double argh...

i don't know which i hate more, aol or dial-up. i was just about finished with a long blog about how disappointed we were with the Machu Picchu exhibit at the museum of nature and science when i got disconnected...grrrr.

anyway, we thought the exhibit was a bit cheesy...had already illegible description tags that were placed in illogical locations, making for even more useless reading...and of the 400 artifacts that were on display, nearly 1/4 of them were probably assorted small items such as spindle whorls, bone needles, and little gold trinkets. i'm sorry, but you don't need thirty of each, especially when they're all alike.

there were some very nice interactive stations though, which dispensed some good history and audio examples of the Quechua language. and there were numerous examples of everyday Inca items (i.e., quipus, keros, aryballos.

you know, i might just be jaded because i've visited Machu Picchu twice...and seen some freakin' amazing Inca artifacts in the National Museum of Peruvian Archaeology, Dumbarton Oaks (D.C.) and the Field Museum (Chicago). i do understand that this wasn't purely an Inca exhibit, showcasing the best of the culture. the MP exhibit at DMNS commemorates the 1911 discovery of the site by Hiram Bingham, who was a professor of Latin American Studies at Yale. therefore, the majority of the artifacts in the exhibit are from the three expeditions that Yale financed him between 1911 and 1915. i'm wondering if the Peabody Museum (on Yale's campus) wasn't able to procure more of Dr. Bingham's photos of the expeditions... after all, the 'fieldwork' yielded more than eleven thousand black and whites of the site!!!!

ah well. i guess i shouldn't be offended by the layout of the exhibit, nor by the 2nd floor hokey dig for the kiddies. at least it's a concerted effort on the behalf of the museum to 'inform the masses' of something that's not easily accessed by more than half of the world's population. after all, Denver is quite lucky to be one of the six cities that will house this exhibition over a two year tour.

so...although it may not mean anything, i'd recommend that my handful of local readers check out the Machu Picchu exhibit at DMNS before it closes on May 9th because after that, you'll have to go to Houston to see it ;) and after you finish seeing the exhibit, check out the rest of the museum, especially the gems and minerals. only after that will you think the $9 you spent on admission was worthwhile heh

rargh...

i really need to take my contacts out...done nothing but abuse my eyes this week.

my sister is so nice. remember #67 on my 50+ Things About Me? well, i DO like Pim's cookies and not only because my neighbor used to call me PimPim ;) anyway, these cookies are soft, cakey, filled with a fruit jam (e.g. raspberry, pear, orange) and have a little chocolate shell covering on top. they are SO good. thing is, ya gotta pace yerself. each box costs around $3 and only has 12 cookies. it's like going on a rampage for girl scout cookies!!! anyway, she left a couple boxes (orange and pear) upstairs for PimPim and are waiting to be ravaged. i might have to smoke a cigarette afterwards heh

anything new at the cheapies?

went to see 'Elf' last night at the cheapies. it was cute. although some of Will Ferrell's ingenuous dialogue gets a bit long in the tooth - maybe it's the delivery - the movie was still enjoyable and had its comedic moments. after all, any movie with James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, and cameos by Bob Newhart and Ed Asner has gotta have some redeeming qualities. the movie, which cost a 'paltry' $33 million, has raked in more than $170 million at the box office...which is almost half of what LOTR: Return of the K*ng has earned. does that make it half as good then?

did i mention that we also went to see 'The Cooler' over the weekend? talk about a great movie! if you're not familiar with the movie, it stars William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin. Macy plays an extremely unlucky man who can totally wreck someone's winning streak at the casino tables by basically walking up and betting a dollar chip; he cools off any luck. He's employed by Baldwin, who plays a ruthless Vegas casino owner that refuses to give in to the glamor and glitz of the newer, high-end casinos on the strip. definitely 'old school', Baldwin is a throwback (very Bugsy Siegel) to the early days of Vegas, when the neon and casinos were still in their infancy.

i know that Baldwin is one of the Best Supporting Actor nominees...and well deserving...he was such an asshole, you just wanted him to get greased or horribly maimed. i just wish that Macy would have garnered a best actor nomination. i think his performance was quite worthy. now, i don't think he'd win against Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, or Bill Murray, but his character portrayal deserves a little recognition...

speaking of Johnny Depp...

Denny, since you just got the El Mariachi trilogy in the mail, you should ask Lowa's mom what a 'moco' is (the name of the chihuahua) and who El Cucuy is. then, you should watch the movie again. you'll understand how fitting those names are ;) btw, i know that Johnny Depp's character keeps raving about his favorite dish, Puerco Pibil. funny that he should be eating this because that's a Maya dish from the Yucatán area of Mexico, more than 1000 miles to the east from the western cities (e.g., Culiacán, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende) in the movie. also, the correct name for the dish is cochinita pibil. maybe the next time we're in the valley, we can make some tofu or seitan pibil :) then again, i doubt that anyone really cares...especially at two in the morning.

bleah.

cherry pie...

mmmmm. scary, but i finally ate the mini pie that we bought on the way to Monte Vista a couple weeks ago. it was still good too...since it hadn't been opened. sweet...flaky...and just tart enough to make it a bit memorable. 'course, now i wanna go to the store and bring back full-sized apple or pumpkin and just wolf 'em down. gotta make sure there's enough milk in the fridge ;)

quick read...

finally got around to reading a book that i bought at the national archaeology conference, when it was held here a couple years ago. the book is titled, "Tunnel Kids." a really short read, it's an account of a group of homeless teenagers in Nogales, Mexico. the cultural anthropolgist who spent a few summers conducting this study, paints a fascinating portrait of street kids - the b&w pics really give the characters distinct voices - who, despite drug addiction, general crime, teen pregnancy, etc., still are able create a cohesive family amongst themselves in a sometimes hostile environment. sure, they're kids, but their sense of community is only different to ours by its elements. much of their poverty and splintered lives would just be unbearable for many Americans; they just 'make do.'

the book that i've been reading here and there is "The World Is Burning"...it's a chronicle of Chico Mendes, one of the most vocal rainforest activists of Brazil. he was assassinated in 1988 for simply wanting a better life for his fellow rubber tappers.

in the first fifty pages of the book, the author gives a brief history of the rubber industry in Brazil and how hordes of people were drawn to Amazonia in hopes of 'slaving' for a couple years and returning home with enough to retire on. of course, that's the same parallel story of the American gold rush. the gov't wants to populate some of the wild, uncharted lands. sounds good. however, only in the most idealistic manner. no ever tells these prospectors that they'll be victimized by corrupt bosses...may perish from disease...or even survive the trek there.

and after reading some of the accounts of old prospectors and the corrupt practices of land grabbers, i can see why socialism is so appealing to poverty stricken populations. these poor people dream of being equal, working hard, and having something to show for all that sweat. now, we all know that socialism would be a good model of government if everyone were honest and bureaucracy didn't exist. however, it has failed miserably in every attempt because of some greedy motherfuckers. but hey, it's just a fatal flaw of the human race.

it makes me want to rant BIG time. in fact, i just erased half this posting because i went off on a lotta topics...and starting making no sense whatsoever ;) so, i think i'll just finish the book and see if i can rent the movie (that was adapted from the book, The Burning Season.

what am i blogging for...i got readin' to do! or sleepin' ;)

more food...

went to brunch at Pete's Greektown Cafe today. once in a while, ya just gotta have gyros, eggs, and hash browns (or fries, in my case). it should be a mandatory meal every month ;)

it had been some time since we had last eaten there. for one, the ventilation system is not very effective; non-smoking isn't that much different than smoking. ah well. we go for the food and nostalgia. see, this restaurant was a Sambo's in the seventies. in fact, not much of the original place was changed. the roughly hewn rock at the entrance, ancient cash register, wood laminate tables, light fixtures, counter - everything is 30-50 years old. our parents would sometimes take us there to eat as kids. i remember their kids' pancakes with chocolate chips...the blue t-shirts that they sold, with the Sambo tiger in tights and caped regalia...hah

oh yeah. in the seventies, there was also a Red Barn across the street. anyone remember their fried chicken? better than the colonel's... sure, it has been over twenty years since both Sambo's and Red Barn disappeared from the restaurant radar, but good memories linger. so we were quite stunned to look across the way and find out that the old Red Barn building has been transformed into a *$$. whoa! it's gotta be one of the first ones on Colfax...weird.

