And here's what I learned about myself today: I get suddenly body-shy (or maybe bodily function shy) if there's a cell phone in the bathroom!
I went to the ladies' room at work a few minutes ago, and went into my favorite stall (no, I'm not that anal -- this one has a toilet paper dispenser AND a door that both work!). The person in the stall next to me was conversing on her cell phone.
Now, I don't have strong feelings about such things; I personally don't do it, because I figure not many people should have to listen to me pee and flush. But whatever, before today I would've said it didn't really bother me. I'm certainly not bothered by people in the other stalls, and frequently carry on conversations with them.
But I suddenly found myself having a really hard time "relaxing" enough to pee! It was very bizarre!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Oh, yeah, we hate State, too.
I just realized, I've been being terribly unfair to my fellow ACC School, North Carolina State University (NCSU, Cow College, Moo U.). In all my diatribes about that other school down the road (the one with the weinie coach who only mentions his players' injuries when he's telling you how much he doesn't talk about them), I've been ignoring State.
Carolina fans hate State, too. Nearly as much as Duke. In fact, when they're not so pitiful, we may even hate them more than Duke. Of course, they haven't been not-pitiful since the days of Valvano. Which was, oh, decades ago.
Now, I've raised my children well. But it's always nice to hear that other parents are doing a great job with their kids, too, so I'll pass on a story about my friend's son. He went to pre-school today, where they had a special, exciting guest: an airline pilot. He came to school in full uniform, including his bags, to tell the kids all about flying an airplane. In the middle of the talk, Marshall raised his hand to ask a question: "Why do you have a State sticker on your bag?" The pilot replied, "Because I went to State." Without missing a beat Marshall, in his Carolina jersey, yelled, "Boo State!!! Go Heels!!!!"
Gotta love the younger generation!
Carolina fans hate State, too. Nearly as much as Duke. In fact, when they're not so pitiful, we may even hate them more than Duke. Of course, they haven't been not-pitiful since the days of Valvano. Which was, oh, decades ago.
Now, I've raised my children well. But it's always nice to hear that other parents are doing a great job with their kids, too, so I'll pass on a story about my friend's son. He went to pre-school today, where they had a special, exciting guest: an airline pilot. He came to school in full uniform, including his bags, to tell the kids all about flying an airplane. In the middle of the talk, Marshall raised his hand to ask a question: "Why do you have a State sticker on your bag?" The pilot replied, "Because I went to State." Without missing a beat Marshall, in his Carolina jersey, yelled, "Boo State!!! Go Heels!!!!"
Gotta love the younger generation!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
How is this good karma???
OK, so this morning there were two stories on NPR that caught my attention, both were fairly momentous. The first was Fidel Castro's resignation as President, Commander-in-Chief, Lord High Emporer, or whatever the heck he is, of Cuba. Now, Castro has been the political leader of Cuba literally all my life, so this was a biggie. The second story marked the 40th anniversary of the first Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood show on PBS. While technically I was 10 months and 10 days when it premiered, again, Mr. Rogers has been around (even from the grave!) my entire life.
I avoided the Cuba story; too much politics, too serious, and I never much cared for Castro, anyway. Instead, I blogged about Mr. Rogers, who I love. I mean, Mr. Rogers is NICE! He's sweet and gentle!! The man wore cardigans, that his mother knitted no less, every day for DECADES! You'd think I'd've filled up the Good Karma bank by going with Mr. Rogers!
Well, instead, I had one of the more suckier days in my life. Nothing major, just lots of little things: I spent the day trying to get my application server to do what I want when it runs out of memory, but it wouldn't. And, sadly, I knew it wasn't doing what I wanted because I kept forcing it to run out of memory, which is tedious and boring. I had to listen to others pretend they're something they're not, and take credit for stuff I do. And, sadly, I was not in a position to call them on it. I bought myself dinner from my favorite natural grocery store, and the biscuit in my veggie pot pie was stale.
But the topper came when I got home with my (disappointing) dinner. Grace had a basketball game at 6:30, so by the time it was over and I was home, it was about 7:40. Just a few minutes into House Hunters, my new television addiction! So I plop on the couch, switch on the TV, turn to channel 76....
And I don't HAVE a channel 76 anymore!!! What's up with that!?!?!? Where the heck did my HGTV go?
Channel 52, as it turns out. But it took me 15 minutes of poking around on the Time Warner website to find that.
I WANT MY GOOD KARMA, DANG IT! (ooh, whining doesn't help fill up the Karma Bank, does it?)
