So I'm thinking of using one of these new Blogger templates that has comments built in, and also photo capabilities, but the problem with that is that my old commenting service will be dumped. Is it worth it? On the one hand, hey, shiny new template, but on the other, you guys are obviously all geniuses and I'd hate to lose your wisdom. Alternatively, I could cut and paste comments from old entries into the text of each entry, but that would take some time and possibly not be so aesthetically pleasing. What do you think?

Tonight we watched the Red Sox game and so now we're both sitting around depressed. Well, Robbie watched all of it, and I watched until we were up two runs, when my mother called, and I missed most of the rest. Still, though. The games are on so rarely here that we really look forward to them, and so then it's a huge disappointment when they lose. I bet things would be different in Burlington. Well, except for the losing part, that is.

Oh, I finished my cross-stitch. I'm thrilled, and you all should be too, even those of you who couldn't care less about my adventures with the needle arts, because now I'll stop talking about it. (I'll start talking about my rag rug soon, though, but, you know, God never opens a window without closing a door, or something.) Now I have to get it framed. If we were going to be in Rhode Island for longer this summer I'd think about doing it then, because that seems like a fun mother/daughter-in-law project and I always feel good when I provide my mother-in-law with an opportunity to yell at salespeople, but I'll only be there for a week, so I think I'm on my own. If any yelling opportunities arise, maybe I can phone her for a consult.

And now I'll close with the following topical joke, courtesy of Robbie: After Bill Buckner lost the World Series for the Red Sox, he threw himself in front of a speeding train, but unfortunately, it passed between his legs. Robbie will be here all week, everybody.

Comments
Heather: Congratulations! I remember that cross stitch when it was a wee cross stitchling.

Megan of Switzerland: Do you have your blog on your own server? I was disappointed to see that the method they have for posting pictures on the blogspot server doesn't work on macintosh's. Hijos de la gran puta. I want to capitalize nouns in all languages now. Switzerland has ruined me.

Chi: you know, I turned on the TV 10 minutes ago and they are rebroadcasting the Red Sox game on ESPN. Some observations:
1. Ortiz should have swung at that 2-2 pitch with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the top of the 7th even though it WAS outside.
2. His subsequent error on the hard-hit ball in the bottom of the 7th was far less horrendous than the Buckner error (which they replayed like 3 times).

Chi: 3. Nomar just made another error here in the 8th. I assume this is where the Yankees go on top. So yeah Robbie, I agree -- self-destruction all the way...

Robbie: Yeah, I agree with your points. The worst thing is that, in the 7th, the sox had someone on 3rd with no outs and weren't able to bring them home. That's not good. The season started off so well......

EV: I lost all my backBlog comments when I switched from Blogger to TypePad, but it was worth it for the switch (because TypePad, in my opinion, is way better, or was when I switched). The one benefit to switching to Blogger's service is that it will probably hold onto your comments for you and they will be exportable if you ever change hosts or whatever. That's the problem with backBlog.

I've had a sort of Goldilocks-ish feeling lately that I need to find the right town for me, and so today I took a quiz here. It told me that the ideal town for me is Gaithersburg, Maryland. I don't really know what to make of this. On the one hand, although I've never been to Gaithersburg, it does look perfectly nice, but on the other hand, as a dream location, it does seem to lack a certain flash, and what does it mean, exactly, to be perfectly suited to Gaithersburg? Is there a Gaithersburg type? But it got the two of us talking, and we decided that the ideal town for us is Burlington, Vermont. Without considering proximity to other people, I think I'd pick somewhere in the Midwest, and Robbie obviously would be in Canada, but both of those are a little far from everyone. Burlington seems to be practically Canada, anyhow.

So I'm feeling a lot better, and my cough is almost all gone except for a bout every few hours, but Robbie is feeling worse. I mean, he's pushing through the pain, obviously, but a lesser man would be crumbling. Chi, I've been thinking about it, and I blame Niki for our colds. He's the only person who's seen us both in the past few weeks. (Well, I guess it could have been Niki's girlfriend, but I just met her, and I hate to go tossing those sorts of accusations around. She seemed perfectly germ-free, although I suppose we all learned in high school health class that you never really know.) I think I'm not going to go to water aerobics tomorrow, though. Hopping into chilly water still doesn't really appeal to me. Maybe Friday.

And I'm very, very excited to report that one of my tomato plants has actual tiny tomatoes on it. I'm more impressed by this than by anything else I've ever done.

Comments
Robbie: Midwest? Are you a cowboy? I guess that would be more the full west. and we already did that. and it wasn't very cowboyish.

AJ: Hmmmm I got Fayetteville, Arkansas as one of my i deal towns, although the others were quite fitting, Providence was a bit surprising.

Chi: Seattle, WA, Charlotte, NC, Spokane, WA, Norfolk, VA were my top 4. I suppose my housing cost window killed all the CA and Northeast locations. And yes, I agree -- it must have come from Niki! Especially because you got sick just before I did and you saw him right before I did too...

Robbie: So Adam is going to have to live Kato Kalin-style in Fayetteville, Arkansas? Good stuff.

EV: The midwest? All my years of tutilage. Sigh. Oh, I had dinner with Ben Holmes on Friday. We shared the benefit of an unitentional extra order of chow fun.

dr tizzed: Charleston, SC! Cool.

Robbie: My #1 was Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. I got 4 each in Vermont, Mass, and Wisconsin. I find it a little wierd that I got so many in Vermont and Mass but none in New Hampshire.....

Heather: I think Burlington would be a lovely place to live. Megan and I took a mini-vacation there a couple of falls ago. We both liked it a lot.

JR: Worcester, MA.

Well, I got a lot of research done today, but unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to go back at some point to finish it up. My pieces are due on the 12th, so I think I'm going to write up what I did research today, and then wrap up the research and writing next week. I'm excited, though--it was a larger assignment than I remembered, which is a bit daunting, but also pays better, so that's nice.

So, that was pretty much my day. I had lunch in Oakland with Robbie and my high school friend, and that was pretty fun, and then at the end of the day I took the bus back with Robbie, which was delightful except for the fact that we got soaked walking back to our house from the bus stop in driving rain. Then we watched the last episode of the first season of "The Office" and the special features, which were really pretty good. I want to rent the second season now--the British seasons are just too short to make a single season satisfying. Although we haven't managed to finish any of the seasons of any of the American shows we have, so maybe this is more manageable.

Tomorrow I'm going to get some work done at home and do about ten loads of laundry. Also, clean. When we were back in California, more than one person mentioned that according to my blog I clean a freakish amount, but the thing is, I never mention the twenty-three hours of wallowing in filth that get compensated for by, say, an hour of cleaning. We are remarkably messy people. And since I was sick all last week, and now Robbie's sick, we've been more slovenly than usual, too.

Comments
Chi: I can't believe you guys were in Oakland and didn't even look me up!

Debbie: Wait, I thought Robbie didn't get sick...

Robbie: Well, I rarely get sick.... I think there was a impressive number of germs floating around our apartment last week that took their toll. I'm still going to work for today, but I might not be later in the week.

doc tizzed: "I think there was a impressive number of germs floating around our apartment last week that took their toll.' including myself, of course...