mmmm...

chocolate truffles! lois got me a box of 'em and a T*rget gift card for Valentine's Day. OMG, the truffles are massive! they're about twice the size of the ones that she brought home around xmas. and they're from the same company. geez, these are almost golf ball sized!!! can you believe it...i'm actually rationing myself to one a day. hey, something's gotta be said for self control ;)

see? i'm very good. i didn't even buy her any candy, which, by the way, she has been swearing off since November anyway. if i had gotten her candy, she would've made me eat it - not entirely a bad idea.

nope. instead, i got tix to Thoroughly Modern Millie, which is coming to DCPA (Buell Theatre) in early march. ever see the movie? it was made in 1967 and stars Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore, and Carol Channing.
really campy...and one of lois' favorite movies.

got some really fab seats in the orchestra section, row M...that's one row above eye level...get to see everything. ya know, front row is not the best seat in the house when it comes to theatre productions. that means a lotta looking up at the performers, missing out on some set detail, cast in the back, and an eventual appointment with the chiropractor later in the week ;)

wow...

i was just informed today that my oldest niece is going to get married this summer. this is too surreal. it's hard enough to believe that she just turned twenty less than a month ago. and now this...

she's a really good kid...fiercely independent...very artistic...totally responsible...entirely selfless. and in a few months, she'll be extremely married ;) good for her.

it seems like yesterday when she was at our house, celebrating her mom and grandma's birthdays (both born 2/26). i was probably fifteen or sixteen (which would have made her two or three years old)...i remember her coming up to me and saying, "IT'S THEIR BIRTHDAY UNCLE BONSOU!!!"

WTF? Bonsou? i have no idea how you can get bonsou from spencer... maybe that's what 'spencer' turns into in a fit of unbridled excitement ;)

anyway, uncle bonsou hopes that the wedding is after June 8th...

¡guácala!

means 'gross' in spanish...pronounced GWA-ca-la...easy on the 'g' though. best used when you're ready to say 'eeeewwwww' in english.

this came to mind because of Rachel's 'beer fart' tag. kinda funny though. makes me think of one of my college roommates, Scott. every time we were gettin' crazy with the alcohol...and he had to shoot a bunny...he'd run to the door or wall and try to plant one real good. sometimes too good. it was like shooting a gas cannon; when that boy shot bunnies, he'd bring a double barreled shotgun...with a hole to match ;)

of course, now that we're on the subject of stupid things you do when the beer takes over yer mind... i'm gonna tell you about how i nearly missed an art history final.

ya see, someone had rented a bus, gotten two kegs of beast (Milwaukee's Best), and planned a road trip to Royals stadium for a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Milwaukee Brewers...for 55 guys. well, the day of the game, much of Missouri had been under some serious rain. so, only sixteen of us decided to make the trip...but with the bus and kegs intact. and we all know that two kegs for sixteen college guys spells 't-r-o-u-b-l-e.'

well, i remember filling my 16 oz. tumbler (can't have it too big...gotta keep the beer flowin' cold) up to the keg - twelve times on the way to the stadium, which is less than two hours west of Columbia. yep, when we got to the parking lot, my middle name was 'sheeyit-faced.' or was it 'bloated bladder'?

i stumbled off the bus with my two roommates and actually made it into the stadium. either the security didn't care that i was drunker than Dean M*rtin or i was doin' some Academy Award winning material, 'CAUSE I WAS SLOSHED.'

we trudged up to the third level, where our seats were and looked out into the cold downpour; there was just a handful of people braving it. and there were SO many good seats that weren't filled.

as the brilliant students we perceived ourselves to be, we knew that we could go down to the first level and pretty much take our pick of prime seats. after all, it looked like the attendance for the game (if they just had a rain delay) might not even top out at 10,000, which was nothing, considering the capacity of Royals Stadium is around 41,000.

however, before we sauntered down there to select our 'seats with a view,' i decided to challenge Steve (who lived upstairs) to a race down the corridor, towards the escalators. he said 'let's do it!' thing is, while i was saying 'ready...set...go' i had already taken off before 'go.' I WUZ GONE!

so, i raced down the dark corridor with steve in hot pursuit. i remember cackling the whole time and looking back to see his face when i went from dry pavement in the corridor to SLICK pavement outside. yep...

i totally bit it...my feet came up from under me and i must've slid on my tailbone for a good twelve or fifteen feet (bouncing three or four times too), stopping about fifteen feet from the top of the escalator. good thing i didn't wipe out anyone else - woulda been ug-lee. and steve? his cowboy boot wearin' ass did the same thing and came to a stop about a second later...RIGHT next to me. yeah, stopped his yuk yukkin' too.

thoroughly embarrassed, we sheepishly scraped our asses off the pavement and found some killer seats downstairs. funny, i don't remember the searing pain of sitting down; the beer was such an effective numbing agent. we got through the rain delay...the game didn't start 'til after 9:00 and ended about 12:45. btw, just for the record, the Royals lost.

we made it back to Columbia and i nearly died from the evil pain. i did nothing but whimper the next day. my roommate said the bruise looked like someone had glued a ripe avocado on my tailbone...yeah, picture that!

luckily, i had a day in between the baseball game fiasco and my Delacroix art final. still, i don't think i ever finished a final SO fast in my life. i was twitching, tossing, and just about crying in that damn seat. i know everyone was labeling me as the new poster boy for hemorrhoids. really, i should've had someone take my picture when i turned that test in...i must've looked like some addict who had accidentally flushed his crack pipe down the toilet. oh man, that pain was tremendous!!!

and here i sit, 13.5 years later...telling the world about it. that's cool though...i still get a good laugh out of it :)

beer farts...feh

wha???

my tongue hurts. it has been a bit swollen on the left side for a couple days now. i don't know what i did to it, but it seems to bump my bottom left teeth when i stick it out. guess it's time for a trip to the acupuncturist... she just got back from a three week trip back home in Kunming, which is SW China. isn't it Boulder's Chinese sister city?

went out tonight with our friend, Regina. she's so cool...we simply adore her.

we had dinner at El Trapiche, a Colombian/Venezuelan restaurant that's way out east...on Colfax and Chambers. we luu-uuv their food! it's just a simple hole in the wall place...in a non-descript strip mall. it's owned by two couples. the two men who run the dining room are from Cali and Medellin. i know the lady who does most the cooking is Venezuelan and is married to the guy from Medellin, who totally reminds me of the Spanish professor i had for Advanced Composition in college. he was Cuban though ;) really, if you gave him a slightly deeper voice and a pair o' glasses, he'd be the spittin' image...

anyway, lois had pork chops (chuleta de cerdo)...i had the creole style skirt steak (sobrebarriga a la criolla) and regina had the pabellon criollo (which is the national dish of Venezuela; shredded beef, black beans, rice, fried plantain, and an arepa). man, it was so mouthwatering good! this was the first time that i had the sobrebarriga (funny, in spanish, this translates to 'over the bellybutton'). although it was really tender (the meat is the same as the pabellon...you just get more) and filling, i think i'll stick to the Bandeja Paisa. it's the national dish of Colombia and consists of red beans, rice, avocado, plantain, chicharron, chorizo, a fried egg, and the same shredded beef. i could easily OD on this dish ;) i don't see how this resembles the national flag (bandeja paisa) of Colombia at all though. maybe that's what the food would look like if i OD'd on it and barfed it out :P

it was an international night. not only did we have cuisine from two countries, we had beer from three ;) lois had a Club Colombia...i had some Cerveza Pilsener (think Ecuadorean Budweiser)...and regina had a Polar (Venezuelan). thank god for different beers! although i think Corona commercials are cute, i can't stand American brewed Corona...bleah. Mexican brewed Corona tastes better. hell, i can think of ten or twelve Mexican brands that are WAY better than Corona. go get a six pack of Bohemia or Sol and tell me what you think ;) if you like dark beer, see if you can find Noche Buena ('poinsettia' in spanish)...mmmm. i know the Great American Beer Store on west alameda carried it a few years ago. ooh, Indio is really good too...but you can only get it in the Bajio states of Mexico (Guanajuato, Michoacan, Aguascalientes, Jalisco).

yawn...well, maybe a boring post is better than no post at all. maybe.