I avoided the Cuba story; too much politics, too serious, and I never much cared for Castro, anyway. Instead, I blogged about Mr. Rogers, who I love. I mean, Mr. Rogers is NICE! He's sweet and gentle!! The man wore cardigans, that his mother knitted no less, every day for DECADES! You'd think I'd've filled up the Good Karma bank by going with Mr. Rogers!
Well, instead, I had one of the more suckier days in my life. Nothing major, just lots of little things: I spent the day trying to get my application server to do what I want when it runs out of memory, but it wouldn't. And, sadly, I knew it wasn't doing what I wanted because I kept forcing it to run out of memory, which is tedious and boring. I had to listen to others pretend they're something they're not, and take credit for stuff I do. And, sadly, I was not in a position to call them on it. I bought myself dinner from my favorite natural grocery store, and the biscuit in my veggie pot pie was stale.
But the topper came when I got home with my (disappointing) dinner. Grace had a basketball game at 6:30, so by the time it was over and I was home, it was about 7:40. Just a few minutes into House Hunters, my new television addiction! So I plop on the couch, switch on the TV, turn to channel 76....
And I don't HAVE a channel 76 anymore!!! What's up with that!?!?!? Where the heck did my HGTV go?
Channel 52, as it turns out. But it took me 15 minutes of poking around on the Time Warner website to find that.
I WANT MY GOOD KARMA, DANG IT! (ooh, whining doesn't help fill up the Karma Bank, does it?)
It's a Beautiful Day
In the Neighborhood! (sorry, Bono)
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood aired for the first time 40 years ago today. Yay, Mr. Rogers! Yay for cardigans and funny sneakers!
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood aired for the first time 40 years ago today. Yay, Mr. Rogers! Yay for cardigans and funny sneakers!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
This seems odd....(and Happy Birthday Red!)
It's a Sunday morning, 9:13 or so, and I'm not at either The Waffle Shoppe or Jack Spratt.
For those of you who are confused, I eat breakfast pretty much every Sunday morning at The Waffle Shoppe on Franklin Street. This is not the Waffle Shop chain, mind you, but an actual, real life, independent, quirky little restaurant that happens to make the best pancakes around (and pretty good eggs, waffles and accoutrements, as well). If it's a Sunday I have the kids, we eat early (around 8:45 or 9) then they go to Sunday School and I go to Jack Spratt, a coffee place (again, non-Starbucks. Are you sensing a trend here?). If I don't have the kids, I'll eat later, like around 9:45.
But today Kathy and I are going to have lunch after church. When I eat at the Waffle Shoppe, I tend to over eat somewhat, but it's also usually both my breakfast and my lunch, so I don't feel so bad. But I can't eat there at 9:45 AND eat lunch at 12:30. Just not going to happen, not without the proverbial (or at least Python-ical) bucket.
So here I am, sitting at my kitchen table, having read the paper and listened to the Puzzle Master (did horribly today). And it's strangely nice. Calm. I hear the little birdies chirping outside, and am actually enjoying my semi-wooded (as much as you can get in suburbia) backyard. Ahhhhh.....
On a different note, today would have been Red Barber's 100th birthday. No, I never heard him call a Dodgers game (not even my kids think I'm that old); I associate him with his segments on NPR with Bob Edwards. They, of course, ended with Red's death, and since then NPR has, in their unfailing wisdom, removed Bob Edwards from his role as host of Morning Edition. Hmph. And now WUNC has moved his PRI show to a crazy 3pm Sunday slot, when everyone's watching sports, or working in the yard, or anything but listening to Public Radio. Double Hmph. Not that I think there's an anti-Edwards conspiracy, or anything....
So, anyway, Happy Hundreth, Red, and I hope there are camellias in bloom where you are.
For those of you who are confused, I eat breakfast pretty much every Sunday morning at The Waffle Shoppe on Franklin Street. This is not the Waffle Shop chain, mind you, but an actual, real life, independent, quirky little restaurant that happens to make the best pancakes around (and pretty good eggs, waffles and accoutrements, as well). If it's a Sunday I have the kids, we eat early (around 8:45 or 9) then they go to Sunday School and I go to Jack Spratt, a coffee place (again, non-Starbucks. Are you sensing a trend here?). If I don't have the kids, I'll eat later, like around 9:45.
But today Kathy and I are going to have lunch after church. When I eat at the Waffle Shoppe, I tend to over eat somewhat, but it's also usually both my breakfast and my lunch, so I don't feel so bad. But I can't eat there at 9:45 AND eat lunch at 12:30. Just not going to happen, not without the proverbial (or at least Python-ical) bucket.