Well, this weekend was a rip-roaring good time. Tizzed got here Saturday morning, and he and Robbie left immediately to go play golf. I'd been up half the night coughing, so I stayed at home, in my pajamas, and worked on this cross-stitch I've been doing since Christmas 1998. I'm almost done now, too, I just have some backstitching to do. Now I can move on to the international-symbol designs, which I've wanted to start ever since Hilatron suggested them. Then they came back, we went out for pizza, and then we spent the evening watching "The Office" and filling out Ted's eHarmony profile, for which he had no matches. I was talking about this to Heather today, and I've decided that I could come up with a matching service that would be way better than any of these. It would only have three components:

1. Political and religious preference
2. A series of questions on whether you obey speed laws, rinse dishes before you put them in the dishwasher, carry a balance on your credit card, or have ever used the phrase "me likey." (Possibly this could now be replaced by "Wha happen?")
3. A series of ten video clips from a variety of comedic sources, which you evaluate as "funny" or "not at all funny."

That's really all you need. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention--Tizzed also gave me my birthday present. I wasn't sure what to expect, so you can imagine my delight when I opened the box to find the plush doll featured here. It's even more awesome in person, too.

Then today, Tizzed made us pancakes and then left, and Robbie and I went to the art gallery where Jason, aka Chet, works. I'd never been there before, although it's pretty famous around Pittsburgh, and we had a great time. It's all big installations, nearly all of which change on a yearly basis, and today was the last day of their installations for this year, so I was really glad that we went. Jason also gave us some good information on the pieces and some background stuff we wouldn't have known otherwise, so that was great. We'll definitely go back this fall when the new stuff is in and Heather and Matt can come too.

So, tomorrow I'm going into Oakland to do research for my next set of freelance pieces. I'm a little apprehensive about going to the library because my coughing makes me a bit of a nuisance, but there's usually hardly anyone there in the summer, and it comes in fits, so I can always get up and go to the bathroom if I go off on a coughing jag. The research is my favorite part of writing these pieces, though, so I'm looking forward to it. I got the assignment a while ago and have forgotten what's in it, but I'll do a little starter research tonight so I'll be ready to find information tomorrow.

Comments
Chi: hey, I've got coughing fits too! I'm on antibiotics. As if that wasn't enough, I wake up this morning and I have pinkeye... it's weird 'cause I got pinkeye about a week before your wedding 3 years ago and now I have it again (and I have another wedding to go to next week). sigh.

dr tizzed: 'Wha Happa' from 'A Mighty Wind' is pretty funny, and I'll catch myself saying that from time to time... And lets just say that Eharmony didn't come up with ZERo matches...

Although nothing can top the excitement of seeing Chet, today was a fine day nonetheless. In the morning (well, I woke up at 10:30, so if that counts as morning) I worked, and then I went out to my parents' in the afternoon to pick the mulberries for jelly, because my mother had reported seeing some nice ripe ones. When I got there, though, I found my cousin and her son finishing picking a big bowl that pretty much emptied the tree of ripe berries. However, once she heard I was making jelly, she very kindly gave me the ones she'd picked--she pointed out that since the tree was in her backyard, she could get more ripe ones in a few days. So that was really nice, and tonight I boiled those down into juice. I think I'll make the jelly sometime this weekend, if I get a chance. My cousin said that one of their friends had taken some berries last year and made jelly from them, and it tasted a lot like grape jelly, so that sounds good. I figure, with as much sugar as goes into jelly, what could really go wrong?

So, thus equipped with berries, I ran some errands and had a late takeout lunch from Taco Bell. This is only the second time I've gone to Taco Bell since I moved from Santa Barbara--Heather and I used to go to Taco Bell after every haircut, because that's the kind of class act that we are, but now I don't have a buddy to go with. I can report, though, that my taco was superlative, even if the company was only half as good as it used to be. Then, because I had some time to kill before I could hope to find a parking spot on my street, I went to the bookstore, and then to the huge JoAnn's that's opened by my parents' house. (The building used to be Children's Palace, the most rocking toy store ever, and I'm pleased by the way that the space is adapting to fit my needs. I suspect that by the time I'm seventy, it'll be an enormous surgical stockings store.) I had this dream a few months ago that Dr. J and Big T were having a baby and I had to get them lots of baby blankets--in the dream this was a necessity, similar to the way some people stockpile batteries and water--and although I've basically come down from that, I've sort of been nosing around the idea that baby or throw blankets would, in fact, make simple, easy gifts. So I looked at the fleece, and I'm pleased to report that only 95% of the patterns were horridly whimsical, and there was a candy-stripe print on sale that I actually thought was very pretty. So I may go back when I figure out how much I want.

Then I came home and got a mediocre spot that, in fact, turned out to be the best spot available, and, as always when this happens, this made me consider what I think is a fundamental aspect of human nature. I'm happy when I get a spot right in front of the house, of course, but I'm even happier when I take a copout spot way down the street and then realize as I walk to our apartment that I couldn't have done any better. Why is this? I feel this must illustrate some basic human-behavior principle that, if I pursued it, could win me the Nobel Prize in economics. Although, as Robbie would be the first, last, and middlemost to tell you, that's not a real Nobel Prize anyhow.

Comments
doc tizzed: Well, Economics is not a real Nobel Prize either , so I think its even...

EOL: Just a little recipe tip: if you add a some crushed pineapple to your mulberries, the result is heaven.

Well, today I was feeling a bit better, so I left the house for the first time since Sunday. I have to say that, as experiments go, it was a success. We went out to Cafe Asia, which is this Asian-fusion sort of restaurant near our apartment, and I was enjoying a tasty Vietnamese curry when this mother came in with two obnoxious small children. Now, you all know that I've been very pro-child lately, but these children were really dreadful--possibly because it was seven-thirty and they were just starting dinner and the restaurant is small and full of breakable objects and not child-friendly at all, and I'm not sure why their mother decided this was a remotely feasible dinner option for them, so possibly it's a better guess that the mother was obnoxious and the kids were just kids.

Anyhow, obnoxious or not, the kids were loud and throwing things and putting their feet up on the table, and I was looking over at them in a childfree way and feeling sorry for the two nice young men at the table next to them, who had been having a perfectly pleasant meal until the kids showed up, when I realized that one of the nice young men was none other than Dartmouth's own Jason, aka Chet, about whom Heather and Megan were going to write the rock opera "Gay in a Steel Town." So I hailed him, and he came over and we talked for a little bit, and I think we may be going to the art gallery where he works this weekend. (Oh, and by the way--Tizzed, you want to go to an art gallery?) So I was very grateful for the obnoxious kids after all, and leaving the house was more exciting than I could have dreamed it would be.

Other than that, it was a slow day here. I worked about half the day, and I boiled down the berries that I picked last week and froze the juice for some future jelly-making--I need to pick another bowl's worth in order to make all the jelly I was planning, and I think I might do that on Saturday morning as part of my errands. Other than that, I just sat around and coughed.

Comments
doc tizzed: I don't think I have much of a choice, do i?

Megan of Switzerland: YOU SAW CHET?! Wow. Tell him I said "yo," I mean it. Was the other guy Mario the elementary school art teacher?!

Heather: I asked the same question! Apparently, no introductions were made.

