Wednesday, August 29, 2012

No Talking Time

Have you ever taken one of those Myers Briggs tests- you know the one where it tells you how introverted or extroverted you are? Is that a legit thing? The test, I mean? I have skepticism about such categorizations but I have no basis for my skepticism, so I am also skeptical of my own skepticism. (Wow, dudes, I swear I am not even smoking a doobie right now). Anyway, I have taken that test a few times throughout my life and although I feel like I have gone through phases where I have a super crazy extroverted time (hello, early 20s) and then times when I have not wanted to talk to a single solitary soul for like, a year (hello 1994 and 2003), my results are always the same. I pretty much always fall right near the dead center between extrovert and introvert, with perhaps just a teeny leaning toward introvert.

I'm taking a trip to see some pals and my family, but first I stopped off in one of my favorite towns for three days so I could indulge the introvert half of my innards. Madison, where I lived for one year back in the 90s when I was a youngster, holds a special place in my heart because it is, more than anywhere else, a place where my life totally changed. I was one person before I moved there, and a different one after I left there, some of that for the better and some of it not, and it's hard to explain the whole enchilada but suffice it to say I just love that town.

So I checked myself into a cute inn and proceeded to spend hours and hours by myself, wandering aimlessly and thinking about Big Things and nothing at all. Three days may not seem like a long time, but when was the last time you did nothing but pay attention to your own thoughts for three days? It felt crazy extravagant.

All this contemplative stuff did have two fun breaks- I met up with MetaLeah and her trophy husband for dinner one night, and another night MetaLeah and I met up with Katie, a longtime blog friend who is now an in-person friend. My streak of awesome blog friends who turn out to be more awesome in person continues! I managed to snap out of my introspective haze for each event and form words of communication. At least I hope I did.

Thanks, Madison.









Friday, August 24, 2012

Consumables #68

Oh bloggie! I have plum forgotten about you. It's been a slow week in news about my life because my job is trying, willfully and spitefully I believe, to kill me, which means I have been heading to bed in the 8pm-9pm range each night of the week.

However, to counteract this, I did go to a dinner party at Biogirl's house where we sat around a table in the middle of her raised veggie garden beds and I got to know 5 more people than I knew before, and all 5 of them? Frigging delightful. Plus there were two pans of fresh cobbler and mango mojitos. It was one of those perfect summery evenings where the air smells sweet, everyone laughs a lot, and I remember that there are more awesome people out there that I have yet to meet.



That's all that is new. I am leaving town in the next day or two so mayhaps there will be more adventures ahead. Until then, let's talk about Consumables, shall we?

The Dark Knight Rises
I kind of think Batman is a bit of a snoozefest at times. I get impatient with all his gravelly angst. However, this time around I had a rip-roaring time of it. I think because really it wasn't 100% bat stuff.

The Bourne Legacy
The Bourne movies did something that I thought impossible, which is they started to turn my mind around about Matt Damon. I do not propose we get into why I didn't like his stuff before and I shall not get into why, of all things, Jason Bourne made me change my mind, because frankly my reasoning will not make me look good. (And no, it has nothing to do with levels of hotness or not hotness, because I stand firm on that point regarding him across the years, and that is, if you will allow me to pontificate: ew). Anyway, that has nothing to do with this new movie but I felt the need to unburden myself about Matt Damon. As for this movie, I had several thoughts. One: look at Rachel Weisz getting all actiony! Do you think that Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig have ass-kicking competitions now that they are married? Like, instead of playing cribbage they get in a kick-boxing ring or something? Or at least Wii swordfighting? I want to believe this is true. Two: There is a motorcycle chase that I swear to Evil Kneivel goes on for 6,000 minutes. If you have to go to the bathroom during the movie, that's a good time to go.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
An animated story about friendship, love, and a man who gives his life to books and the books that give back to him. I admit it, I cried, ok? I ADMIT IT.

Up Heartbreak Hill
This one got me too. Must have been a week for waterworks. This documentary follows the lives of teens from the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico who are on the high school's long distance running team.

Dumb and Dumber
I had never seen this before. I thought it would be funnier. Why I thought that is really the unanswerable question.

Groundhog Day
Oh Bill Murray, I love how you just play the same thing over and over and yet remain so enjoyable. "Ned? Ned Ryerson?" I love it.

Harper Lee: Hey Boo
Did you know that she was working as a waitress ("in a cocktail bar, that much is true") and she had these pals that were wealthy and they were all "we believe in your writing talent so here's a year's worth of your salary so you can quit your job now go forth and write your hiney off" (totally a direct quote). And she was all "okey dokey smokey" and she then pumped out To Kill a Mockingbird? I know there are many notable things about Harper Lee but I sort of couldn't get over that one.

Dance Academy
CANNOT STOP WATCHING

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick
Is it blasphemy to say I liked the movie more? The book is great too, but so much of it deals with films and filmmaking that I thought that was better told as a movie. The illustrations in the book are not told in comic-like panels or anything, but they do sort of function like a storyboard, which is pretty cool.

The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens
You've got orphans, you've got time travel, you've got a beautiful but evil witch, you've got a secret world not easily accessed unless you know where the portal is. You know why so many stories have this stuff? Because it works.

Later gators!


Thursday, August 16, 2012

Reminder

I keep forgetting my lunch at home. This morning, someone put a piece of homemade tomato mushroom focaccia (wrapped up, put partially inside my purse, wearing my sunglasses, with my work badge attached) by the door. Hint received.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Rethinking my outfit

Apparently when the sun comes out in Seattle for more than a couple of days, I start to come to work dressed like a meringue.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Cornhole Tourney 2012

In which Nordic Boy's team takes 2nd place, and my team loses in the Loser's Bracket. These are not surprising outcomes on both counts.