So here I am, sitting at my kitchen table, having read the paper and listened to the Puzzle Master (did horribly today). And it's strangely nice. Calm. I hear the little birdies chirping outside, and am actually enjoying my semi-wooded (as much as you can get in suburbia) backyard. Ahhhhh.....
On a different note, today would have been Red Barber's 100th birthday. No, I never heard him call a Dodgers game (not even my kids think I'm that old); I associate him with his segments on NPR with Bob Edwards. They, of course, ended with Red's death, and since then NPR has, in their unfailing wisdom, removed Bob Edwards from his role as host of Morning Edition. Hmph. And now WUNC has moved his PRI show to a crazy 3pm Sunday slot, when everyone's watching sports, or working in the yard, or anything but listening to Public Radio. Double Hmph. Not that I think there's an anti-Edwards conspiracy, or anything....
So, anyway, Happy Hundreth, Red, and I hope there are camellias in bloom where you are.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
My Guilty Pleasure
So, sometimes when the kids are at their Dad's, and it's just me, I indulge myself in a guilty pleasure....
Yep. A one-food meal, followed by real popcorn. With real butter.
So when I do this, I tend to choose a food that I like but my kids don't. I've been known to cook an acorn squash, brussels sprouts, etc. Tonight I didn't feel like going to the store, so it was canned beets. Yum.
Since I think an entire can of beets has about a third fewer calories than most entire meals, I feel pretty comfy in indulging in my popcorn afterwards.
Popcorn and House Hunters! Yum!
Yep. A one-food meal, followed by real popcorn. With real butter.
So when I do this, I tend to choose a food that I like but my kids don't. I've been known to cook an acorn squash, brussels sprouts, etc. Tonight I didn't feel like going to the store, so it was canned beets. Yum.
Since I think an entire can of beets has about a third fewer calories than most entire meals, I feel pretty comfy in indulging in my popcorn afterwards.
Popcorn and House Hunters! Yum!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Too Connected?
I'm not a Unabomber type Luddite or anything, and I love my gadgets as much as the next person, but there are times when I think that we're all just a little too connected.
People used to say that blogs were the ultimate in arrogance; you really think that people want to read the minutiae of your daily life?!??! But, in fact, some people DO want to read the minutiae of our daily lives. Or, conversely, maybe some people just have really interesting (spoken like Bugs Bunny when dressing the Monsters hair) lives.
From blogs came the "here I am, here I am, here I am" world of Twitter. My kids told me the other day that their Dad follows Barak Obama on Twitter; my immediate (and unthinking) response was, "I don't want that much detail about ANYONE!!!" Seriously, Twitter freaks me out. I don't want that level of connectivity. I don't even want to know what my kids are doing every minute of every day; doing so would mean a serious loss of identity for me, and loss of privacy for them.
So, though I love them, I have my reservations about all these gadgets that make it so easy for us to constantly "get" to anyone, and most of my reservations revolve around "the younger generation" (Good God, I HAVE turned into an old fogey if I've seriously used that phrase).
I have no problem with the near-constant texting and IMing that college and younger kids seem to engage in, provided there are limits (not during Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's would be a start!). But I do think that the young adults out there who have grown up in this ultra-connected world are missing something.
There's value in planning a conversation with a friend. There's a benefit in face-to-face communications that can't be found in the instant gratification of text messaging. If I take a photo on vacation, put it in an album and show it to a friend the next time she visits, it's true that she didn't experience the moment with me. But, she knows that our friendship is important enough to me to think of her, not just in the immediate moment, but afterwards as well. That's something that a phone-photo and a text message simply can't convey.
I also worry that my kids' generation, and probably the one just above them, actually think that texting IS communicating. There are many news stories out today about a shooting at Northern Illinois University. In one of them, it refers to students keeping their cell phones close to talk to parents and friends, but how they don't always bring relief; a student being interviewed tells how he just received a text message letting him know that a friend had died.
Excuse me? A text message informing someone of a friend's death?? This just isn't right. Now, yes, grief is grief, and the mode of communcation doesn't change the fact that a young man is dead. But a text message is not only impersonal, it's abbreviated. There's no room for compassion, emotion (and do NOT try to tell me that an emoticon is appropriate here), sharing. With a phone call, you at least get to hear the other person's voice, even if they're all choked up. With a letter, there's time and space to at least try to say all that you want to. Good Lord, even the Army sends real-live people to tell families of soldiers deaths. Humans have a need to connect with other humans during tragedies, and I just don't think a text message cuts it.