Jess: Yeah--the other guy kind of hung behind, and then went outside while Jason was still talking to us (I said hi to him as they were getting ready to leave). Hey, I wonder if it wasn't Mario, and the other guy was worried Jason would get busted for two-timing! No, that doesn't sound like Jason. But that _would_ be juicy gossip.

My trend of increased productivity continued today--I coughed all day, but actually got eleven hours of work done. I should be sick all the time. Hey, it worked for Emily Dickinson. Unfortunately, I seem to be feeling better, and my fever is totally gone. I fear I'll be back to a life of healthful indolence soon.

So, I was watching TV this afternoon, and they broke in with an abducted-child banner and gave a channel to tune to for more information. Although I figured it was unlikely that the abducted child would turn up in my living room and virtually impossible that I'd find him or her otherwise, I've been working on developing my neighborhood-busybody role lately, and so I tuned to the channel, where they were broadcasting the following message, more or less in its entirety: "The state of Pennsylvania is under an abducted-child watch beginning at 12:45. This warning is in effect until 3:45." Now, I ask you, what sort of warning is that, exactly? A missing child isn't a tornado--I'm not going to know one when I see one. Shouldn't they be describing the child, or the abductor, or the car, or the location, or something? So, out of curiosity, I tried the Post-Gazette website, which had no information, and then the state website, which not only had no information but had a little banner saying that the state was under no watches of any sort. Sheesh. I love Pennsylvania, and America starts here, and all that, but you have to worry about a state that regulates that six-packs, cases of beer, and bottles of wine have to be sold in different stores, but can't muster anything more specific than "There's an abducted child! Uh, somewheres!"

And now, it's time for a poll question. Which mother strikes you as freakier: the mother on today's A Baby Story who curled her hair before her c-section to "look pretty for the baby," or the mother on yesterday's A Baby Story who was expecting her second girl and said, "Now they'll each have a built-in best friend, I'll have two built-in best friends, and their daddy will have two perfect little princesses"? Intially I had a stronger visceral reaction to today's mother, but on reflection, I think the children of yesterday's mother will end up with a longer row to hoe. (As a third poll option, is the nonpregnant woman who watches A Baby Story every day really the freakiest? No, don't answer that.)

Comments
Robbie: The other wierd Pennsilvania law is that cigs must be sold from behind the counter, but chewing tobacco and cigars are just out on the shelves.... and my answer is....the hair curler.

Chi: definitely the hair curler. it's not even close, in my opinion.

megan: Oh no, it's the needy one that freaks me out. The needy one who doesn't think her husband can be best friends with his own offspring and needs little princesses instead. And my parents watch that show together all the time. They like babies, and like seeing people be happy because they got them a baby. I would probably watch it too, were I not exiled.

JR: I concur with Megan. Cause the hair lady was probably just coiffing for the cameras and couching it in poopsie baby talk terms.

Debbie: Seems to me that the hair thing is mildly weird, and the other lady is scary freaky. I'm seeing years of therapy for her inevitably less than perfect children. And mothers being best friends with adult (or close to adult) children, gosh, that's nice. Mothers who think their children are going to be their best friends from birth, hmmm, that's odd.

So, as I predicted yesterday, my inability to get my sorry self off the couch led to increased workplace productivity. It seems that there must be something wrong with this, just in principle, but I got a full day of work done, so I'm not complaining. And I'm feeling a little better--my throat hurts, but I'm less achy and my fever is down a little bit. And due to the use of very potent anti-cold-and-flu drugs, I slept very well last night. So that's good.

Because my throat hurts and is only really comfortable when I'm drinking something hot, I drank a record amount of tea today--I think I've had five cups already, and I'm planning on a sixth. You tend to make big plans like that when you lie on the sofa all day being productive.

So who else is watching Joe Schmo 2? I'm enjoying it, but I don't think it has the splendor of the original Joe Schmo. They should've hired Pittsburghers to be the Schmos this time too. I hate to say it, but we make the best rubes.

Comments
Dr tizzed: I missed last nights episode (I had to watch the premiere of Nip/Tuck) but I caught the first episode. I'm liking this year, I only watched last year after the fact, but I was on the floor with the whole eviction ceremony this year (much like Tim)

You know, I'd figured that once I reached my late twenties, I'd more or less have one foot in the grave, but even I'm amazed by my body's rapid decline. First there was Saturday's stomachache, and now I seem to have the flu--I woke up with a fever, chills, sore throat, and aches. Sheesh. I wouldn't be surprised to wake up tomorrow to find that I'd been given an artificial hip while I slept. (And since there's only one person with means and motive--fear of my mad squash skills--I think we'd all know who was the culprit.)

Still, though, the flu held off until after our California trip, our anniversary, my birthday, and Father's Day, so I can't complain too much. And although I was too lethargic today to do much, if I can shake that off tomorrow I'll actually have tons of time to work without needing to leave the sofa--that's one big advantage of working from home. And if I'm going to have chills, I may as well have them when it's hot out. So all in all, it could be worse. And Robbie just went to the store for juice and tea and other stuff, so soon things will be even better. I think Robbie gets aggravated at times like these because he's never sick and while I'm not sick all that often, I am a reasonably human amount, so, understandably, he's not usually inclined to bustle around doing sickroom stuff and cooing sympathetically. Whereas I, who because of childhood issues that we hardly need to get into here feel unstoppably compelled to bustle around and coo, never get the chance, because the fellow's never sick. But today even Robbie was forced to agree that we had nothing to eat in the house, so off he went.

Anyhow. In my fever-addled state, I had a dream last night that, against great odds and a middle-class background, I was chosen to be a debutante, and my in-laws were very proud of me. Feel free to analyze away at that. In a strange way, I think that it's because I just finished reading the third Harry Potter. You know, substitute "wizard" for "debutante" and "other wizards" for "my in-laws" and it kind of works.

Comments
Robbie: I get sick, I just *grr* push through the pain *grr*. Also I was sick a lot in 4th grade.

EV: Did he shut you up with Pepto?

Chi: feel better, jess. I am coming down with the flu as well and am completely sympathetic...

Well, my short-lived Pirates winning streak ended today when we went to the game and they lost. It was still a fun game, though. The weather was perfect--72 degrees and sunny--and the game was close, so, other than winning, there's not much else you can ask for. We had nice seats, too. They were high up, but we got a good view of the action, and we were facing downtown and had a great view of the city. I didn't have my Primanti's sandwich after all, though. My stomach was feeling better, but I decided not to risk it and had a healthy lunch of popcorn instead.

Other than that, it's been a slow day. We slept until 11:30, and so we pretty much went straight to the game once we woke up. After we got back, we just hung out here, and I did some work and repotted some tomato plants--I ran out of potting soil, or I would have done them all. These new pots are huge and so I'm hoping to never have to repot again. Oh, and we watched the first episode of the third season of "Coupling," which was very good. I love the way every episode of that show just seems ridiculously inane until the last six or seven minutes, when it all comes together.

Tomorrow I'm getting up early and working, then going to water aerobics, where I hope to take delivery of my water-resistance gloves, which I paid for last Friday but have yet to receive. After that, I'm going to my mother's and we're taking Dottie to the psychiatrist. You'll all recall that last time I got vomited upon, so I can't say I'm looking forward to the trip, but at least we decided to skip lunch this time and so it should go faster.

