Chance encounter

I happened to run into my middle school best friend over the weekend—at a restaurant she will soon be doing the interior design for, no less. I hadn't seen her in seven and one half years, and before that had only seen her once in the three years previous (she moved out of town after our freshman year). Needless to say, people's appearance can change a lot in ten years' time, especially the ten years between freshman in high school and whatever it is we'd be classified as now. We were across the restaurant from each other, and I could only see her side profile, so after we'd sat down, I thought that it could be her, but I couldn't be sure. I kept looking at her, several times making awkward eye contact with the guy at her table, and after a while I was convinced. Or I was at least convinced that the gal looked similar and had the exact same mannerisms. Memory and recognition are so intriguing; I wasn't sure based on her side profile, but the way she gestured with her hands and the way she held and drank from her straw was just as I remembered. Isn't it odd what your mind holds onto? Well, she eventually turned my way and looked at me and pointed, and we exchanged waves. And then she came over and we chatted for a bit. What a bright, unexpected spot in the evening.

mm hm

I thought this was a great concluding two paragraphs to the article Dobbs: Are you a casualty of the class war? By Lou Dobbs, posted on cnn.com:

Perhaps one of our nation's leading business magazines would like to create something called a Forbes or Fortune 250 Million list, which would reveal the dire financial pressures that our public policies have produced for working men and women and their families. It's time for all of us to focus on that deep chasm we have allowed to open between the wealthiest Americans and the middle class and those who aspire to it.

Otherwise, there will be 250 million casualties in what has become nothing less than class warfare.

[In case it expires, find the full text here: Dobbs: Are you a casualty of the class war?]

Where did the weekend go...

Monday again. Where the weekend went: Saturday from 11am-7pm (with maybe a 45-minute break in there to watch an episode of *cough* onetreehill) I was cleaning. Glad that's finally done. I really wanted to go on a bike ride because the weather was great, but by the time I was done with my cleaning I was hungry and tired and feeling dirty...in a dirt/germ sort of way, you sickos. I felt more tired than I do after a 10-mile bike ride. And I still had to make my food for the potluck the next day. And Sunday was completely full too, mostly with a birthday party for my aunt, which took a good seven hours of my day.

Something to look forward to: Possibly going to Dallas at Thanksgiving. Mark (no idea if you read this), did you know that Dougs are going to be in Dallas over Thanksgiving? McDougles.

Most recent favorite discovery

Well, I actually discovered it a few months ago but at the time was too lazy to do anything with it. Glad I finally did.

pandora

Great for listening to music at work—especially since I've recently been mildly bored with my iTunes Library on Shuffle.

How's that?

Ok, you know the recently declassified docs that say that terrorism is a threat more now than ever? I wouldn't have thought those could be used to support what the U.S. has been up to in Iraq. But no, they found a way:

For Republicans, the excerpts of the document -- declassified under orders from President Bush on Tuesday -- are more evidence that Iraq is central to the war on terrorism and can't be abandoned without giving jihadists a crucial victory. (from cnn.com)

Eh? How is it not obvious that what we've been doing for the last five-ish years is the cause of an increased terror threat?

S&B GOLDEN CURRY SAUCE with VEGETABLES

I was just cleaning out a box in my office that has various food items in it. For whatever reason, there was a bag with a can of tuna and a box of curry (full name above); probably possible lunch items. I got to reading the back of the box of curry and wanted to share a few fun parts with you. P.S. It is a product of Japan; I got it at the Asian Market.

{MICROWAVE OVEN DIRECTIONS}
1. Remove pouch from box. Cut pouch open and pour contents into a microwave-safe casserole.
2. Cover and cook on High 1 MINUTE or until hot, and LET STAND 30 SECONDS. Carefully remove casserole from microwave and serve over food ( steamed rice or noodles etc. ) .

So...first I have to have a casserole? And then I put the whole casserole plus the curry sauce on top of rice or noodles?

{SUGGESTIONS}
Excellent when served over grilled or sauteed cubed beef and rice. Also good with roasted chicken or boiled shrimp. If you prefer, simply add any of the following ingredients:
*Noodles, mashed potatoes, tacos, hot dog...

Hm, just add tacos...never heard that one before. If it works on this box of curry, why not try selling “Tacos In A Box—Instant Tacos*” *just add: tacos

recent things (a numbered post)

1. Like I told my brother, I'm now lusting after a Sea•Doo. Words can't do justice to how much fun that thing was. Of course I've had to have my bubble burst more than once by people reminding me that not only would I have to buy the Sea•Doo, but I'd also need a trailer to pull it on and a vehicle with which to pull the trailer. Well, I guess I'll just keep hoping that my cousin continues to provide me with opportunities to ride hers...much like I keep hoping that my uncle (her dad) continues providing me with opportunities to stay at his time-share condos during ski season...
   
   ah, bliss
   


2. My cousin's kids are adorable. She and her husband rock pretty hardcore too.


3. Confession: I love to drink coffee out of paper cups that have "Java Jackets" and lids. So even though I bought a mug that would give me 10% off of each coffee purchase at the local coffee shop, not to mention be better for the environment and not wasteful, I will almost always get it in a to-go cup.