So, what will happen? Is my kids' generation going to go further down this path? We (the parents) seem to be learning a lot of How-Not-To's from watching the current college kids (don't hover, let your child make mistakes, germs are sometimes good, if you always tell your kid they're great it sounds empty...); are we going to leap into this arena as well, and teach our children how to connect with someone face to face?
Or am I just a dinosaur? :-)
People used to say that blogs were the ultimate in arrogance; you really think that people want to read the minutiae of your daily life?!??! But, in fact, some people DO want to read the minutiae of our daily lives. Or, conversely, maybe some people just have really interesting (spoken like Bugs Bunny when dressing the Monsters hair) lives.
From blogs came the "here I am, here I am, here I am" world of Twitter. My kids told me the other day that their Dad follows Barak Obama on Twitter; my immediate (and unthinking) response was, "I don't want that much detail about ANYONE!!!" Seriously, Twitter freaks me out. I don't want that level of connectivity. I don't even want to know what my kids are doing every minute of every day; doing so would mean a serious loss of identity for me, and loss of privacy for them.
So, though I love them, I have my reservations about all these gadgets that make it so easy for us to constantly "get" to anyone, and most of my reservations revolve around "the younger generation" (Good God, I HAVE turned into an old fogey if I've seriously used that phrase).
I have no problem with the near-constant texting and IMing that college and younger kids seem to engage in, provided there are limits (not during Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's would be a start!). But I do think that the young adults out there who have grown up in this ultra-connected world are missing something.
There's value in planning a conversation with a friend. There's a benefit in face-to-face communications that can't be found in the instant gratification of text messaging. If I take a photo on vacation, put it in an album and show it to a friend the next time she visits, it's true that she didn't experience the moment with me. But, she knows that our friendship is important enough to me to think of her, not just in the immediate moment, but afterwards as well. That's something that a phone-photo and a text message simply can't convey.
I also worry that my kids' generation, and probably the one just above them, actually think that texting IS communicating. There are many news stories out today about a shooting at Northern Illinois University. In one of them, it refers to students keeping their cell phones close to talk to parents and friends, but how they don't always bring relief; a student being interviewed tells how he just received a text message letting him know that a friend had died.
Excuse me? A text message informing someone of a friend's death?? This just isn't right. Now, yes, grief is grief, and the mode of communcation doesn't change the fact that a young man is dead. But a text message is not only impersonal, it's abbreviated. There's no room for compassion, emotion (and do NOT try to tell me that an emoticon is appropriate here), sharing. With a phone call, you at least get to hear the other person's voice, even if they're all choked up. With a letter, there's time and space to at least try to say all that you want to. Good Lord, even the Army sends real-live people to tell families of soldiers deaths. Humans have a need to connect with other humans during tragedies, and I just don't think a text message cuts it.
So, what will happen? Is my kids' generation going to go further down this path? We (the parents) seem to be learning a lot of How-Not-To's from watching the current college kids (don't hover, let your child make mistakes, germs are sometimes good, if you always tell your kid they're great it sounds empty...); are we going to leap into this arena as well, and teach our children how to connect with someone face to face?
Or am I just a dinosaur? :-)
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Sick Day
Yesterday I was supposed to go to Raleigh to see the U2 IMAX movie, but sadly got a nasty cold. I wound up staying home today, which is both good, and bad.
The good part is I spent the day on the couch.
The bad part is about the only thing I had the energy for was spending the day on the couch.
Not sure what's up this year, but the cold viruses seem to be particularly evil. This one came on amazingly fast, and it surprisingly devastating.
My blog public (OK, so just Cindi) is wondering where the blog-post about last night's Carolina game is; since it's also indicative of my state of health, here goes:
Missed the first half for dinner (yum!), turned it on with about 2 minutes left in the half, Carolina was down. They managed to create a lead by halftime, at which point I promptly fell asleep. I woke up as the game was ending, saw that they won, and went upstairs to bed. It did not register at all that THEY ONLY WON BY ONE POINT!! Until, that is, this morning, when I heard it on the radio.
Sheesh.
The good part is I spent the day on the couch.
The bad part is about the only thing I had the energy for was spending the day on the couch.
Not sure what's up this year, but the cold viruses seem to be particularly evil. This one came on amazingly fast, and it surprisingly devastating.
My blog public (OK, so just Cindi) is wondering where the blog-post about last night's Carolina game is; since it's also indicative of my state of health, here goes:
Missed the first half for dinner (yum!), turned it on with about 2 minutes left in the half, Carolina was down. They managed to create a lead by halftime, at which point I promptly fell asleep. I woke up as the game was ending, saw that they won, and went upstairs to bed. It did not register at all that THEY ONLY WON BY ONE POINT!! Until, that is, this morning, when I heard it on the radio.