Oh, and I forgot to mention--since it was Father's Day, they were giving away baseball caps to all the dads who came to the baseball game. My dad got one, and then they asked Robbie if he was a father, to which he replied, "Uh, not really." I find this alarming.

Comments
Robbie: "Uh, not really" means "No, but if you want to give me a hat, I'll take one." which they did....

My 27th Birthday: The Surreal Years Begin

I want to emphasize that I had a lovely birthday, but it was definitely the oddest one yet, even counting the one that started in Montmartre listening to a band perform what they were calling "Rock Around The Clown." My birthday cake was in the shape and form of a giant hamburger, which was awesome, but pretty strange (and, I think, a cruel joke to play on Dottie, who was at my birthday party--she proudly identified it as a hamburger, my mother said it was a cake, and confusion reigned. Heather suggested it should have been a knee-shaped cake). My cousin and her family came over for cake too, but they didn't really know it was my birthday, so that was a little confusing too, and it got worse when Dottie told my cousin's two-year-old daughter that I was my mother's mother. I went to the discount store with my mom and Robbie and saw the Zippo car, a car with two giant Zippo lighters in the back. I got many lovely gifts--a book and a puzzle from my parents, money from my great-aunts, the third-season "Coupling" DVDs and a The Band CD from Robbie, and the Amazing Adventures of the Escapist from a group containing some or all of my brothers-in-law--but I think my favorite gift was a pair of Old Navy capri pants from my high school friend, and I don't know why I took such a shine to those, but I really did. I feel she saw my soul and ascertained correctly that it is wearing inexpensive but stylish clothing. It was an odd day all around.

I think the highlight of my birthday was getting phone calls from two of my brothers-in-law, just because it was unexpected. I also had a very nice time discount-shopping with my mother and Robbie. The mulberry tree has lots of fruit, so we picked some and then at the discount store I got canning supplies to make jelly. I've made jelly before and it's not hard--basically you need pectin, sugar, and something red--so I think I'll do that sometime this week. Oh, and I had a nice conversation with Heather, except for the part where she mentioned the apartment complexes she's looking at in Alexandria and I looked them up on an apartment reviews site and basically told her that they were all vermin-infested drug dens, which I think brought her down a little bit. It was the sort of conversation that everyone has every so often when they're possessed of very interesting, though grim, information and are so eager to share it that they sort of don't notice that the other party is desperately trying to change the subject, and it wasn't until I read the tenth or so "Hey, this place is full of mice! And prostitutes!" review to her that I noticed I wasn't making the ideal conversational partner. But then we moved on to brighter pastures, or something.

The only real flaw in the day is that, like last year, I'm plagued with a stomachache from all the birthday delicacies (well, that and I think this morning's lox was highly, highly questionable). But that shall pass. Tomorrow we're going to the Pirates game for Father's Day, and I better be able to enjoy my Primanti's sandwich or there's just no point.

Comments
Chi: you'll be happy to know that Emily and I, along with NIki and Carissa, celebrated your birthday in fine fashion -- gorging on dim-sum for brunch and gorging on sushi for dinner. Followed up with a bonfire at the beach last night! I'm sorry I forgot to call though. Happy Birthday!

Phew! Today was a bit busy. I worked for twelve hours, made dinner rolls, and did the laundry. Fortunately, by getting all of that done today I won't have to do anything at all tomorrow, which is a very good thing, as it might cut in on the birthday festivities somewhat. I've laid out the day in detail: first I'll have a bagel with lox and take a walk, then we're going to my parents' house for lunch. My mother was very apologetic that lunch was going to be Arby's, but apparently that's all my great-aunts will eat on Saturdays. I think she didn't understand that for the past five years I've had to talk my friends into driving to Santa Maria for my special Arby's birthday lunch (I mean, they did it, because I had great friends, I didn't have to talk them into it very hard--but the point is, I got no problem with Arby's). Then I'm going shopping for tomato cages--well, I guess that might possibly be construed as work, but I really need them and my mother's promised to take me to a super-discount store that might be pretty fun. Then we're going out to dinner with my high school friend, her date, and possibly some other people, and then we might hit a Bulgarian folk-dancing festival, just to cap it off. All in all, I think this birthday will be pretty rocking.

And that, I fear, is all for the evening from me. Sorry, but long workdays do not exciting blog entries make. I'll be back tomorrow to report on the birthday festivities in minute detail.

Happy anniversary to me (and Robbie), happy anniversary to me (and Robbie), happy anniversary to meeeeee (and Robbie), happy anniversary to me! (And, of course, Robbie.)

Today I worked on a grant proposal at my mom's, putting in many hours but not really doing anything blogworthy. And now I'm at home. We just finished eating a celebratory chicken and rice, and in a while, we'll have some chocolate chip cookies. And now I'm off to rejoin the festivities...

Comments
Chi: happy anniversary to you! (and Robbie)

JR: happy anniversary to Robbie! (and you)

doc tizzed: Bon anniversaire (as the french would say) Trust me, if you were at the poker game last night, you'd be laughing your butt off...

I'm back! And really, really tired. Our flight home was as fine as a redeye can be, but I still didn't sleep at all and so I took a five-hour nap when I got home (does that even qualify as a nap? It seems like there should be some time limit on that term) and now I'm feeling slightly more perky. I still think it'll be an early night for me, though.

And now, back to the recap. After I posted on Sunday, we went to graduation, which seemed to go faster than last year's and was very nice. There was a family sitting behind us with a father who looked both quite wealthy and sort of toothy, such that you'd look at him twice to try to figure out if you knew him from somewhere and then decide you didn't. He was talking to someone next to him (his sister-in-law, maybe) about his union, which I thought was odd, but in Santa Barbara you do get your share of toothy, tanned contractors, or whatever, so I figured that was his deal. As it turned out, though, Buebbles' mom identified him (correctly, as far as I can tell from photos, although as Adam and Chi know, I'm sometimes fooled by fake celebrities), as David Rasche, a name that meant nothing to us until she further identified him as the guy from "Sledgehammer." Yes, a bona fide 1980s celebrity. So I now present to you the Most Uneventful Celebrity Encounter Ever:

David Rasche, to his family: I'm worried that they aren't going to read the names.
Me, turning around: No, they will.
David Rasche: Oh.

And for all of you who've asked yourselves "I wonder what David Rasche is really like," I can report that he seems perfectly nice, although he didn't like the graduation announcer. After that brush with greatness, we headed off to Buebbles' apartment for a very lovely graduation party for him and Matt, and then, on the way out, Robbie made the discovery that would change the course of our weekend, namely, that the cement paving stone at the corner of De La Vina and Junipero streets labels the streets as Hollister and Fourth. Robbie was more than happy to chalk this up to Santa Barbara idiocy, but Heather and I went into Girl Detective mode and over the course of the weekend, we discovered that at some point in history, those labels were correct (for those of you that aren't familiar with Santa Barbara, Hollister is still a street but currently goes nowhere near there, and Fourth isn't a street anymore). I'd be happy to explain the history of this, because after several very interesting hours online and at the UCSB library I think we finally understand it, but I'm not sure anyone else would find it as riveting. Let me know if I'm wrong. Also, let me know if you have any other pending mysteries, because Heather and I really enjoy Girl Detective mode.