humph...

although i may be prepared for certain occasions or travel notes, i am NOT prepared to go downtown tonight. we're supposed to meet our friends, Russ and Sandy, for dinner tonight at Samba Room (sumpin' that Monte Vista doesn't have - Cuban cuisine)...our treat...it's his birthday. unfortunately, we probably shouldn't put it off...since his b-day was monday and they postponed the thing yesterday. but still, this cold and snow is just putting a blah on everything...

it should be good though...even fun. ya see, Russ and Sandy were my first regular customers when i worked at the Harvest - sorry, Lowa and Denny. i guess they're the jewish godparents i never had ;) we share the same penchant for good food and art house movies... oh yeah, he likes photography too. in fact, they even gave me a Yashica T-4 as a 'tip' once.

i know you're saying, 'huh.' or WTF?!? well, the Yashica T-4 is considered to be one of the best point-and-shoot cameras ever to be manufactured. they stopped making my version about a few years ago...but for $180 this camera rivaled other high end models like the Contax T2, which costs around $550-$650. of the 1200 or so photos i've taken with this baby, i've been happy with at least 95% of 'em. you can't say that about all cameras, that's fer shure.

they're just good people...everyone should surround themselves with people like them; it makes life more fun interesting. i know i'm very fortunate to have all the good people in my life...driving 217 miles or through cold and snow make it all the more worthwhile.

okay, good people...gotta go!

there ya go...

i've been going through some stuff and found a huge cache of assorted greeting cards and postcards...to the tune of 110. yep, i've collected some 59 cards over the last 15 years or so that i have meant to send...but never did. i'd say about 15 of 'em are addressed or directed to someone. you name it, there's Easter, Valentine, Get Well, Birthday, Anniversary, Bon Voyage, Graduation, Miss You/Thinking of You, Thank You, and even a Christmas card...in Swedish!

the 51 postcards are a jumble too. more than half of 'em are from Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Colorado, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Las Vegas, and New Orleans. unfortunately, some of the cool ones are already addressed to people that i am no longer in contact (with). i think it's time to put those in a photo album...

well, at least i'm prepared for something :) now, where are those stamps?

well...

we're back. what a freakin' great time we had in Monte Vista. it had been at least a couple, if not a few, years since i had seen Denny and Laura last!

denny was right in his last post about the beauty of blogging. even though it had been some time since we had visited (face-to-face), our blogs kept us up-to-date; peeling away the years of 'separation.' god, i love these people!

also saw Di for the first time in probably seven years...she's as cute as ever. must get it from Emma ;) and, of course, meeting Emmathecharmer was such a highlight of the trip. i don't want this to sound pedophilic, but that little one is PONY-LICIOUS.

we arrived friday afternoon - perfect day for the drive down 285 - and checked in at the Comfort Inn that's less than two blocks away from Lowa and Denny. rested a bit and headed over to Boyd and Joyce's house. they're friends of lois whom she had met on a trip to Maracaibo, Venezuela, when she served as a mission group's Spanish translator.

they're a cute older (but once TOTAL flowerchildren) couple originally from the Berkeley area. boyd is a retired pediatrician...joyce is the pastor for the Methodist church in monte vista. they just moved there a couple years ago, after living in Conifer for about fifteen years.

we met them at their house, which is just two blocks north of Di's. they gave us a tour of their 1884 abode and of the church before we walked on over for dinner at the Monte Villa Hotel...which was okay. i don't know why some Monte Vistans believe this place to be so great. the decor is nice...and the general service was friendly...but the food is average...and the manager of the restaurant is a total bitch. i think one visit was enough for me...

saturday was quite busy. we grabbed a bite to eat at the Mountain View Restaurant...washed the car (even though i almost broke my neck nearly falling on the ice ;)...had snax and coffee w/ the Murphy clan and their Wallace slave-boy at the Corner Merc...swung by a house on Stallo to see a really cool greenhouse and some boisterous (but funlovin') dawgs...stuffed ourselves at Nino's (sorry your sopaipilla was greasy Lowa :(...and spent some time at Crys and Pablo's house, which has a woodburning stove that we would kill for...and called it a night. i guess our Scrabble night will have to wait for the next visit either here or there.

sunday was just breakfast at the Kelloff's (Lowa is SO right about their mouthwatering waffles...sigh) and the drive back to Denver. this time, we took 160 to Walsenburg and I-25. although not as pretty a drive as 285 and a bit longer, it was still nice to stop in Tes' for a cheeseburger, burrito smothered in green, and a twist cone. i learned about ten years ago that the only worthwhile places to grab a bite to eat in Walsenburg are Tes' and the Pizza Hut (i swear it's the best one in colorado!) right off the highway.

thanks guys for such a fantastic time! hopefully we can get together more than every couple years from now on, eh :)

now...it's off to the store. we ain't got one fresh veggie in the house. and you can eat only so much canned...

before i go to bed...

you must all read today's Pearls Before Swine. poor pig...so ingenuous...but ya gotta love him! he never hurts anyone but himself :)

cyclical or linear?

time, people. something that we either have too much of or, usually, too little. recently, i was rummaging through some stuff in my parent's basement and found a 1980 calendar that was probably my brother's (Steve). curious, i brought out the almanac and looked at the perpetual calendars. turns out that the 1980 calendar, will repeat itself in 2008; all leap year calendars repeat every 28 years. therefore, if you had an old 1976 calendar hanging around, it would be the same exact one used for this year and in 2032.

the perpetual calendar is quite a neat tool to have. by looking up a year, you can find the corresponding designated calendar. and although i'm probably the only person who makes use of them on occasion, it's most useful to find the day of significant events.

for example, i can tell you that the year i was born (1970), was a #5 on the perpetual calendar list...which, btw, will be coming up in 2009. anyway, i was born on a monday (June 15th). lessee here...

12/7/41...bombing of Pearl H*rbor. #4 calendar. happened on a sunday. course, that was a strategic tactic on the behalf of the Japanese bombers, to catch 'em off guard while the servicemen were off duty...picnicking with their families.

3/24/89...grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker (which is not the largest oil spill by far, just in U.S. history). #1 calendar. happened on a friday.

1/17/95...Kobe, Japan earthquake. #1 calendar. happened on early tuesday (Japan), but it was a monday here since Japan is 15-18 hours ahead of the entire USA. hell, you didn't need a perpetual calendar...i coulda told you what day that happened ;)

4/20/99...Columb*ne rampage. #6 calendar. happened on a tuesday. bet you can recall what you were doing the exact moment you heard the news (me? i was standing next to the bread warmers at the Harvest, when our manager, Nikki, told us what she just heard on the radio). quite similar to the generation before us and their memories of the JFK assassination.

9/11/01...this is the December 7th of our generation. #2 calendar. another tuesday. and just a few days before i was supposed to go to Bolivia. surprisingly, actually got out on the right plane (without cancellations)...after spending three hours in line, just to get to the dang ticket counter.

and now that i've lost the remainder of my 'loyal' readers with this posting...

i forgot to mention that there are 14 different calendars that make it perpetual. #1-#7 repeat in six or eleven year intervals. basically, if the year repeats in six years, it will repeat in two eleven year intervals before it repeats in six again. of course, 6+11+11=28...just like the leap years (i.e., calendars #8-#14) repeating in 28-year intervals.

now, there should be a small asterisk next to all that i have said because based on the Gregorian calendar formula, there are century years as well. this goofy year is thrown in to balance out all those freaky quarter days that the earth gets on its axis (kinda like mileage). century years are years that are only divisible by 400...like 1600, 2000, 2400, etc. basically, by having a century year thrown in (it's still a leap year), it eliminates three leap years in a 400 year period...somehow straightening out all those 365 days and 5 hours and 48 minute (a true solar year) rotations. damn, this has my head spinning now.

so, with the century year, there will be a twelve year skip in the 6+11+11 interval. as for the leap years, it messes them up too. three of the seven leap years come back in twelve (#9,#11,#13 on the perpetual) and the other four (#8,#10,#12,#14) are extended to a 40 year interval before returning to the 28 year pattern. luckily, it only happens every 400 years... maybe a mathematician has collaborated with a computer programmer and figured out the whole pattern by now.