4. Saturday is the MCC Flat Lander, so I'm trying to get ready for it. I'm going to end up only doing the 35 mile route because I haven't been able to get as much training in as I would have liked. Before yesterday, I hadn't ridden in for sure over a week because of being sick. I still had to stop for nose blowing like every two miles yesterday which sucked, but I was able to do 17 miles, which is pretty good, considering the lack of training.

nd, cool treat, b&b

Last weekend, Brian and I met up with the Kaufmanns in Wichita for some good eats at Bella Luna Cafe and then a sweet, sweet deal that Grayce had found out about—free admittance to Joyland. Woo hoo! Joyland holds a special place in my (and my brother's) heart since our family used to go there about once a year when we were younger. I informed my bro of this awesomeness, and he and his friend Sarah partook as well. Now, it's been many years since Joyland really seemed to be a happening place, but it seemed very much in disrepair now. At least the last time I was there (about seven years ago maybe), the roller coaster was still operational. When we got to the parking lot, the only letters of the sign that were lit up were "ND." Sad. Poor Joyland. Not to say I didn't have a great time though. Mark and I have fond memories of the Wacky Shack, although it hasn't been awesome or scary for many years. When we were there on Saturday, it had to shut down because the cars kept getting stuck inside. But at least we got to go on it before that. Sadly, the other sweet ride Log Jam wasn't running either, but it might not have been too much fun to go on that night since you do get sort of wet. I thought it was pretty cool that the Sky Coaster thing was included in the free admission, even though I'd never have the guts to go on it; watching Mark and Sarah go on it was enough of a rush for me.

Recommendation: chocolate malt crunch from DQ. Mmm, deliciousness. And I don't even really like malts all that much. The "crunch" are those little cookie crumbles from the orgasmic center of DQ ice cream cakes.

Except for the fact that I'm sick, I'm really looking forward to tonight/tomorrow. My uncle rented out a bed & breakfast, and he and my aunt, my parents, Brian and I, and my cousin's family are going there this evening. And then tomorrow we're going to my uncle's lake. I hope it's warm enough to do some Sea•Doo-ing. I'm excited to see my cousin's kid, who was born last December, maybe? I haven't even seen him yet, but in his pictures, he's adorable.

Just watched this again last night

and was reminded how funny I find this part.

Pretty schweet

I saw this on Inside Edition yesterday; it was all filmed in one take.

Pork and Beans?

The other night at our kick-off picnic, I walked past a group of boys (young kids). A father of one of the kids was kneeling down in front of him trying to help him with his shorts zipper, which looked to be about halfway down. I don't know if he was trying to help him get it up or down, though, because I heard one of the other kids exclaim, "That sounds like it would HURT!" Couldn't help but wonder if there was a little Something About Mary moment going on there.

At D'Angelo's over lunch

[I approach the buffet from one room as a man approaches from another room; the restaurant is quite empty]

Man: You guys got that song in my head!
Me: Huh? [thoroughly puzzled]
Man: Are you with that guy singing "The Hustle"?
Me: Uh...I don't know, I'll have to check...
Man: Now I'm singing that song. He was singing the dang "Hustle"! That song's from the disco days...

[When I return to my seat, I find out that, yes, apparently I was "with that guy singing 'The Hustle.'"]

Remember the "Mansiere" or the "Bro"?

The other day I saw the oddest thing walking down Spencer. And by that I mean the oddest thing was walking, not I was walking and saw the oddest thing. There was this man walking wearing a white...tube top, I guess. It reminded me of the Mansiere/Bro, except it wasn't covering his nipples, so it wasn't really functioning as such.

Tourism-drawing rooster killed by dog

[[ok, what happened isn't really funny, but this reads pretty funny...]]

SCIO, Ore. (AP) — Big Red, a rooster who drew tourists with his daily stroll down Main Street, died this week after getting mauled by a dog.

The Rhode Island Red was attacked Tuesday while walking to his home at the Scio Feed and Country Store in this town of about 700 people. The dog leaped through the open window of a parked car and pounced on the rooster, said Marian Heikkila, who had cared for the bird.

Heikkila said Big Red staggered for several steps before collapsing at the front door of a veterinarian’s office. The cause of death was broken ribs and internal bleeding, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported.

“I just said ‘Oh Red,’ and he took a couple of breaths and died, and then everyone started crying,” Heikkila said.