Sheesh.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Cast-Away
OK, so he's not Tom Hanks, but Peter got his cast off today! YAY!!!!
Just in time for one last basketball practice and game!
Just in time for one last basketball practice and game!
Should I Be Worried?
We have an automated telephone system for clocking in at work; each morning we dial a number, enter our employee ID, and a clock code. Reasonably efficient, as clocking-in procedures go.
Well, this morning, the keypad of my phone conked out halfway through the process! The phone itself still works, I just can't dial. Or clock in.
Is someone trying to tell me something?
Well, this morning, the keypad of my phone conked out halfway through the process! The phone itself still works, I just can't dial. Or clock in.
Is someone trying to tell me something?
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Things we do for Love
Tomorrow is Pajama Day at the kids' school; they do this every year during their Read-a-thon, and my kids absolutely love it. I have to admit, I'm a bit of a Scrooge, because I insist that the pajamas be clean. However, I am quite willing to get them washed up pre-Pajama Day.
Unfortunately, tonight I forgot, so Grace's PJs weren't dry when she was ready for bed. She was OK with it, and just put on another pair. Part of the fun of Pajama Day, though, is rolling out of bed in the morning and not having to change out of one's PJs!
So, 10pm found me trying to get Grace OUT of a sleep shirt, and into her High School Musical PJs! Not an easy task, especially since she seemed to decide she didn't want a shirt on at all, and everytime I got it over her head, she pushed it off!
Eventually I got her in them, though!
Unfortunately, tonight I forgot, so Grace's PJs weren't dry when she was ready for bed. She was OK with it, and just put on another pair. Part of the fun of Pajama Day, though, is rolling out of bed in the morning and not having to change out of one's PJs!
So, 10pm found me trying to get Grace OUT of a sleep shirt, and into her High School Musical PJs! Not an easy task, especially since she seemed to decide she didn't want a shirt on at all, and everytime I got it over her head, she pushed it off!
Eventually I got her in them, though!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Born and Bred
Grace got to stay up to watch a close Carolina game last night. She's watched gamesbefore, but never one that was quite as close, or exciting, as this one.
Now, what you need to know about this is that I get a little.....intense, shall we say, during Carolina games. I can stay kinda calm until about 3 minutes left, then if it's close I'm (literally) on the edge of my seat, with both legs jiggling. If it get's closer, I'm liable to fling myself on the floor.
Grace was absolutely amazed, both at my behavior, and by the fact that she normally sleeps through it. She kept saying, "I can't believe I sleep through this!"
She was very excited when the game ended, and managed to express her excitement through her choice of bed covers:
In case it's not obvious, that's a Carolina pillow under her head, and there's another fan-towel over her feet.
Now, what you need to know about this is that I get a little.....intense, shall we say, during Carolina games. I can stay kinda calm until about 3 minutes left, then if it's close I'm (literally) on the edge of my seat, with both legs jiggling. If it get's closer, I'm liable to fling myself on the floor.
Grace was absolutely amazed, both at my behavior, and by the fact that she normally sleeps through it. She kept saying, "I can't believe I sleep through this!"
She was very excited when the game ended, and managed to express her excitement through her choice of bed covers:
In case it's not obvious, that's a Carolina pillow under her head, and there's another fan-towel over her feet.
New Records
Carolina just beat Clemson at home for the 53rd straight time. For the record (pun intended), Clemson now holds the record for the longest losing streak at a particular school (Brown lost at Princeton 52 times before they finally won a game in 2003). For Carolina fans, who had to live through an ignominious defeat by Duke, at home no less, earlier in the week, the continuation of the win-streak was sweet.
Peter set a record of his own. He tends to get excited during games, and when he gets excited, he has to pee. This game, he set a new record of going 6 times, and that was even before the second overtime!
Peter set a record of his own. He tends to get excited during games, and when he gets excited, he has to pee. This game, he set a new record of going 6 times, and that was even before the second overtime!
Go Take a Hike!
Peter's basketball team has been practicing a lot this season at two of the more northerly elementary schools in Chapel Hill (as opposed to his Pee Wee team, which practiced almost exclusively at two elementary schools very close to the house). Getting him to and from these practices takes me on a road I don't drive on all that regularly, and I noticed there were nice shiny new signs indicating trailheads.