On Monday Robbie and I walked downtown while Heather went running and Matt held down the fort, and then the four of us met up and had lunch, and Heather and Matt gave me a mug and some lemony candles for my birthday, both of which will get lots of use around here. Then Robbie went to campus to play hockey while Heather, Matt, and I walked to the mission. It was a lovely walk, marred only by Matt deciding to piledrive me in the mission rose garden, and I got to see the chalk paintings for I Madonnari, which by now were blurry (the event is held on Memorial Day weekend) but still pretty visible. Then we went out for dinner for Buebbles' 30th birthday, and had some cake, and called it a night. Yesterday we had lunch with a friend I used to work with and her son, and then Heather and I hung around campus for a while girl-detectiving, and then Robbie and I took off for LAX. We stopped and had dinner with our college friend Niki and his girlfriend in LA, and then we went to the airport, and flew back, and the flight was long and boring but at least we got an exit row, so Robbie was comfortable. And now here we are, and I'm waiting to see how much longer I can stay awake.

Comments
doc tizzed: Is it sad that I knew who David Rasche was? And that I'm eagerly awaiting the release of SledgeHammer! on DVD? Turst me, I know what I'm doing...

Here we are in California. I'm having a great time, but I have to admit that it's sort of strange to be back. The first night we were here, I was disoriented by things that have changed in Heather and Matt's apartment (which, honestly, is hardly anything, but it still disoriented me) and I think that sort of bothered Heather in turn. I'm having a great time with Heather and Matt and everyone else we've seen (and we've seen a lot of people) but just in terms of the place, it makes me a little sad to be here. For the past year I've felt like I was separated from here by space--a whole lot of space, but still, space that I could hop on a plane and overcome--but as is probably always the case, it seems like I'm separated from here by time as well, and I can't do anything about that. And this year almost everyone who didn't leave last year is leaving, so in a way it's like the place isn't even going to exist anymore. Which, honestly, is okay--we'll get to visit everyone in their new places, which (with the continuing exception of Dr. J and Big T) are all within a day's drive from us, and we'll see new things and not have this weird sense of melancholy. (Which, I should reiterate, isn't because I'm having a bad time--I'm having a great time, and I actually think that may be why I feel a little sad.)

And now, on to the recap. We got in on Thursday night and went to the In and Out in Beverly Hills. The burgers were as tasty as I'd remembered, but the fries were the second fries I'd had that day, and so I was a little fried out. Then we came back here and pretty much went straight to sleep. On Friday, we woke up, watched part of Reagan's funeral, went to campus, ate lunch at Chilito's (which was superlative in every respect except that I ran into someone I was intensely hoping not to see on our way in, but even that went fine), walked around for a while, went to our old apartment complex, did some shopping for graduation/birthday gifts, went to my old office to pick up some freelance stuff, went out for sushi, tried to go to the Merc but were foiled by their special event, and went to Dargan's instead, which pretty much finished the evening. Yesterday we went to the Daily Grind for breakfast, then had lunch at El Sitio and visited the new Trader Joe's, and then we went to Lipstock, Matt Lippert's clambake. I had a great time--I got to see a lot of people, went swimming and hot-tubbing, and ate a ton of food. Great all around. Then we came back here and hung out for a while and that's all so far.

Today is graduation, and then we're going to a graduation party for Matt and Buebbles. And I was just thinking that we had a free day until then (graduation starts at 4) but I just remembered we're also making a cake. But that oughtn't to be too taxing. I have to say, though, this lifestyle is taking its toll on me, and I know what you're thinking but seriously, it's the food. I haven't eaten this much or this well in months--clearly I should have devoted some time to training for this weekend's eating. Next week I'm going back to gruel three times a day.

I very carefully stayed up until two in the morning last night, so as to facilitate my adjustment to California time. I'm nothing if not meticulous in my pursuit of fun. And now we're all set and leaving for the airport in about three hours. We're packed and, thanks to Robbie, our monster suitcase is even in the car already. (I don't know where it's going to fit in Heather and Matt's apartment, though--maybe the patio?) Now all I have to do is do a little work for my mother and take the trash out, and then I'm set to go. I have this compulsion where I can't leave the house, even just overnight, unless I take out the trash and pay any outstanding bills.

Well, I'll try to check in at some point during our trip. Mostly we'll be going to a variety of graduation activities, although tomorrow we're having our Salute to G-Town. I don't know if it'll be star-studded, but a girl can dream.

Comments
Heather: I just thought I'd let everyone know that Matt and I are leaving in FIFTEEN MINUTES to go pick up Jess and Robbie! I also wonder where their suitcase will fit. We'll work something out. We'll also keep the suitcase in mind when we choose our new apartment.

Here's the deal: I'm going to be, in the words of the teen Mormon Californians whose Xangas are strangely addictive to me, hecka busy the next few days until our trip. Also, a bunch of different things (Reagan, seeing high school friends, other blogs, et cetera) have made me want to ask you all the following question: how old were you when?

So, I'm turning it over to you. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to answer the following questions:

1) When were you born?
2) What's the first news event that you remember?
3) What's the first song you remember being popular?
4) What's the first movie you saw in a theater?
5) What was your first favorite TV show?
6) What's the first "this is something to tell your grandkids, you'll always remember where you were" event you remember?

It would be extra-special if you provided dates for these things, but if you don't have the time to find them, 'saright. I'm especially looking forward to the responses of people who are not roughly my age (you know who you are, oh yes, and so do I) and Tobias. (Partly because he's German, and partly because, hey, it's Tobias.) But I want to hear from everyone.

I'll go first:

1) June 19, 1977
2) I said Reagan being shot the other day (March 30, 1981) but that's in a fuzzy, hey-everyone's-turning-on-the-TV sort of way. The first one I really clearly remember is Indira Gandhi's assassination (October 30, 1984--huh, that's much later than I would have guessed).
3) "The Tide Is High" (1981, can't find out when exactly)
4) Lady and the Tramp (rereleased March 7, 1980)
5) "One Day at a Time," mostly because my great-aunts didn't want me to watch it (December 1975-September 1984)
6) The Challenger explosion (January 28, 1986)

Knock your bad selves out. I'll be back before we leave.

Comments
Heather: 1. March 26, 1976
2. Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, June 29, 1981
3. Not sure, possibly as late as Dirty Dancing's "Time of my Life"
4. E.T., I think, 1982
5. Punky Brewster
6. Also the Challenger explosion

Debbie: 1) Nov. 3, 1976
2) I have a vague memory of John Lennon's death, which I think was Dec, 1980, but that seems way too early for me to be paying attention to news.
3) Here's where the haze really kicks in. I'm not sure.
4) Probably Fantasia, sometime in the early 80's
5) The Cosby Show
6) Again, the Challenger explosion. (I think this may be the big winner in our age group).

JR: 1. January 19, 1977
2. I think it's Wilson Goode being elected the first black mayor of Philly in 1983. If not that, than Reagan
3. Let's Get Physical by Olivia Newton John. 1982-ish
4. The first one I really remember is E.T., although I have flashes of the Empire Strikes Back, which I think made me cry.
5. MTV. I think I started watching in 1981 or 1982.
6. I think probably also the Challenger.