Friday, August 10, 2012

Brotherly love

Text conversation that totally happened while I was in Vancouver.

Him: (photo of a new built in closet)

Him: ??? It's our new closet! I just finished it!

Him: Are you there?

Him: You must be having too much fun without me. I love you anyway, even if you don't care about my beautemous closets.

Him: Love you babe. Talk soon.

(An hour later)
Him: I'm going to eat lunch at SKUBBERS.* You love it. You know you love it.

(A half hour later)
Him: I'm going over to Delium's. Love you and miss you.
(A few minutes later)
Him: I'll call you later my love.

Why am I telling you about this text string? Because Nordic Boy pushed the wrong button on his phone and totally sent all of those texts to my BROTHER.

I don't know if you think that's funny, but we busted a gut over it last night when he finally realized what he had done.

(*"Skubbers" is what we call Subway in our house for some reason. Or Skubbles, Skubway, Skubbies. I don't know why. I sort of think Subway is a little nasty, and Nordic Boy disagrees).

Happy Friday everyone!

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Ding dong, who's there?

I have to start off by saying that the other night I had a dream about my friend The Soggy Librarian, and the dream was that we were hanging out, as we do, totally normal, except she was talking in a very exaggerated Bill Cosby voice the whole time. I mean, her voice was still her voice, but it was like she was having an involuntary need to talk Cosby talk. It was all "It's such a nice day-eeee, and I'm so glad we're hanging owwwwt, and pudding pops and RUDY! And picture pages!" (chicken dance arms).

I know it's boring to tell other people your dreams, but I can't keep that one to myself.

So I just got back from Vancouver and it was so lovely. My friend and I just decided to up and go, just because it's good, if you can, to do something fun just for no other reason than because it's fun. Just to be kind to oneself.

Oh, and then we saw a bunch of wrinkley naked guys on accident so hey! Kindness is not always rewarded.

How did a sweet weekend trip take a turn into accidental nakedtown? I'll tell you.

We were in the University of BC area to take a look around there, and as we were walking around, we noticed from our map that we were pretty close to the beach. We thought, yes please, let's find a trail that gets us to some sandy shores, stat. We walked around and found a trailhead that seemed pointed in the right direction. The sign at the top of the trailhead included this: "Clothing optional beach ahead." This is not something I see every day, but I wasn't too worried about it because I was thinking we would hike down to the beach, and maybe there would be a few ladies sunbathing with their tops off or perhaps some skinny dipping in the water. I am not a person who does these things, but I am not opposed to others doing them and I am not going to care about seeing boobs and butts and other junk out. I have seen way too many episodes of Game of Boobs/Thrones to be phased by that.

So we started down the trail, which was very foresty, and steep. There was also a stream that ran alongside the trail, which was quite pleasant and picturesque. We walked down and down, the only thought preoccupying my mind was what a pain in the arse it was going to be coming back up that mammer jammer. Then, I looked up and saw, well...how can I describe it?

There was a man, probably 60 years old or so, about 20 yards ahead down the trail. He had taken his t-shirt partially off so that the arms were empty and the only thing that was attaching him to his shirt was that his head was still coming through the neckhole. So it was like his t-shirt was almost a cape. Oh, and p.s., the rest of him was bare ass nude. And also, he wasn't on the trail anymore. Rather, he was in the stream next to the trail, jumping around the water like a fricking water nymph. I was not close enough to hear him, but if I had been I would not have been surprised to hear "wheeeee!" or the like. He was behaving in a very spritely manner.

Am I wrong to have been surprised by this? What is the difference between this and skinny dipping in the ocean? Or sunbathing? Whether justified or not, this stopped my friend and me in our tracks.

"Oh!" we both said, watching the cavorting pixie man. He did not see us.

Here's the thing. The beach was labelled as potential nekkid-town, true. But in my mind, we were not yet on the beach. We were still in regular non-naked territory, as it was back at the parking lot, and the rest of the park behind us. We were still on a forest trail. Not the beach. So seeing this person, doing this frolic in the stream next to the trail, felt weird. Apparently my friend felt the same way. We stood there, and debated whether we should go forward, which would mean passing this man. He probably wouldn't have cared, but somehow we did.

We turned around.

Now, we had to hike back up to the top of the trail, and that sucker was steep. SO STEEP. And it was hot, and we were tired, and once we got going, we were winded, and ok fine, we also had a case of the giggles about the man we had just seen. All of this made the walk back up extra hard. But we did it, and we made it to about 10 yards from the top, when:

Birthday suit #2!

At the very top of the trail was another man, also in his 60s, wearing hiking boots and not a stitch more. He had not noticed us yet, and he was marching down the trail with a stride that was parade-worthy. Arms were swinging, steps were wide, and oh lordy, dingdong was flopping in a most noticeable way.

Which way to go? Nothing to do but continue. He did eventually see us, and he sort of hesitated too. The trail was narrow, and so when we passed each other, we were shoulder to shoulder. Have you ever been inches away from a stranger who was showing full peen? I will tell you this: it is not comfortable.

This brings me back to where the appropriate buck naked boundary was. Because he was at the top of the trail when we spotted him, and he was total junk out at that point. Which means, he must have gotten naked before starting the trail. Like, at the parking area, maybe? And the parking area is just next to a road. So, he must have unfettered himself up there, to be full monty at the top of the trail.

I don't know. I guess it doesn't make much of a difference. It was just surprising, that's all.

Other stuff happened in Vancouver too, but somehow double stranger peter seemed like the best story to tell.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Lunch looky loo

My lunch view = cure for the grumps.