flight was delayed so they were put on a later one at the transfer airport. Fortunately they still got home at a decent time, and lived happily ever after.
13 May 2009
08 May 2009
a friday story about wednesday
ok, I'm over being creeped out by secret readers. for the time being. but I still love it best when you comment and when you tell me who you are. ;P
Wednesday morning eebs and I were having breakfast. It was a calm sunny morning and we were going to be on time for work. Then we heard a random ruckus. We looked at each other, shrugged and kept eating. It happened again. Was a woodpecker trying to find his breakfast in our chimney?? We heard tweeting in our wall. Apparently a bird was stuck in our chimney. What does one do when a bird is stuck in one's chimney? This was new territory for me.
We put an old sheet down over the ashes in the fireplace then got the Heman sheet and tucked it in the fireplace and held it over the front. What bird wouldn't want to be rescued in the arms of Heman? We opened the flue and.... nothing. Just a sprinkling of soot. We heard the bird flapping and tweeting a few feet up and I thought maybe there was a grill there blocking it from falling. eebs thought maybe the hole of the flue was too small for it to fall through. I thought maybe the chimney was too narrow for it to fly up and that was why it was stuck halfway down. We didn't know what to do.
We turned on the computer and looked up animal rescue places around here and called the most promising one to ask for guidance. About this time, the chimney got ominously silent. The animal rescue guy asked if our chimney was capped. Who knows! I can't see the roof to my place! He asked if we shined a flashlight and looked up the chimney. Gee, hadn't thought of that, but we have no flashlight. Basically he summed it up by saying we could call our landlord or a chimney sweep (sometimes they will do wildlife removal), but there wasn't much his organization could do to help us. If we were too squeamish to reach in and grab the bird, they could send someone to do that for us.
Realizing we have no flashlight, we got a lamp and tried shining it up the chimney. It looked pretty clean and empty. And it turns out our chimney is capped. So our best guess is that the chimney wasn't too narrow for the bird to fly up and the beating we heard was the bird hitting the chimney cap but not figuring out to fly a little sideways and get out. And then it must have gone sideways in its panic and fallen out by sheer luck. Lucky for us, too. I had visions of a dead bird being stuck in our chimney and us smoking it to a sooty crisp with any future fires. Or having to nurse a little bird back to health because he was all panicked and stressed out from being in a chimney too long. Fortunately he got out though and tweeted out his stress to anyone in the world listening.
That was our Wednesday adventure. We were not on time for work.
Wednesday morning eebs and I were having breakfast. It was a calm sunny morning and we were going to be on time for work. Then we heard a random ruckus. We looked at each other, shrugged and kept eating. It happened again. Was a woodpecker trying to find his breakfast in our chimney?? We heard tweeting in our wall. Apparently a bird was stuck in our chimney. What does one do when a bird is stuck in one's chimney? This was new territory for me.
We put an old sheet down over the ashes in the fireplace then got the Heman sheet and tucked it in the fireplace and held it over the front. What bird wouldn't want to be rescued in the arms of Heman? We opened the flue and.... nothing. Just a sprinkling of soot. We heard the bird flapping and tweeting a few feet up and I thought maybe there was a grill there blocking it from falling. eebs thought maybe the hole of the flue was too small for it to fall through. I thought maybe the chimney was too narrow for it to fly up and that was why it was stuck halfway down. We didn't know what to do.
We turned on the computer and looked up animal rescue places around here and called the most promising one to ask for guidance. About this time, the chimney got ominously silent. The animal rescue guy asked if our chimney was capped. Who knows! I can't see the roof to my place! He asked if we shined a flashlight and looked up the chimney. Gee, hadn't thought of that, but we have no flashlight. Basically he summed it up by saying we could call our landlord or a chimney sweep (sometimes they will do wildlife removal), but there wasn't much his organization could do to help us. If we were too squeamish to reach in and grab the bird, they could send someone to do that for us.
Realizing we have no flashlight, we got a lamp and tried shining it up the chimney. It looked pretty clean and empty. And it turns out our chimney is capped. So our best guess is that the chimney wasn't too narrow for the bird to fly up and the beating we heard was the bird hitting the chimney cap but not figuring out to fly a little sideways and get out. And then it must have gone sideways in its panic and fallen out by sheer luck. Lucky for us, too. I had visions of a dead bird being stuck in our chimney and us smoking it to a sooty crisp with any future fires. Or having to nurse a little bird back to health because he was all panicked and stressed out from being in a chimney too long. Fortunately he got out though and tweeted out his stress to anyone in the world listening.
That was our Wednesday adventure. We were not on time for work.
06 May 2009
creeper no creeping
Sometimes I wonder who actually reads my blog. I know the people who comment do and the giveaway revealed a few surprises, but who else reads about my life? Maybe some people like having a vast audience, but I like to know my fan club and have a real relationship with them. When internet was new, I used to enjoy hitting up the chatrooms and creating brief psuedo-friendships with anonymous people. But I'm over that. I figured out the mystery responses to the giveaway blog, but I'm not sure what I think of anonymous people who comment on a friend's blog then surf from there to mine then from mine to another of my friends. I try to tell myself it's harmless, that all sorts of people have open blogs and all sorts of people have tons of unknown readers. However, I have to be honest, it creeps me out a little. My blog is my way of keeping a line open to people I have real relationships with. People I know in real life. Life is real, let's live it. imho. Oli South/About Me, who are you? If you're so interested in breaking down walls, stop hiding behind your wall of anonymity! Anyway, whatever. Everybody, comment! At least I like to know who's reading my blog, even if I have to go nuts not knowing who you are! ;P but I'd rather know who you are. I'm not here just to beef up my fan club. I'll try to write more interesting things that are worth commenting on. ha! nevermind, that's dumb.
nothing covers your mouth like a hand
"If you need to cough or sneeze, please use your elbow pit or upper arm to cover your mouth."
I find that when I remember to do this, my sneeze goes right under my elbow and it is totally ineffective. I guess I need more practice.
I find that when I remember to do this, my sneeze goes right under my elbow and it is totally ineffective. I guess I need more practice.
01 May 2009
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