looks like calendar tinkering is much more work than we can imagine. hell, it's so easy to take it for granted and just buy that cute puppy calendar...or the Sports Illustr*ted Sw*msuit calendar...or the latest Far Side planner.

it works fairly well though. if you look at other ancient calendar systems (e.g., Egyptian or Julian), they weren't so easily transitional. the Egyptians knew that the earth year was 365.24 days, but they chose to have a 360 day calendar and have a leap year every 1460 years, to even things out. this meant that they had a precisely correct calendar only every 1460 years. 'course, even if you lived to be 100...you were just 25 days off ;) nevertheless, if we implemented their system, that would mean 730 years of opposite seasons. like it matters when your body has already been reduced to microdust.

so, even though we Americans and much of the western world tend to run on a linear system of thought and calendrics, things really are cyclical. after all, what goes around...

back to time on our hands...either too little or too much...guess which one i had in composing this post?

bet you won't come back for a week... shee-yit, i'm so confused that i may not blog for longer than that ;)

too strong...

i left the tea bag in my mug for just a little too long. bleah. the flavor has imparted a weird, bitterly tannic residue on my tongue. watering it down wouldn't help either. you know, i just want a good cuppatea...sounds like a sorority. *squeal* are you gonna rush for the Kuppa Teas? i don't like the Tri Delt girls, they're bitches!

gawd, i think the bitter flavor has gone to my head as well...

shoot...

went to Barnes & Noble last night to see if they had done their final reductions on xmas cards... well, looks like i was a bit too late. the $1 display had been decimated, down to a few boxes of Hanukkah cards and three boxes Thomas Kinkade holiday cards - ick.

i know i should have been haunting them all last week, but when i went to check last monday, all the items on the table were still 75% off - not cheap enough. besides, who wants to hear little whispers of, "ooh, there's that weirdo chinese guy who has been coming every night and hanging around the bargain section..."

ah well. i don't know why i'm complaining; i probably have a two year stash of cards at home. maybe it's missing the good buy and saying goodbye instead.

oh yeah, not all was for naught. there were a couple copies of Europe By Train for $1. so i snatched a good copy and also picked up People Almanac 2003 for $3.98. with tax, both books cost me less than $5.50...about $24 less than what i would have paid for them a year ago, when they were 'new'.

all is good in bargain-land...

big trouble...

well, looks like the dogs are gonna be havin' more cookies for awhile. after noshing on the yummy oxtail soup, we gave them a couple of the bones...which they lu-uuv. unfortunately, we forget that the bones and cartilage are a bit rich for their tummies.

of course, Coco barfs up a spot on a throw rug last night and this afternoon, Annie goes on a diarrhea spree on the carpet, right in front of the TV. all this excitement because we like to see them deliriously happy.

feh. it'd be nice to see some miserable dogs here for a bit...

speaking of eBay...

i have been bidding on some items (even though i shouldn't be) as of late. in addition to The Golden Child, i was high bidder on a camera and a pair of headphones. i really didn't need them; the lure of the price was too great.

the camera is a Samsung Evoca 115. not a bad camera, retailing for $180-$200. although Samsung stopped making it a couple years ago, it usually got good ratings. well, as you can see in the auction, i got a used one for $25. now, why i bought it...when i've got four other cameras ;)

the headphones are a good deal. i first purchased some Sennheiser HD 340s in 1995, for $60...when they usually sold for $100-$120. so, it's nice to replace my almost worn out pair for $29.30, especially since they're still-in-box new.

i have yet to receive the headphones, but the camera came today. funny, the gal who sold me the camera didn't have a strap nor camera case, but she did include two rolls of 24 exp. 800 speed color print - a nice gesture (even though i mainly shoot slide). guess i gotta find a cheap case and strap on eBay now :)

ever wax nostalgic...

and later say to yerself, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?" well, i found myself in that same situation tonight. recently, i purchased a copy of Eddie Murphy's "The Golden Child" for $0.50 on eBay (course, shipping was $3.00).

i recall seeing this movie as a sixteen year-old and really liking it for its dumb humor. i always thought that it would a good acquisition for my video catalog. unfortunately, seventeen years later, i'm chuckling still, but suffering through some of the movie...especially the 'Beverly Hills Cop/48 Hours/Lethal Weapon-esque mid-80's' soundtrack.

sometimes, memorable movies enjoyed as teenagers...should stay that way ;)

fork tender...

cold outside? well, sometimes you just gotta make a batch of oxtail soup. yep, been simmering some for about 90 minutes now. probably gonna give it another half hour before i turn it off. it's gotta sit ya know. can't get no fork tender oxtail unless you cook it twice; it always tastes better the second day anyway. so i'll probably cook it for at least another hour tonight, adding the potatoes, celery, and carrots the last half.

funny, there was a time when you could get oxtails for near nothing. my mom and grandmother would make them once or twice a month when i was a kid. however, once the waves of SE Asian immigrants started hitting the USA in the late seventies, oxtail prices literally doubled overnight. all of a sudden, oxtails became a precious commodity for those meat plants. no longer were the Wongs just buying the ugly things, but Nguyens, Les, Yangs, Phams, Nols, Khieus, etc. were flooding local groceries for this once unwanted part...which, btw, run about $4.00/lb. now.

you just can't microwave the things...got a few hours?

short ribs can be a good substitute (at least they're way cheaper), but they can't match the flavor of oxtail...sigh.

such big nuts...

in the caramel corn that i was eating. really good, but really sweet. it didn't help that the almonds and pecans were heavily coated too. almost enough to make yer teeth scream...

$12...yep, you read it right. this canister of tooth killer was purchased from the 2nd grader up the street for his school fundraising. geez, i remember selling candy bars in elementary, thinking that $1 was too much. so now we're blowin' $12-$15 on popcorn! what's up w/ dat?!?

can't put it down...

started reading a really cool book today, Cafe Berlin. it's an autobiographical account of a Syrian Jew...who spoke seven languages...grew up in the spice trade...moved to Germany in 1929 (at the age of 18)...bought a cabaret the next year...transformed it into the place to be seen...ended up going into hiding (a la Anne Frank) in December '41...and survived the war.

it really is a captivating book. the writing is superb; the transition, flawless. this is one of those books that you read from cover to cover, neglecting everything else until the last period. i literally had to tear myself away so i could actually get something to eat. dogs were lookin' pretty pissed; they hadn't eaten either.

the neatest thing about the book is that it was a personal diary that the protagonist, Daniel Saporta, had started 23 months after going into seclusion. he effectively recounts the last 15-20 years of his life in great detail - outstanding imagery.

ironically, the diary wasn't known to the public until the early '90s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. you see, after being liberated by the Allies in April 1945, Saporta left his diary in the attic. it wasn't recovered until German demolition crews came upon it (intact) while they were razing old abandoned buildings in East Berlin...in 1991. luckily, Mr. Saporta was still alive and residing in Los Angeles, when the German gov't returned his war diary.

think our blogs will survive almost 50 years online? exactly.

huh?

been looking at nicer places to stay for a couple days while we're in Spain. ha, fat chance. in this month's Conde Nast Traveler, they list the World's Best 700 Places to Stay - nine of them are in Spain.

the hotels on this massive list are rated on a scale of 1-100; the majority of 'em rate higher than 80. it's like getting a 'B' in school... anyway, the price designation is from one to four dollar signs.

well, the two places we thought would be somewhat affordable to splurge and spend a couple nights...really aren't. our choices had two dollar signs, which would fall in the moderate range if they were restaurants, right? big...fat...ha!

hotels on this list that have two dollar signs fall into the $200-$299 a night class. geez! we've never even spent that on a hotel in the USA! and the most we ever spent in Latin America was $70/night to stay at the Novo Mar in Veracruz, Mexico. and only because all of the affordable places were booked!

looks like it's back to researching budget places in our Spain guidebooks. man, for people who are accustomed to spending $10-$30 a night for accomodations in the 'other' Spanish speaking countries, the shellshock (sticker shock?) of the Euro is going to be a challenge.

sigh

could be worse...

i could be mincing an habanero chile with a bunch o' cuts on my fingers. now, THAT would be true revenge for that wittle piggy losing his ear.