These trails have been around forever, and are part of a word of mouth network of hiking and biking trails in some University owned land in northern Chapel Hill. UNC wants to build a rather large research campus in the same general area, and there's been much opposition to it from the neighborhoods nearby; the University has made the trail system a greenspace offering to try to make the idea of the research campus more palatable.
Not sure how it's working with the locals, but the kids and I went on a hike there this afternoon, and we certainly liked it! We played around in the woods for about an hour, mainly staying on two major trails, but occasionally branching off to a connector trail, or to cross Bolin Creek (which I only did once, but the kids did about 57,000 times).
It was good fun. Grace slipped into the creek twice and got her foot wet. We saw tons of dogs (all VERY well behave). We actually saw a tree fall in the forest (and yes, it did make a sound). We heard frogs but could never find them.
Grace wanted to walk home from there, until I told her it would be about 4 miles!
These trails have been around forever, and are part of a word of mouth network of hiking and biking trails in some University owned land in northern Chapel Hill. UNC wants to build a rather large research campus in the same general area, and there's been much opposition to it from the neighborhoods nearby; the University has made the trail system a greenspace offering to try to make the idea of the research campus more palatable.
Not sure how it's working with the locals, but the kids and I went on a hike there this afternoon, and we certainly liked it! We played around in the woods for about an hour, mainly staying on two major trails, but occasionally branching off to a connector trail, or to cross Bolin Creek (which I only did once, but the kids did about 57,000 times).
It was good fun. Grace slipped into the creek twice and got her foot wet. We saw tons of dogs (all VERY well behave). We actually saw a tree fall in the forest (and yes, it did make a sound). We heard frogs but could never find them.
Grace wanted to walk home from there, until I told her it would be about 4 miles!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Valentine's Dance
Tonight was the annual Daddy Daughter dance at our church. Grace's Dad was out of town at a conference, but luckily her Granddaddy was able to escort her.
Each year she picks out a special dress to wear, and waits to wear it the first time to the dance. Usually she and her escort have dinner at The Spotted Dog in Carrboro, but tonight she and Granddaddy went to The Carolina Coffee Shop.
Sorry, no pictures of her with Granddaddy; I have GOT to get my camera fixed.
Each year she picks out a special dress to wear, and waits to wear it the first time to the dance. Usually she and her escort have dinner at The Spotted Dog in Carrboro, but tonight she and Granddaddy went to The Carolina Coffee Shop.
Sorry, no pictures of her with Granddaddy; I have GOT to get my camera fixed.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Friday Night!
It's been a long week, for me, and apparently for my kids. There WERE high spots (the Superbowl was fun, for many reasons), but The Game stank. And then there were work things, as well -- a friend left (moving to Dublin, so yay for a road trip, but sad to be losing her), and the week alternated between extreme boredom and trying to figure out why the application we thought was fixed died again. Sigh.
Apparently it was long for my kids, too, because they both said this morning, "Boy I'm glad it's Friday!". So, after getting them from school, we took a quick trip to Harris Teeter for the couple of things we needed from the store (capers and mushrooms for the shrimp I was making). While there we also got supplies for "fun drinks". Olives for me, so that I could have a martini, and Orange Crush and Wink for the kids.
Here are their concoctions: Peter's (Carolina glass) is Wink, Orange Crush and cranberry juice, Grace's (Giant's glass) is Root Beer, Wink, Orange Crush, and "two drops" of cranberry juice. And a cherry, which you can't see because it's on the ent of the umbrella.
Mine is gin, vermouth, and three olives.....
Apparently it was long for my kids, too, because they both said this morning, "Boy I'm glad it's Friday!". So, after getting them from school, we took a quick trip to Harris Teeter for the couple of things we needed from the store (capers and mushrooms for the shrimp I was making). While there we also got supplies for "fun drinks". Olives for me, so that I could have a martini, and Orange Crush and Wink for the kids.
Here are their concoctions: Peter's (Carolina glass) is Wink, Orange Crush and cranberry juice, Grace's (Giant's glass) is Root Beer, Wink, Orange Crush, and "two drops" of cranberry juice. And a cherry, which you can't see because it's on the ent of the umbrella.
Mine is gin, vermouth, and three olives.....
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
OMG
Man!!!! Carolina goes on an 8-0 run to end the half! Still down by 3, but given that Lawson played not a minute in the first half, not bad!
My comments:
My comments:
- Billy Packer needs to shut up and go off the Duke payroll
- Jon Schier is a Weinie Little Whiny Dookie (WLWD)
- Henderson is STILL a thug, making hard fouls. And he wonders why he gets ejected.
- Ratface. No more needs to be said.