Dr Tizzed: 1) Sept 1, 1976
2) The 1982 World Series
3) "Mickey" by Toni Basil (thanks a LOT Ericka)
4) Popeye. (12/80) Apparently I was at 'The muppet movie', but I don't remember
5) Besides 'Sesame Street' or 'The Electric COmpany'? "Joker's Wild' with Bill Cullen as well as Sid and Marty Krofft shows (I still hold a torch for Dynagirl)
6) Mondale getting 1 state in 1984. No, I lie. Challenger.

Robbie: 1) Sept 24, 1976
2) I got nothin.
3) Nope. Not a thing coming to mind
4) Well, the first movie I saw on VHS was "Its a mad mad mad mad mad world." Probably in 1983 or something.
5) I'll go with a tie between Sesame Street, Electric company, and saterday morning cartoons
6) Da Challeger.
I remember the first computer game I ever played: Pacman on my dad's Apolo. What the hell is an Apolo anyways? First mac game I ever played was load runner. That game ruled.

Robbie: An Apolo is nothing. I mean Apollo of course.....

EV: I am so too tired for this.

JJS: 4) Lady and the Tramp
6) Challenger, which is over 18 fucking years ago! not one of the students in by building were alive, much less remember.

AWG: 1) September 15, 1946
2)The Democratic convention in 1952 because it was on all evening for every night of the entire convention (Monday - Thursday) . I remeber the states' signs being bounced up and down during the nominating roll call.
3)"How Much is That Doggie in the Window?" by , I think, Patti Page. I would guess '51 or ' 52.
4) "Alice in Wonderland" ,1951
5) "Captain Video and His Video Rangers" - 15 minutes. Initally, I think, MWF, then every night! Especially the "I, Tobor" episodes
6) Sputnik, October, 1957

KBH: 1. October 2, 1968
2. Televised Watergate hearings (1974) because my father was glued to the TV
3. "Don't Go Breakin My Heart" (1976)
4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
5. Happy Days
6. Taking of the American Embassy in Iran, November 1979

EOL: 1. May 16, 1946
2. The fighting in Korea -- I pictured thousands of people in hand-to-hand combat in a big open field.
3. "Canadian Sunset"
4. Peter Pan
5. "The Gene Autry Show"
6. Bill Mazeroski's home run in the 7th game of the 1960 World Series

Jess: Ha, KBH, it took me until I saw your birthday to figure out who you were. You'd think I'd seen them written at the top of the NYT enough to make it intuitive, but no... maybe I'm finally blocking the NYT-screening era out!

KBH: I would say that is a good thing! Anyway, I thought I'd provide insight into another age group for you. I had some second thoughts on number 6, though. Maybe the Bicentennial would have been a happier occasion to relate to my hypothetical grandchildren. We had an awesome block party on the fourth and my best friend and I decorated our scooters (really) with red, white, and blue streamers. Wahoo!

Huh. Well, it's 11:30 and according to my to-do list, I still need to work for another three hours, edit some of my book, finish a project for my mom, and clean the apartment. I think the odds of this actually happening are pretty low.

This morning at water aerobics (one of the places I was other than getting things done on my to-do list) we used the resistance gloves. I have never felt so much resistance before. The fingers are webbed, and so when you spread your fingers and move them through the water, you get an amazingly challenging workout. After that, I got some work done, and then I headed out to walk with my high school friend. It was really hot out today and at the end of our walk I had a cherry sno-cone, which was possibly the best thing I've ever eaten. Then I went over to my friend's parents' house. She'd mentioned a while ago that her mom would love to see me, and at first this was discussed rather casually, but after a bunch of scheduling snafus the thing had assumed the urgency and gravitas of, I don't know, Yalta. So it was satisfying to get that done, plus her mother made me a very nice sandwich.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that today I bought a pair of humorously not-my-size pants at Target. I really pride myself on buying clothes quickly and with a minimum of fuss, but I think in this case it may have been a grave error, because the waist on these pants, while nominally my size, is honestly about three times the size of my actual waist. They have a drawstring, so not all is lost, but below the waist they balloon out in a very Hammeresque way. Still, I'm keeping them. They're comfortable and they were only $10, so even though I could quite possibly never wear them out of the house, they'll be useful. Plus, when Robbie sees them he falls on the floor howling with laughter, and that seems like a good sort of item to have around.

OK, I have to get some work done...

Only four days until we leave for Santa Barbara! I'm incredibly, incredibly excited, but I have to admit, today I got a little nervous too, and I'm not sure why. I think seeing so many people that I haven't seen in so long (well, fine, it's been less than a year, but it seems like a really long time) has sparked some sort of class-reunion subroutine in my brain, and it's manifesting itself in almost constant worry about what I'm going to wear. I have that monologue going in my brain on a two-minute cycle, the one that goes "I should wear the brown dress. No, Robbie said the blue dress is better. I'll make sure Heather definitely isn't wearing the purple dress, since they match. I'll bring the brown dress just in case. No, then I'll have to bring too many shoes. I'm awfully pale these days. The brown dress looks better on me. I should wear the brown dress." Repeat, repeat, repeat. And you all know that that's not normally my thing. I know it's going to be a lot of fun, though, and once I'm all packed, I think I'll power down a little bit on the worry.

I've been musing on presidential legacies today. Reagan was, obviously, the first president I remember--I have a really, really vague memory of him being shot, actually--and although, as I said yesterday, in retrospect I was no fan of his politics, the thing is, I remember the Reagan years fondly. I knew my parents didn't like him, but I remember that kind of fondly too. I mean, I was aged three to 11, and basically those are good years. And anyhow, not to either compliment or insult him, but I do think that Reagan was the sort of president that appealed to children--grandfatherly, soothing, self-confident. Bush senior, however, I remember with unrelieved horror, and again, that has mostly to do with the corresponding age I was at. Clinton is probably the first president whose policies I think of first, rather than just associating him with a certain period of my life. And it's the strangest thing to think that, say, AJ, who is an actual full-fledged person who can do math and operate a motor vehicle, probably doesn't even remember any presidents before Clinton. I'm sure an older person than me would be similarly horrified that I, say, have no opinion about Gerald Ford. (I really don't. I can't even do what I usually do, and peg him to a period in my parents' life, to give me perspective. I know they were married, and I wasn't born yet, and so, in the way people tend to frame history, I tend to picture them sitting around saying "What is this, 1975? Well, we were recently married, and we won't have a baby until 1977. Oh, hey, there's Gerald Ford.")

Anyhow. Today has been a really calm day. We went to the gym, where I learned to use the weights, and then I made pancakes. Here's a philosophical question for you all that came up over pancakes: I like really thick pancakes, while Robbie likes incredibly thin, crepe-like pancakes. Because we are strong-willed people, we both have a tendency to writhe around making fake choking noises and generally carrying on when we are served the other type of pancake. Now, so far, we've had the policy that whoever makes pancakes makes them however he or she wants. However, Robbie suggested today that we both make them sort of medium all the time. Now, what's better? Having perfect pancakes half the time and hideous pancakes the other half, or always having slightly imperfect pancakes? I say the former, Robbie says the latter. (So yes, not only do we disagree about pancakes, we disagree about meta-pancakes.)

Then I talked to Heather, and we finalized some visit plans (for example, we resolved to hit In'n'Out straight off the bat on Thursday night), although we nearly forgot to discuss actual meeting places at the airport until we were about to hang up (although in this age of cell phones, I suppose that's not such a big deal anyhow). And now we're hanging out, waiting for Robbie's friend Stefan to roll into town to begin his Summer of Bulgarian Fun.