you know, i don't get it. why do people insist on using half of a bottle of hot sauce when they can simply chop up a quarter (or even half) of an habanero and get the same, if not more evil, burn? just think how many habaneros you could buy for the price of a bottle of Tabasco? sure, habaneros are usually $5.99/lb., but you can get one chile for five cents...one penny if they ring it up as a jalapeño. so, a half lb. would probably yield 60 habaneros...WAY hotter than that wimpy $3.00 bottle of hot sauce.

men, don't touch your you-know-what when you pee...yowtch! and ladies, go ahead and take out yer contacts!

did you complete your Scoville Units assignment?

bachelor night...

lois went to Divide to visit her goddaughters and their parents, who were once neighbors. so...i've got more time to blog and generally stay glued to the screen.

funny, there's a top sirloin in the fridge, but i have no ambition to cook it. so far, dinner has been a huge braunschweiger sammich...cherry licorice nibs...and a massive handful of shelled peanuts that we bought at Sunflower a couple days ago.

the peanuts, although not salted, were still roasted and quite tasty. kinda itty bitty though. they reminded me of spanish peanuts...about the size of yer pinky nail or a pencil eraser. are they just young peanuts?

had the liverwurst sandwich when i had to dole out the dog pills. Coco, the yorkie, has to take three pills 2x a day. one is for hepatic function...another is for incontinence...and the third is Cosequin, good for arthritis. Annie (silkie terrier) has to take Cosequin as well. at 13 and 11, their old bones need it...

re-venge \ri-venj\ vt 1: to inflict injury in return for (~an insult) 2:to avenge for a wrong done (~oneself)

what am i talking about? well, to distract the girls long enough for me to eat my sandwich, i got the bright idea of letting them split a pig ear; usually buying a half an hour of quiet eating. it works like a charm and usually without fail.

however, this time i nicked my thumb on a rough edge of the pig ear. strange, it's a tiny cut, just below my left thumbnail...but itches like hell. even after washing it twice and applying the Ne*sporin, the nick still stings. guess it's revenge of the pig ear - take that, you joik!

remember 'A Fish Called Wanda'? the vengeful pig ear reminds me of the scene when Ken (Michael Palin) is about to steamroll Otto (Kevin Kline) into the tar:

Otto: Oh look, it's K-K-K-Ken, c-c-c-coming to k-k-k-kill me!
Ken: RE-VENGE!

and Ken rolls right over Otto...like he had some pig ear to pick with him.

as you can see...

i'm taking a cue from my fellow bloggers. with the new year, i think some change was imminent, if not downright inevitable. while everyone is changing digs, i tend to stay on one until it's done heh. however, i thought i would change the title of my blog to Diggin' Travel. it's simply the easiest way to explain who i really am. ever since i was eight years old, i've had wanderlust...always wanting to see faraway places. sure, i still love digging...but i dig travel more.

of course, all of this odd thinking out loud may just stem from listening to Black Sabbath at 11:40 on a wednesday night, too... the bumbling, drugged out, Ozzy Osbourne that is so sadly (but accurately) depicted on his reality show was once a long haired, pot smoking, heavy drinking, heroin addict - the typical 70's rock god;) it's just not cool to emulate that behavior now.

at least i won't change my name...

lifted from cindi's blog


You are blessed with FAERY wings. Beauty,
laughter, life, magic...that's what you are all
about. You are refreshingly innocent and happy
with your life of purity and play. Life's a
game and it's a good one. In your eyes there's
no way to lose! You can be very mischeivous and
have been known to cause trouble, but it's all
in the name of fun and not meant to really harm
anyone. You like to play tricks on people who
aren't quite as bright or clever as you - which
is almost everyone. Nature is the setting you
prefer to be in - Always. Barefoot and wild you
can't be tamed. You're probably a restless
spirit who loves to travel, and quite a
dreamer. Your creativity is astounding and your
art (of whatever media - from writing to
painting to drama) is like something from
another world - ethereal and often very
fantasy-oriented. You can either be a social
butterfly or a loner with their head in the
clouds - but rarely inbetween. You stubbornly
refuse to accept responsibility or to give in
to the wishes of others - unless you feel like
it. You have a strong passion for music and
can't imagine life without it. You'll grow up
someday, but you'll always be a child at heart.
You are adventurous and love to take risks, and
feel a deep connection with the weather,
plants, and animals. You prefer sunshine to
thunder or snow, the warmth of summer to
autumn's chill, and quiet forests to suburban
backyards. Magic through and through, you are
far more powerful than you seem, and are
capable of being extremely passionate. Though
you can be childish, naive, stubborn, and self-
absorbed, one thing is certain - life with you
will never be boring!


*~*~*Claim Your Wings - Pics and Long Answers*~*~*
brought to you by Quizilla

pretty accurate...but my 'art' is far from ethereal or fantasy-oriented. btw, the title is a tribute to someone whom i used to work (with). i don't remember her real name, but she came in one day and declared to be called 'Fairy Angel' - no exceptions. i had a hard time keeping a straight face, but i would have preferred to have called her Dumbf*ck Numbsk*ll instead. of course, like most nutcases, she lasted less than two weeks...

out with the old...

in with the new.

wow! where is everyone? Denny has started a new blog...Laura and Dy's blogs aren't available right now...Nelle is driving her new wheels to another url...Rach is spoiling her kids and making her dad foot the Crab Palace bill ;)...Derbs is wanting to pull guns...and i'm finally blogging. just wanting to put a few words down while lois is in the shower.

her shoulder has been acting up lately. she doesn't know what she did to it, but it hasn't been cooperating. a visit to the chiropractor/kinesiologist helped, but she's needing acupuncture. and, of course, our acupuncturist just left for a three week visit with her mom in china. so, looks like lois is stuck with pain killers, rubs, and hot showers until then.

btw, thanks to Katie for making me one of her fellow diners...awww, she's a good kid! now, if we could just do something about that shady charlie fellow ;)

just staying in tonight. we probably should have gone to sunflower market for some fresh veggies; they have goo-ood prices. we went to W*ld Oats a couple of weeks ago and it was virtually a morgue. even though people still want good produce, i think they're steering clear of the more expensive places while the economy crawls.

ah well. guess we'll have to eat our mercury laden salmon with canned (gasp) vegetables tomorrow night. ooh, i'm gonna make a pot o' rice too! since lois has basically sworn off carbs for awhile, i've cut down on my consumption too. it's been good for her though - 20 lbs. down since november. and she doesn't even stand in the way when my grubby little hands snatched that box of chock'lit truffles from her. god bless her!

gonna go downstairs and watch a movie...brb...i promise!

very nice...

thanks for all the comments about my travel stories...i take pride in all the weird stuff that has occurred while on my trips. seems like nothing ever exciting happens to me here ;) worse, maybe that's all i have in my life - goofy travel tidbits.

that trip in '96 was more than just seeing John Schoenwalter at that hotel in Oaxaca though. over the next couple of days, i may go back to that trip and write some more (if you guys want to hear it). i'll need a couple hours though :D

fifty? fifty?!? it is only forty-six!

it appears that fifty words is now the norm for a bare bones post...just ask Nelle. so that last post of fourteen words was woefully short, eh? call it a 'low word diet'...Atkins would be so proud. they say that on the low word diet, you should avoid word fillers...like monosyllabic. words such as this one don't curb your appetite for semantic consumption. you'll just be hungry for a dictionary or thesaurus later...

looks like the above paragraph is barely sufficient. geez, 75 words. that's only enough for 1.5 postings...shriek! now, listen in yer best whiny voice: but i don't have anything to say. (actually, i do. you know me...getting me to post is not the hard part, it's getting me to do it on a daily basis that's like pulling teeth sans anesthesia).

let's call this portion (although a bit cliché-ish) 'a blast from the past.' my friend, whom i'll call 'PS', just e-mailed me. i hadn't heard from her since last may, when she was going through some really trying times.

we went to school together...she graduated a year ahead of me. a journalism major (a phenomenal photographer too), she was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper who just happened to track in the same spanish classes. on two occasions, we traveled to mexico, belize, guatemala, and honduras. she even hung out with me and lois for about a week in january '96, through mexico city and oaxaca.

that was a memorable trip. we had met in mexico city because she had just procured a 6-month position with 'The News,' the largest English language newspaper published in Mexico. the weather was great. i don't recall much rainy weather at all until we left Oaxaca and headed for Chiapas.