Gotta go, 2nd half starting!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Yummy Dinner
I was craving tuna tonight (actual tuna, not tuna fish). I had to drop a prescription off at a pharmacy (another sinus infection. yuck), so decided to use the pharmacy at the grocery store in my work-neighborhood and shop for dinner while I waited for it to be filled.
They didn't have the small "sashimi grade" tuna chunks didn't look the freshest (sorry, tuna should be a nice deep coral or red. NOT pink), but they did have lovely tuna steaks. So I bought a small one of those, some spinach, and asparagus.
I marinated the tuna briefly in some sesame oil, fresh ginger, wasabi, and a dash of soy sauce. Then I pan seared it while the asparagus and spinach steamed.
Yum!
They didn't have the small "sashimi grade" tuna chunks didn't look the freshest (sorry, tuna should be a nice deep coral or red. NOT pink), but they did have lovely tuna steaks. So I bought a small one of those, some spinach, and asparagus.
I marinated the tuna briefly in some sesame oil, fresh ginger, wasabi, and a dash of soy sauce. Then I pan seared it while the asparagus and spinach steamed.
Yum!
Monday, February 04, 2008
I'm a Tarheel Born, I'm a Tarheel Bred
And where Duke's involved, I'm absolutely, blindly, unswervingly, uncompromisingly biased.
One thing you have to realize about Carolina fans. We hate Duke. We say that, and people smile patiently at us, and we can tell that they think we're exagerating.
We're not. We really do. Really.
Now, when we encounter a Duke grad or fan in real life, we may like them just fine on a personal level. One on one, they're typically nice, normal people, especially those that are either from North Carolina to begin with, or who decide to stay here after college. Heck, I even married one once, and my son is good friends with one.
But Duke in the abstract? As a conglomerate? Hate 'em. My sister was invited to sing in a Christmas Eve service at Duke Chapel, and went, and as she was getting robed realized that the choir robe was Duke blue. She thought to herself, "Gosh, I hope no one I know sees me in this." THAT'S how much we hate Duke the entity.
This post that my friend Cindi sent me is how much we hate them. (Note: The post was written LAST year, 2007, so if it seems off, that's why)
And yes, the feeling is mutual. My family is primarily comprised of normal, sensible, Carolina fans. One or two State fans, which is odd but acceptable. But I once had a great-aunt who was...a Dookie. Not sure how it happened; but she was rabid. Towards the end of her life, she suffered from dementia, and had basically stopped recognizing people and had very little notion of place or time. But one night my Dad went to sit with her for a bit, and, teasing her, said, "Pauline, I saw one of your best friends the other day, Dean Smith!" Without missing a beat she opened her eyes, looked Dad straight in the eye and said, "Go to hell!"
It's rivalry week, baby!
For the record, Carolina's women's team just beat up on Duke, at Duke. Life is good..... (and yes, I did wait to post this until AFTER I knew the outcome....)
One thing you have to realize about Carolina fans. We hate Duke. We say that, and people smile patiently at us, and we can tell that they think we're exagerating.
We're not. We really do. Really.
Now, when we encounter a Duke grad or fan in real life, we may like them just fine on a personal level. One on one, they're typically nice, normal people, especially those that are either from North Carolina to begin with, or who decide to stay here after college. Heck, I even married one once, and my son is good friends with one.
But Duke in the abstract? As a conglomerate? Hate 'em. My sister was invited to sing in a Christmas Eve service at Duke Chapel, and went, and as she was getting robed realized that the choir robe was Duke blue. She thought to herself, "Gosh, I hope no one I know sees me in this." THAT'S how much we hate Duke the entity.
This post that my friend Cindi sent me is how much we hate them. (Note: The post was written LAST year, 2007, so if it seems off, that's why)
And yes, the feeling is mutual. My family is primarily comprised of normal, sensible, Carolina fans. One or two State fans, which is odd but acceptable. But I once had a great-aunt who was...a Dookie. Not sure how it happened; but she was rabid. Towards the end of her life, she suffered from dementia, and had basically stopped recognizing people and had very little notion of place or time. But one night my Dad went to sit with her for a bit, and, teasing her, said, "Pauline, I saw one of your best friends the other day, Dean Smith!" Without missing a beat she opened her eyes, looked Dad straight in the eye and said, "Go to hell!"
It's rivalry week, baby!
For the record, Carolina's women's team just beat up on Duke, at Duke. Life is good..... (and yes, I did wait to post this until AFTER I knew the outcome....)
Whoa! Eddies in the Time Space Continuum!