Comments
Chi: you guys have obviously been married for a long time.

Dr Tizzed: Am I confused? Why can't there be both?

Chi: well, that would involve changing the batter consistency while making the pancakes which might be tricky or making two separate things of batter.

Lizie: I'm with Dr. Tizzed . . . You could mix all the dry ingredients as one, then split them and add varying amounts of wet ingredient mixture to each part of dry ingredients. One batch, two sets of pancakes . . . unfortunately twice as many dishes but if you put your mixing bowls in a dishwasher anyway it shouldn't be a problem. =-) Perfect pancakes all the time.

Jess: Might I matchmake here and point out that Lizzie and Dr. Tizzed seem like they would get along swimmingly, in terms of pancakes at least? While your suggestions are sound, I think you are failing to appreciate that we each find each other's pancake preference not only unappetizing, but immoral. Making a neutral pancake is as far as either of us would stretch.

JR: You could both make pancakes on the same day, each have what you like, and then have more pancakes to consume the following day. How about that?

Heather: On a totally different subject, my purple dress has to go to the cleaners, and I guarantee that I won't take it this week, so you are in no danger of my wearing it during your visit to Santa Barbara. Also, I feel the same way about Reagan that you do. I remember him as a very kind-looking, grandfatherly fellow.

Dr tizzed: jeebus! They're PANCAKES for chrissakes! I've never imagined a recipe to be immoral. It looks like you've trenched yourself into a maginot syrup line that will not be crossed, and the blogging community cannot Jimmy Carter this one for you...

Jess: Well, it's pretty hard to get out of four feet of syrup... Yeah, I think that somehow, while Robbie and I disagree on both pancakes and meta-pancakes, the fact that we both find certain pancakes to be immoral brings us closer together. Kind of like how I understand that he hates when I leave junk in the car (yes, even the trunk), because I hate when he leaves junk in the apartment, and vice versa.

Robbie: Well, I don't mind some junk in the trunk. Like stuff that you might conceivably need sometime on the road but you don't know when. Or something like a pair of sneakers. But I draw the line at keeping an answering machine in the trunk for 2 years. I mean, who calls you there?

Oh, I just can't stay away from you! (Or, alternatively, I just can't keep my typing fingers quiet.) There's too much to say today. Let's never fight again.

First of all, I should note that although politically speaking I was no fan of Ronald Reagan, I know from personal experience that his disease is awful, and I'm glad his suffering (and, maybe even more so, that of his family) is over. And now, as my father said, I'm going to sit back and watch everything in the entire country get renamed.

And next, on to Smarty Jones. That was a heck of a thing, eh? I'm a little concerned at the lack of Triple Crown winners being produced in our nation, most of all because one of the faux-swank developments near where I grew up only names its streets after championship horses, and I'm worried that they're going to run out pretty soon, and then the whole town will suffer from a dangerous shortage of large bland housing. And I also felt bad for the elderly gentleman who owns Smarty Jones (who, I say here for no reason other than to name-drop, is the grandfather of one of AJ's friends or something, and so I can only assume that AJ spent the afternoon watching the race while sipping a fashionable beverage and wearing a festive black-and-white Ascot hat), because everyone in his entourage leapt up to watch the finish, completely obscuring the view from his wheelchair, and then he had to ask who won.

And I also need to report that although I'd more or less accepted that I'm no good at video games (although anyone who's played Super Smash Brothers with me would attest, at least some of this has to do with my refusal to be any characters other than Jiggly-jiggly-jiggly-jiggly-puff and Mr. Game and Watch), and am rotten at our James Bond game (my strategy: run directly at my opponent while shooting wildly) and at our hockey game (my strategy: hit the X key), I'm really quite good at two-player Gran Turismo. I'm kind of excited about this. I think the manager at EBX wanted to marry me, by the way--we were there last night buying games, and he reacted quite positively when he heard that I'd bought a Playstation 2 spontaneously and without Robbie being there. He said, kind of mournfully, "My girlfriend will only play The Sims." I wanted to tell him that I wasn't that hip, and that I yell at Robbie every single time he washes his beard clippings down the drain and am generally a killjoy in a variety of ways, but I figured for all I knew his girlfriend did all that too, and then he'd just get really depressed.

Oh, and I did some work too, and I got paid for the proofreading work I did this week. It's not much (I mean, it wasn't that much work, I got paid a perfectly reasonable amount), but it's something, and the promptness is really fantastic.

Comments
Robbie: Reallly Jess's bond stratagy is to run at the opponent while shooting at her own foot..... She really is freakishly good at the Grad Turismo though. Reminds me of the golf game where she kept nailing the 30 foot putts.

Heather: I couldn't believe that horse race. It looked like Smarty Jones really had it. Oh well.

megan: Your blog makes me go back and reread the New York Times more carefully, not skipping the sports section this time. Cryin' shame, Smarty. And somehow it really hurt learning about Ronald Reagan from the Swiss dj. "Ex-praesident Ronald Reagan isch tot. Morga foifundzwanzig grad!" I won't translate the first sentence... you linguistic star! But the second is "25 degrees tomorrow!" Somehow they just don't seem to care. And I don't think I would have cared if it weren't for the Alzheimers. You *are* a hip girlfriend, Jess. But why no beard clippings down the drain?

Dr Tizzed: I think tonight's blog entry will be about how happy i am that Smarty Jones did NOT win the triple crown... And its a little more than shadenfreude.... but that's a big part of it, too. What's your car in GT2?

Jess: Oh, I like all the cars. I think my most notable successes were with the Viper, though. About the beard hair, I don't know. It seems cloggy and unpleasant. I guess I shave my legs in the shower, but the shower seems different somehow.

AJ: I dunno Jiggly puff is pretty kickass, but i do agree that Mr. Game-and-Watch's bacon throwing skills are holding you back.

Comments (or the lack thereof) have led me to believe that my weekend entries aren't so popular as the weekday ones. Therefore, I'm going to switch to a Tizzed-style posting schedule. But before I do, I need to congratulate Matt Lippert on successfully defending today. I figured he would, but knowing that he did will make next week's Lipstock all the more rockin'.

Well, today was a good day. I got some work done, I bought Robbie a present, I set up a visit to see some friends while in California and another to see a friend when we get back, I viewed some fetal photos, my apartment showing tomorrow is all cleared with the tenants, use of my AK has been minimal--all in all, a good day.

So, to take it point by point: this morning at my mother's, after Ethel left to visit Dottie and before my mother got home from work, I worked on my journal-editing freelance. I really get a kick out of this work. It's totally different from anything I've edited before, and it's my only real proofreading job right now (by which I mean actual line-by-line reading of proofs, which I enjoy), so it has a lot going for it. And there isn't that much of it, only an article every week or two, so it stays interesting. I still need to email my corrections, but other than that I'm all done.

After that, I went to Target to get some storage tubs and other stuff we need, and spontaneously bought Robbie a Playstation 2. Well, I'm sure we'll both play with it, but I'm also sure he'll use it more than I will (especially since I resisted buying The Sims), so I'm counting it as a present for him. I bought a 007 game, and it's pretty fun, but I'm thinking we also need some sort of racing game, possibly the one we played at Tizzed's this weekend, and Robbie wants a hockey game.