it was in Oaxaca that things got interesting. the hotel that we had originally planned to stay was full and sent us to their sister hotel...which was more expensive. hmmm.

well, instead of waiting around for them to clean a room for us, we found a huge triple at the Hotel Virreyes for less than $11/night. it was a big corner room...with a wraparound balcony (that was about the same height as the power lines, not good)...and the solitary rainstorm that we encountered in our Oaxaca visit, seeped into our room (yikes, extra towels!). still, hot water, okay beds, and basically clean - well worth the price.

the first morning of our stay, i remember finding a story in the newspaper about an american man in seattle who had requested a refund for some item with which he was not satisfied. you know, something less than five bucks. well, turns out that a glitch in that company's accounting system inadvertently sent him a check for the amount of his ZIP CODE, not the actual amount of the item. my zip code is 80224...that would make a very lucrative refund for any 'store-bought' item.

well, after receiving a refund for something like $96000, this quiet, Mitty-ish man vacated his apartment and simply disappeared. did i mention smart? that man did the right thing.

anyway, we were about to head out the door when i read them this story, setting us back a couple minutes. don't worry, this is not another maya man and his japanese earthquake prognostication story ;)

we had a little chuckle over the story and finally left the room. when we reached the dimly lit stairway, there was a man who greeted us, upon hearing us speak english. he asked us where we were from. PS said she was from Boulder originally and lois and i said, "Denver."

and we didn't make it but a few stairs when the man, whose facial features i couldn't see, said, "Spencer?" my god, it was John Schoenwalter! he's a photographer friend of my brother, Steve. i hadn't seen him in a couple years. in fact, prior to seeing him in the Hotel Virreyes in Oaxaca (City), the last time was in Cancún. lois and i were going out for a bite to eat, waiting to cross the street, when John ambled past us. turns out that he had just arrived in town and was looking for a cheap place to crash. crazy thing is, the two times we saw each other in Mexico, neither of us had any knowledge of trip plans. we had no idea that john was gonna be there, nor did he of us. what are the odds of seeing someone you never see at home, in a place 2000 miles away, two years apart? fate or coincidence? and what about the refund story? had i not read it, we would have left a minute or two earlier, probably missing the encounter with John.

back to PS...in the past eight years, i think i've only seen her once, when she was pregnant with her first child. since then, she has added a daughter.

so it looks like she has resurfaced and is finally ready to continue that May conversation...i'm glad. moreover, i'm sure itching to see her kids in person ;)

thanks for emailing me, PS, it made my week!

well, did i fulfill the fifty word minimum? anyone crazy enough to count the words (manually)?

ah...

the vids can wait. why not blog a little more?

okay...that's enough.

g'nite.

and what am i still doing up at this time...

i dunno. you tell me.

well, the only reasonable answer is...snackin.' yes, i've spent the last hour shelling roasted peanuts...shoveling handfuls of popcorn down my gullet...and finishing that all off with a few glasses of water and a banana applesauce.

still need to return those vids. i guess that's the real reason why i'm still up. and looking outside...wow. talk about humid! the fog is pretty fierce out there. when i looked out the window a few minutes ago, i had a double take because i initially thought it was snow!

so, it's off to the Blockbust*r drop box i go...as long as the fog doesn't have John Carpenter written all over it. didn't Stephen King also write a kooky story about a killer fog too. correct me if i'm wrong, but i think it was the first story in Skeleton Crew.

fun news before i go...taking my niece (Elizabeth) bowling after i get off work later today. 3-hr unlimited bowling at Elitch Lanes - for $7!!! now, if you ask me (or even care), that's some MAJOR whee! then again, it could be the peanuts and popcorn talkin' ;)

what to watch...

rented two movies last sunday that are due tomorrow, Man on the Train and Dead Man Walking. lois had already watched Dead Man earlier this week, so i guess i'll have to stay up after we finish the other - gotta get yer money's worth ;)

lately, i've been bidding on movies (eBay). got a copy of Russia House (i dunno why...it's as confusing and boring as the book), Shawshank Redemption (as good as the original story), and The Golden Child (not that great of a movie but mebbe i have fond memories of the year it came out...1986).

staying in...cooking...watching movies. sound like a plan?

lazy...lazy...

nothing much accomplished today...bathrooms are cleaner...car is washed...oh boy.

been perusing a new cookbook, Four Ingredient Cooking that we got at Barnes & Noble. the title is a paperback version of the hardbound at the Amazon link.

i found the book last year but hesitated to buy it until last week, when things were getting a bit boring in the kitchen. the recipes really do consist of four ingredients; a nice change from more complicated cooking and preparations. you know, some days we just wanna eat...forget the exotics or beautiful presentations...company ain't coming over.

anyway, there are over 200 recipes, from fruit drinks, to basic sauces/homemade broths, to warm and cold desserts. maybe it's the pictures...but the author does a fantastic job with the preparations and simple instructions. much of the dishes in this book are Mediterranean influenced...phyllo dough...feta...tomatoes...cumin... eggplant...etc. it should spice up our diet for awhile ;)

btw, you can only find it in the bargain book section of Barnes & Noble; they don't offer it through their website. it's a nice deal for $7.98.

speaking of finding deals at B&N, i usually haunt their bargain section in mid-January for holiday cards. yep. whatever they have left at this time usually goes for $1/box. even if they're $12.95...$14.95...becomes a bargain that you can't ignore. i know that many of us don't even want to think about stocking up on xmas cards at this time, but why pay full price in November? just doesn't make sense. 'course, the selection isn't massive...but you can bank on a virtually untouched stock of Hannukah or Kwanzaa cards ;) still, i found three or four boxes last year...

so, guess where i'm going tonight? too bad most Barnes & Noble stores close at 11PM because my store has a 24-hour *$$...i think it's the only one in the state.

all this talk...

in other people's blogs about indian food at Taj Mahal is making me crazy. sure, it has only been two weeks since we were at Little India; reading about the meals has made me crazy ;)

i think i have mentioned it before, but we usually order saag paneer (creamed spinach with cubes of cheese), chicken vindaloo (or madras, since they're equally hot), and kabli (or kabuli) naan (naan made with cherries, nuts, and raisins)...which can double as a dessert.

we like jalfrazie, masalas, tandoori, and bhunas too. as for biryani...let's just say i'm picky about fried rice, whether it's Indian style, Thai, or Japanese. and once in a while, we'll stray and order onion bhaji or some samosas....mmmm.

for the last three nights, we've gone out to eat. tuesday, we went to Taki's (Colfax and Logan). food is always good and VERY affordable. they have combos that have meat, veggies (both fresh and pickled...edamame too), a bowl of rice, and a bowl of ginger miso soup (great for fighting the flu)...all for $5.58! you can substitute brown rice for 50 cents more or yakisoba for 75 cents. definitely one of the best deals in town!

last night, we headed out to Aurora...to a Thai restaurant that we had only tried once before (with mixed results). well, this time we were armed with a BOGO coupon! btw, the restaurant is Thai Flavor, near Peoria and Mississippi. we ordered jungle curry w/ beef (usually a spicy curry w/ green beans, thai eggplant, lotsa ginger, onions, carrots, peppers) and pad kra prow w/ chicken. and in typical lois fashion, she ordered it hot!

kinda funny because the waitress said, 'you sure? it's gonna be really hot! on a scale of one to five, you want a five?' yep...she was right. even a bit too hot for lois, someone who can eat pure fire ;) funnier was the fact that the cook nonchalantly came out from the kitchen to see who was crazy enough to eat a five! i don't think it was 'Thai' hot though. i once was mistakenly given Thai hot in Florida once. gawd, i could NOT finish that dish. the sweat was hanging off my...glasses ;)

i ordered my jungle curry medium heat, just so we wouldn't be crying the whole time. i was lucky because she ate very little rice (probably compounding her suffering), which allowed me to chow down and kill some of the heat from her dish.

it was a better experience than the last time, when i think we ordered chicken panang (thick red curry w/ ground peanuts but no veggies), pad thai (which needed improvement) and beef salad (not much better). but hey, they hadn't been open for long and were probably working out the kinks.

ooh, our splurge was an order of fried bananas! they flash fried those babies in a good batter (slightly pink in color) and drizzled honey and powdered sugah on top! mmmmm...the six pieces were hot, gloriously crunchy and slightly sweet. in fact, it was only the last piece that was a bit mushy inside.