"And that's his couch, then, is it?" -- A Dent
I listen to a local radio station's live stream while I'm at work (quietly, of course). They were just playing Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love, then they went to a commercial, then the DJ came back on and announced Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Wait a minute...... Didn't we just hear that?!?!?!
So, it's either eddies in the Time Space Continuum, or the Agents Smith are about to burst through my window and kill me.
And if we're going to time travel, can I go back to, say, last Wednesday and have a do-over? Last week sucked.
I listen to a local radio station's live stream while I'm at work (quietly, of course). They were just playing Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love, then they went to a commercial, then the DJ came back on and announced Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Wait a minute...... Didn't we just hear that?!?!?!
So, it's either eddies in the Time Space Continuum, or the Agents Smith are about to burst through my window and kill me.
And if we're going to time travel, can I go back to, say, last Wednesday and have a do-over? Last week sucked.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
The Dragon's Revenge Rocks!
Peter's Pinewood Derby was today. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it's a yearly Scouting event where, theoretically, the boys build model cars out of a block of wood and race them. In the process they learn a lot about handling tools, sportsmanship, etc.
In reality, the Dads tend to do a lot of the work, and the boys learn how to.....let their Dads do the work! Competition is high, definitely.
Peter has always done his own work, with guidance/training by me. This year was a challenge, as he had a broken arm, and I only had the kids two weekends between the time we got the car kits and the actual derby.
Peter had decided that he wasn't going to go for speed this year; he just wanted to make a cool looking car that he liked. He wound up deciding to do a midieval battle scene, with two knights and a dragon. He added some fake vegetation, and it looked really, really cool. (sorry, no pix -- I'm sadly without a camera at the moment)
The car ran. Not great, but all that's required for PWD is that it runs! It took 4th in 7 of it's 8 heats, and 3rd in the 8th! But, it's moment of glory came when the awards for most original were announced: First place, The Dragon's Revenge, by Peter Cohen! YAY!!!!
Peter is very excited -- this means he gets to go to the district competition, which he's never done before, and which is very cool.
In reality, the Dads tend to do a lot of the work, and the boys learn how to.....let their Dads do the work! Competition is high, definitely.
Peter has always done his own work, with guidance/training by me. This year was a challenge, as he had a broken arm, and I only had the kids two weekends between the time we got the car kits and the actual derby.
Peter had decided that he wasn't going to go for speed this year; he just wanted to make a cool looking car that he liked. He wound up deciding to do a midieval battle scene, with two knights and a dragon. He added some fake vegetation, and it looked really, really cool. (sorry, no pix -- I'm sadly without a camera at the moment)
The car ran. Not great, but all that's required for PWD is that it runs! It took 4th in 7 of it's 8 heats, and 3rd in the 8th! But, it's moment of glory came when the awards for most original were announced: First place, The Dragon's Revenge, by Peter Cohen! YAY!!!!
Peter is very excited -- this means he gets to go to the district competition, which he's never done before, and which is very cool.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Duh-dum.....Duh-dum....Duh-dum-dum-dumdumdum
At the end of Jaws, when Brody blows the shark up, wouldn't you think all that blood and gore and shark guts would draw other sharks? Do they really expect us to believe that it only brought out the seagulls?
And if the following isn't the most sterotypically "male" conversation in the world, I don't know what is:
Hooper: "Quint?"
Brody: "No."
Sheesh. Though, I suppose it could be worse: It could be a Bud Light commercial:
Hooper: "Dude?"
Brody: (shaking head sadly) "Dude."
And if the following isn't the most sterotypically "male" conversation in the world, I don't know what is:
Hooper: "Quint?"
Brody: "No."
Sheesh. Though, I suppose it could be worse: It could be a Bud Light commercial:
Hooper: "Dude?"
Brody: (shaking head sadly) "Dude."
Black is the New Green.
I just set my browser default page to Blackle. They purport that energy consumption by computers is directly related to the colors displayed on the screen: lighter colors use more energy, while darker colors use less. Could be bunk, dunno, I haven't read the details. But, whether it is or not, they've created a page, all in black, that's powered by the Google search engine.
Now, I love Google. It can find me anything from technical documentation, (What IS a SQL -38001 error, anyway?), to recipes, to a good restaurant. And black just makes everything cooler. So Google + Black? Sweet!
And if I save a few kilowatts in the process, well, that's cool too.
Now, I love Google. It can find me anything from technical documentation, (What IS a SQL -38001 error, anyway?), to recipes, to a good restaurant. And black just makes everything cooler. So Google + Black? Sweet!
And if I save a few kilowatts in the process, well, that's cool too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