And I emailed one of our Santa Barbara friends (we used to work together) to get together while we're in California, which should be nice, and I also emailed my high school French teacher, who was a good friend of mine for a long while, but we've sort of lost touch. I went to visit her at school in September, but I haven't seen her since, which, quite frankly, is a crying shame, so I emailed her to see if she wanted to get coffee sometime. She's in school until after we get back from California, but we're going to go out after that (I mean, they do let her out for nights and weekends, but we seem to both have decided that getting together should be a summer sort of thing).

I also saw some ultrasound photos of a new (very new, pre-new) baby, the son, actually, of the friend I'm seeing in Santa Barbara. They've made some big strides in ultrasound in the two years since I last saw ultrasound photos, it seems. All the ultrasound photos I ever saw before (and I saw a fair amount where I used to work) were sort of lumpen and gray and I'd stare at them and think "Now, is that a finger? Maybe a nose?" until things were pointed out to me. Now it's total Richard Avedon territory. Due to these advances, I've now learned that twenty-week-old fetuses are skinny like adults, and have muscular calves. I really like this as a concept.

And I'm showing the apartments tomorrow evening, but that seems to be all squared away, and I'm also going to the super-super water aerobics class in the morning. I'm slightly confused because the JCC handbook mentions a fee and mandatory equipment and the instructor mentioned none of these things, but it's been my experience that the handbook outlines a much more rigorous experience, overall, than the actual gym has ever delivered. So I'm just going to show up, flail around for forty-five minutes, and that'll be that.

Comments
Dr Tizzed: That game would be Colin McRae 3.0.. I'd also recommend 'Simpsons Road Rage', which is in the PS2's greatest hits collection. It's been a while since I'v actually _bought_ a PS2 game, but I can offer some tips if you want them...

Heather: That's a heck of a present!

Today I went to water aerobics for the first time. It was pretty thrilling. Although I'm not generally change-averse (that's Robbie, not me), I'm always a little worried when I try a new activity for which I don't really know the protocol, so I had to talk myself into going, but I was glad I did. At first I was thrown off because I couldn't really see what the instructor was doing, since three-fourths of her was underwater, but then I realized that since three-fourths of me was also underwater, it didn't really matter if I got the moves right. And that was quite liberating. Anyhow, I had a great time, and a surprisingly decent workout, and afterwards the instructor recommended that I take the advanced morning class instead. I suspected at first that this was because I was a good ten years younger, at least, than the next oldest person in the class, but Heather offered the opinion that it's because I'm a total water-dance jock, and I'm going to believe that instead.

Then I worked all afternoon, and then I showed the apartments again. The guy I showed them to was basically your stereotypical physics grad student. I mean, I don't actually know that he's a physics grad student, and I only know maybe one or two physics grad students out of dozens who actually fit the stereotype, but if you know the stereotype, well, this was it. He was perfectly nice, but incredibly, incredibly quiet, and when I offered my hand and said "Hello, I'm Jessica," he replied "Hello." Now, I'm as introverted as they come, so you have to get up pretty early in the morning to surprise me with your lack of social graces, but surprised I was. But once I got into it, and realized that he certainly wasn't expecting me to make any small talk, it was nice. He also tested all of the faucets, which I thought was impressively diligent of him. They always say to do that, but no one ever does.

And now I have to go, because Robbie is cursing and saying he has to restart the Internet. But that was pretty much my day in full, anyhow.

Comments
EV: Restart the whole internet? So that's what happened last night during my Slingo game.

Jess: I know. His raw power is incredible. (As a aside, I'm at my mom's and nearly posted this under her name, which would have been creepy.)

I have to say, apartment showing is a really mind-expanding experience. For example, in just three apartment showings I've learned how to say "Seriously, why does it take twenty minutes for this woman to find the right key?" in Chinese, Hindi, and Turkish. I have to say, in theory I completely support both bringing friends and family to see a potential apartment and discussing the apartment in whatever language makes you most comfortable, but on a purely selfish level, it makes me really nervous to not know what people are saying. And it makes me especially nervous to hear a long string of a language I don't speak, followed by a phrase like "oh, what a big closet," followed by another long string of a language that I don't speak, because then I'm convinced that they translated the only positive phrase for my benefit and left the snarky comments to themselves. Hey, it's what I'd do.

So, today I showed the apartments to a guy who was both quite the looker and quite the non-native speaker, and this combination somehow made me the worst closer ever. He'd ask me questions like "Is this place quiet?" and I'd stammer out something like "I enjoy ham." Also, he asked me if rain on the skylight in one apartment was noisy, and I really didn't know what to say to that. I mean, I guess one could argue that I'm more qualified to answer that than most people because my parents' house has skylights, but I think that actually makes me less qualified, because my honest answer is that no, it's not loud, non-skylit houses just muffle the sound of rain a freakish amount. I said I thought it would be restful. I don't think he knew what "restful" meant, but his female companion said "Ah, yes, like a restroom." I couldn't really argue with that.

But now the day is drawing to a close, and I got a lot of work done and sent in all my May freelance pieces, and I spring-cleaned the bathroom and hallway, thus ending the spring cleaning. And my Amish books came, although I'm going to try with all my might to not start them until the plane ride next week, and so did my rag rug kit. The rag rug comes pre-started, which I thought was a nice touch, and although it looks a little complicated, I think it'll make a nice summer project. Do you think I can take a large wooden crocheting needle on an airplane these days? There's no way I could hurt anyone with it unless I beat them with it until it splintered, but maybe it's not worth the risk. I don't know where I'd buy another one, anyhow.

Comments
Dr tizzed: Did you try saying "Anidiotsayswhat?" really quickly under your breath? That'll teach 'em...

Happy June, everyone! This is usually my favorite month of the year. It contains my birthday, and our anniversary, and when I was a kid it had the excitement of getting out of school. The weather is usually close to perfect, it's the official start of summer--what's not to like? And this year, June will also mark my first blogiversary, and our epic trip to California.

Our trip to State College was great, and I think I have to apologize to Matt for always talking smack about Penn State. I swear, it was uglier the last time I was there. I think I may have gotten this impression because the last time was at the very end of October, and rainy, and I was visiting my friend in a bland freshman dorm, and also I got food poisoning, but this time it seemed much, much nicer, and the town seemed much cuter. I do maintain my belief that you'd run out of things to do there in a couple of months (well, maybe not as a student--after all, I'm comparing it to Princeton, but I never actually took advantage of Princeton's access to Philadelphia and New York and was perfectly happy to hang out on campus--but as an adult), but those couple of months would be quite nice.

It's possible, also, that I've just had my standards lowered by five years near UCSB. Obviously you can't do better, scenic-location-wise, than to be right on the ocean and in the shadow of beautiful blue mountains, but given that, the architecture is inexcusably unattractive. I mean, there is no excuse for this. Nor this. (Yes, those are trailers.) So it seems likely that my standards have shifted. But even so, Penn State isn't too shabby at all.

So that was that, and now I'm back here working away. Now that it's June, I'm up to twenty hours a week, and I also found some new jobs to apply for, so I need to get cracking.

Comments
Dr tizzed: A couple of months? You might be too large by a couple - 1 month + a few weeks...