afterwards, we wandered on over to the neighboring business, a Mexican butchershop with a few aisles of groceries. really nice people. the butcher was a young kid from the state of Sinaloa (where Mazatlan is located). he was super enthusiastic about his products. he was going on and on, raving and gesticulating wildly with every display of meat. the quality looked real high though...he even gave us a free sample of their chorizo - good and spicy.

so we just got some limes, Goya adobo seasoning, some Gansitos (my weakness when it comes to Mexican junk food...it's basically a Chocodile with cream and strawberry jam filling...with a touch of coconut flavor), and a bottle of Sidral (apple soda sold by Mundet - the BEST apple pop you'll ever taste!).

tonight, we were bad and went to Gyros Place (Colfax and Detroit). they have awesome Greek Veggie omelets and Gyros w/ eggs...think we were in the mood for breakfast? if there's one thing that Greek diners (not the eaters but the buildings) are notorious, is cheap breakfast...with massive portions ;)

stuffed, we passed by the Queen Soopers on 9th & Corona (which i'm sure brings back some vivid memories with Lowa, Denny, and Dy). recently, we found this Soopers to have some killer deals on natural ground beef and had been exploiting their supply for the last couple months.

i don't know what it is, but they don't sell that much of it and are forced to reduce the price by half after 6PM...a great deal considering this meat is $6.19/lb. i guess the demographics of the area aren't very conducive to selling a lot of natural ground beef (save the mad cow comments...). i think the higher percentage of vegetarians and the more marginal incomes add up to savings for us ;)

some bad news though. they must have caught on to our meat-buying escapades; the packages were just $2 off tonight :( not all was for naught though. we scored on some just reduced beef tenderloin, ribeyes, and even oxtails (which are NEVER on sale).

soooo, our carnivorous catch and fridge o' veggies mean we'll be cooking for the next week and dreaming of Indian cuisine...sigh. when is Apu gonna make Homer some naan? 'Mmmm...vindaloo.'

one big one...

and one little one. yes, i'm talking about spiders here, folks. there's a teeny spider that has scaled the wall in front of the computer. it's moving pretty slowly - must be cold. and there's a big, really ugly one on the far wall. i am in such a mood to kill it, but too lazy to go over there and whack it. i'm just hoping that both are looking for the door; i'll even help them find it.

well, must go out to the airport for some auditing. i'm back at PCL this week helping out with certified payroll again. seems that the gal who quit just before xmas didn't finish everything...yeah. just going through some of her stuff on friday and yesterday, i found payrolls that hadn't been dealt with for more than two months. some were even from May(!). bet those people are thrilled. i'm surprised that some of the companies haven't called up, pissed beyond belief.

so, i get to fight the sun on my drive east. hope it's high enough by now...see ya!

more on the movie topic...

last weekend, we caught 'School of Rock' at the cheapies. that Jack Black is too crazy! i became a fan of his after seeing 'High Fidelity'...

went to Internet Movie Database and found out that the three kids who played guitar, drums, and bass, had all started training in musical instruments at the ripe ol' age of three!!! it's kids like that make me sick...way too much talent in their little pinkies! i hope they make it big though!

i know that a lot of you played an instrument in your youth, some even played marching band in college. that's cool.

i think i already blogged about some of my siblings and their musical talent. i have two brothers (tenor and baritone...not their names tho' ;) who sang for many years in the Colorado Choir. in fact, the tenor still sings and has traveled to Europe at least six times to sing. he and his group, the Musicians of Saint Clare, have sung at the Vatican during Papal mass during xmas 2000 and '02.

my eldest sister, played violin and is the most right brained of this family. i remember when i used to pester her when she was trying to practice. i guess i should consider myself lucky because she could've easily jabbed me in the eye with that rosin laden bow. she later went on to play in college and semi-professionally as a concert violinist. however, she's given up performing for now, concentrating on getting into dental hygienist's school.

funny, i have two siblings who had enough musical talent to go out and make it big. truly, they were that good. unfortunately, neither was brave enough to take the chance and go for the gusto, instead settling for a step below world class. the rest of us musically challenged kids always regard them as the ones who should have kept it up (you know, the stereotypical asian, take no prisoners, nose to the grindstone way). i think if i picked up an instrument now, they would regard me as the one who should've never even started and would set out to kill the music teacher who unleashed non-music wrath in me.

is that a kazoo in yer pocket? or are you just happy...(you know the rest)!

is it too late...

to pick up an instrument and learn to play? i know that some people pick up the guitar or piano later in their lives, but what about the trumpet, trombone, or drums? after listening to the Love, American Style theme and its bright horns and seamless drumming, it got me thinking about it...

you know, a lotta people say that i have perfect fingers for the piano...an instrument that was never very appealing to me. i know, though, the one instrument that i will never consider playing is the kazoo. in fact, is it even considered to be a 'real' instrument? or is it just a good substitute for the mosquito love call? i tell ya...

raise yer hand...

if you watched these shows as kids...

Love, American Style, Mary Tyler Moore, Rocky & Bullwinkle, That Girl, Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, Daktari, My Favorite Martian, The Avengers...

well, the theme songs of all of these shows and 56 others are on this CD that i got a couple years ago for xmas. once in a while, i just gotta pop it in and reminisce a bit heh. looks like i gotta get volume 3, which has the themes from 70's and 80's shows...oooh. the song selections on this one are even better than the one i have!

and it doesn't end there either. this series has seven volumes! i think the second and third about cover it for me though.

Love American Style...that's me and youuu

well, Dy and Nelle...

you didn't miss anything at the Job Fair. of the forty or so exhibitors, i only visited eight of them. and of those, i feel only good about one of them (Denver Health). i wouldn't mind working as an enrollment specialist; my Spanish and customer service may just be my ticket in. the job seems a bit more challenging than a ward or clinic clerk position and it pays more too ;)

anyway, here are the other seven...and my initial feelings about them:

R*se M*dical and Sp*lding R*hab...only hiring for medical positions. nice people tho'.
Sofa M*rt...nothing special. a generic application...but a four day workweek! my favorite digs have been either eight days on and six days off or ten and four...
H*rtz...maybe. i forgot to find out if they offer free bus passes. driving 50+ miles round trip just to go to work is not very appealing to me, especially in bad weather.
Schw*n...they were only hiring Route Sales Managers. guess not.
Kac*y Fine F*rniture...only hiring salesmen with interior design background. feh.
CU H*alth Sci*nces...just wanted you to apply online. WHY THE HELL EXHIBIT THEN?
M*ttress K*ng...guys weren't even interested in being there. i don't think so.

yeah, pickins were slim. the only other place i might have considered (in another lifetime) was Walgr**n's. however, i won't even set foot into one unless absolutely necessary...so why work for them?

i did see one of my drinking acquaintances, Al. he had taken a sabbatical from being a CNA and thought it might be time to go back. god, the need for health care professionals is still so great. i heard on TV that some hospitals (probably in other states) are offering $60K starting salaries to RNs. obviously, i went to school for the wrong thing, eh? nah. i get too attached to people. it's nice to watch people get better, but i don't know how oncological or hospice nurses aren't driven to drink; those patients already have one or two strikes against them.

maybe Denver Health'll call...Rach, i may need some prayers from you and yer friends ;)

oh yeah, one funny thing did happen while i was at the fair. Panda Express, the california based, fast-food mall restaurant, had a table and was recruiting probably for management. well, the couple times i walked past them, the two asian gals who were the exhibitors kept smiling at me. oh no...none o' that! i think they were trying to get me to go over there! BAD! stay away! spending fifteen years in my parents' restaurant cured me from ever running a restaurant, let alone a chinese one! 'course, i could help overhaul their poor seasoning skills - they have no clue. and it doesn't help to go there and see a young Mexican man at the cook's helm ;) ah well, he's probably thinking, "What the hell is that guy doing...trying to speak my language! humph!"

pay it forward...

after reading Nelle's short little post about paying the tab for the hungry coffee guy at Denny's, it put a smile on my face. sure, to us, it's only coffee and hashbrowns...but to him, it was breakfast or even his only meal of the day.

you know, that's just so cool. ever since i started blogging in july, it's been really nice to read about all you guys and some of the selfless things that you do.