So it's been a while

In the past month or so, I've...spent a week at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp and turned 25. In fact, I turned 25 at RMMC. Gosh, I guess I haven't done a whole heck of a lot... Yeah, took the youth group on a service trip to RMMC a couple of weeks ago. We did a lot of painting (the main lodge, if you're familiar with the camp), split and stacked wood, and dug a trench for a propane line. It was good times. The group was good and without drama (yay!). It was good to be away from work and home for a while but also good to get back. On our day off from working, we went rafting on the Ark. It was fun but not quite as exciting as I expected. The trip also marked my last official duty as youth leader! A highlight of the summer occurred soon after returning from Colo.—the party at the Waltners'. It was great to see everyone there. On the 4th, we went on a historic tour of Newton, which was quite interesting. I was not aware of the Chisholm Trail stagecoach ruts that are very near to my house. I didn't blow anything up for the 4th, but my brother had some unique items to explode, so that made for good times. Also saw the Newton show, which did not disappoint. This last weekend had a couple of belated birthday celebrations—took off Friday afternoon for shopping and then ate at P.F. Chang's, and on Saturday had a family celebration at Passage to India. And Cold Stone twice. Mmmmmmm. Ok, well, looking forward to the wedding at the end of the month, heading out to Colo. another time, and probably counseling at camp.

sweet flicks

{{EDIT: In a [self-created] lull at work, I decided to just go ahead and make a blog listing of movies I'm watching. If you're interested, find it here (movie list).}}

Ok, now that I feel some level of closure with that other situation, I'm ready to talk about two kick a$$ movies I saw last weekend.

• Lords of Dogtown — It might have something to do with this longtime fascination with skateboarding that I have, but I LOVED this movie. I thought it was so awesome. Now I want to take skateboarding lessons and see the related documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys.
• Cars — Packed with celebrity voices, one of the story lines this movie contains (pertaining to the Insterstate system) I found particularly interesting and, I thought, was unexpected. Plus, it includes a sweet one-line commentary on SUVs at the end. What does this movie leave me wanting to do, you ask? Take a trip (or two) covering all of Route 66.

Check 'em out!

<3 the family

In spite of everything (or maybe because of everything) this past week, I've had some really good times. I'm mostly talking about some really good family times. A death in the family creates this situation where all of a sudden you're spending a lot of time with relatives, some of whom you rarely see and when you do, it's during a several-hour reunion where there's a lot going on. Our time together during the last week was very precious, including tears and laughter. With some of them, I feel like I have this whole new bond. I certainly don't wish it would have happened this way, but nevertheless, I'm glad that part of this past week happened.

sad news

On Friday afternoon (June 9), my aunt died. She was my dad's younger sister and was diagnosed with breast cancer about three years ago. Hospice had been called in a couple of weeks ago when it was determined that she could no longer receive treatment. At the beginning of last week, doctors could tell that she didn't have much longer; her lungs were beginning to fill with fluid. Thursday afternoon, she took a turn for the worse and stopped really responding (at least with words). I and my parents spent Thursday evening at her house with her, my uncle, several other family members, and some of her friends; I feel so grateful for this time that I could be with all of them. Early Friday morning, she became very quiet and her breathing became very shallow; they discontinued giving her morphine. By Friday afternoon, she was gone. A lot of us have shed a lot of tears already, and it's difficult to yet imagine when all the tears might be cried out. She was one of the sweetest people ever and we'll all miss her greatly.

farewell today
travel on now
be on your way

go safely there
never worry
never care
beyond this day

farewell tonight
to all joy and to all delight
go well and go peacefully
we can't keep your majesty
be on your way

make ready for the last King of May
make a cardboard crown for him
make your voices one
praise a crazy mother's son
who loved his life
who loved his life

farewell today
travel on now
be on your way
can't bear the very thought
that we could keep your majesty
be on your way

make ready for the last King of May
make a hole in the crowd for him
raise your voices up
lift your loving cups
to his long life
to his long life

make ready for the last King of May
make a hole in the sky for him
raise your voices up
drink your loving cups
to his long life
to his long life

—King of May, Natalie Merchant

highlights

Ok, now that I've embarrassed myself with the last post (as if you guys didn't already know I'm lame like that...), here's a post of my highlights from the last few weeks:

• several diet coke/mentos fountains a couple of weeks ago


• a dry ice explosion in a front yard...obliterating grass and inverting the blown off top of a pop bottle


• the guess who concert last weekend


• a rockin' good time at newell's with a fun group of people when tine, lisa, and nick were in town


• discovering tequiza


• finally seeing an anvil shoot...it was awesome


• and probably the biggest highlight...my new bike! (pictured below)

lame tv post

1. I rented the first disc of the first season of laguna beach over the weekend. No matter what anyone else says, it doesn't hold a candle to the o.c.


2. I can't believe the series finale of everwood is on tonight. That's my favorite show. CW made a grave mistake canceling it. And I can't believe they're bringing back 7th heaven. wtf? Why did they have this 2-month long "Good-bye to the Camdens" ridiculousness and then bring it back? The only mention of everwood's series finale was at the end of last week's episode. That's it! I already hate CW. Except for one tree hill...

p.s. I love that spellcheck suggests "overdose" for "everwood."