maybe i just don't have enough faith in humans; there are so many ugly, greedy nincompoops out there. however, i know that there are lots of giving people out there as well. most often, it seems like those who have had it tough before are more compassionate when it comes to others with less. and Nelle's action personified it. although she's not working and things might be tight when car and book sales are slow, but she has enough heart to help out a guy when he's down on his luck. i'll say it again...that's so cool.

and where was i going with this? well, after getting my resume retooled, i asked John what i owed him. he said, "Nothing. You know, that's okay because you're not working. Just pass it along." Thanks, John. i will. gotta keep the goodwill rolling. even though he wouldn't accept money, i wonder if they'd like a couple bottles of wine. or maybe a couple photos of Maya pyramids for their house. they seem like kinda spiritual (read: airy fairy) people who would appreciate something from my slides. what good are 4000 slides of Latin America if they just sit there ;) glad i don't have the collection that one of my mentors has...he's got over 80,000. good thing he has gond digital ;)

speaking of goodwill, i did pass by the one after lunch. it's not the cleanest or cheapest goodwill, but they do have some nice finds. for a couple bucks, i came back with a small stuffed bear (for the dog), a pepper mill, and two retro Arby's glasses...whoo hoo! i was pretty excited about finding the mill since i had been tracking prices on eBay; they were cheap, but the shipping was steep. and the glasses? god, i wish i had a digital camera...maybe i can find a pic and post the link. they're from the seventies and remind me of stained glass. do you remember the decor of Shakey's Pizza? that's what i think of when i look at them. they also totally remind me of some cool Jack in the Box Coke glasses we had when i was a kid.

well, we're gonna go out for a bite and a movie. talk to you soon...

gonna be wired...

today, after visiting with my sister's massage therapist's husband, who helped me revamp my resume for monday's job fair, i stopped at the Jiffy Lube near my house. grrr...i think i'm burning oil. ah well. the money that i should have used for the photo speeding ticket that was never sent, can go towards that and whatever else is ailing my poor little car.

anyway, instead of waiting in their sterile lobby, i usually head over to the *$$ (thanks Cindi) next door. got my almond latte...and bought a half lb. of the Ethiopian blend.

so, just sitting here, with a cuppa that. it's so good. bold...yet very smooth and creamy. thing is, i rarely have more than a cup of coffee or two...a month! i know that the espresso and coffee will just make me bounce off the walls. good thing i had a couple Dr. Peppers with my chili dog combo ;)

ugh. i'm not sure if i can go back to being a lifetime member of the 'chili dog eatin' elite.' it just was not very satisfying... i mean, how can two chili dogs, big fries, and a hamburger not be appealing? that has artery cloggin' happiness written ALL over it.

is it just age? have i finally outgrown the quick fix, 'gimme some cholesterol' phase in my life? do i need to turn in my gold chili dog credit card? or is this the coffee talking?

must be nice...

lois is looking at photos that her sister just sent. they're of her new deck that her husband (Ken) built after their visit here in September. kewl! wow...must be nice to be that good with yer hands. guys like him and Denny just amaze me.

a few years ago, i did a paint-a-thon with lois' company, PCL Construction. every year, they choose a low income, elderly homeowner who needs painting and general cosmetic stuff. well, in one day, these gonzos painted the house, disassembled a deck (and built a new one), and replaced the gutters - unbelievable. 'course, they've been doing it for so many years...but it's still impressive to me.

whimper...

i'm out of chocolate truffles. lois had brought home a small box from work around xmas. it was (unbelievably) left over from the mountains of food that subcontractors send during the holiday season. and, being the brilliant woman she is, she snatched them up and gave them to little ol' me. no use having them rot over the xmas weekend.

i know you're quietly mumbling, "what? how could a box of chocolate truffles last two weeks in any household?" well, i surprisingly exhibited some commendable self-control because there were only 12 pieces...so i limited myself to one or two pieces after dinner.

they were so good though. i think there were six flavors, but i only recall: raspberry, mocha, orange, and plain 'ol choco.

with all that obscene slurping/smacking noises she endured, i believe i know what lois is gonna get me for Valentine's Day...a WHOPPING box of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory candy. roses are so overrated...

yaawn...

tired. it's been a strange coupla days. tuesday was the funeral for my dad's nephew, Louie; he passed in the hospice on New Year's Eve. i know that i had identified Louie as a cousin of my dad, but he was actually a nephew!!! funny, that means, a man who was 49 years older than i, was my cousin! strange how timing works in some generations.

i guess it's not all that uncommon though. after all, my eldest brother, who is almost 22 years my senior, could have been married and had a child even before i was born - had he started early enough. hasn't everyone seen this scenario before, when an uncle/aunt is barely older (or even younger, in some cases) than a niece/nephew?

anyway, the service was at Fairmount (Cemetery)...and indoors. thank god! i couldn't imagine being outside for the burial. i remember when i was a pallbearer for a brother-in-law. that day was so windy...

i don't mean to dwell on this subject; i am the last person on this earth to be called 'morose.' it was just an eye-opening day. although i knew Louie's four sons, i had only met a couple of his grandchildren. i had no idea that Louie had ten grandchildren and seven great grandchildren! geez, my dad is a couple years older, had three more kids, yet has four less grandchildren, and no great grandkids.

another wild thing happened while we were milling around the waiting area. Lily, a cousin to Louie by marriage, arrived with two of her sons, Gordon and Eugene. wow! talk about surreal... i hadn't seen Lily's kids in twenty five years. Gordon is a couple years older...Eugene is the same age (33)...and Jerry is a couple years younger.

well, they looked the same as they did in 1978...just in adult bodies. we did catch up some, but it was a bit awkward because we were never in the same social circles.

now, by social circles, i don't mean high school cliques (since we attended different schools anyway), but tongs. Tongs?

no...not the kitchen/workshop tool used to pick up things, but chinese benevolent associations.

huh?

chinese benevolent associations are fraternal organizations that were established in the late 1800's in the USA. chinese immigrants, usually men without their wives/family, needed a place to gather where they could escape the racism and foreign-ness of a new land; where they could eat familiar foods...read chinese newspapers...gossip in a familiar language...even gamble. for them, it was an artificial (but comfortable) home-away-from-home.

in the Denver area, there are three tongs: Hip Sing, Hop Sing, and Bing Gong. from the 1920's until the 1970's, they were an intergral part of blue-collar chinese society. not only did new immigrants seek 'asylum' there, but they could also count on finding help regarding immigration/legal issues. benevolent associations were quite instrumental in the overall smooth transitioning of the 'fresh off the boat' arrivals; when things got tough, they went to bat for their chinese brothers.

Hip Sing, although not the oldest Tong in Denver, has the largest membership and is the 'club' to which my family belongs. in fact, my dad was appointed (in 1954) as the second president in the history of Denver Hip Sing, making him the John Adams of the United Tongs of Denver heh.

I think Hop Sing was the first to be established...in the 20's (as mentioned above)...when there was a Chinatown in Denver(!) unfortunately, there were race wars and it (along with Chinatown) was burned to the ground. They did re-establish themselves and had a small membership until the '90s.

Bing Gong i have little knowledge (of). i know that it has a much larger member base in other parts of the country; i think it's strong in NYC and Seattle. their Denver membership peaked in the fifties and sixties.

as a kid, i remember going to Chinese New Year parties at Hip Sing. the building is still there, on 238 Broadway. in fact, Hip Sing HQ in NYC owns that side of the block. anyway, i vividly recall the brown door, doorbell (you had to be buzzed in), and long grey carpeted stairway of the entrance. quite cold and boring...but once you got up the stairs and entered a swirling fog of cigarette smoke, past the sounds of the rattling dice and slamming dominoes of the pai gow tables, and through the door, into the dining room, everything was okay; all the winter cold outside simply dissipated.

unfortunately, the majority of the Denver chinese community leaders (in the last fifty years) has either passed or in the septua/octogenarian timeframes of their lives. there hasn't been a Tong new year's celebration in more than ten years. although the buildings are still around, they lie dormant. the newer chinese immigrants that have arrived in the US in the last 20 years are predominantly Mandarin-speaking (either from mainland or Taiwan) and are more educated, often here to attend graduate school or work for a large American corporation as consultants; very much a white collared work force.

they too have their clubs and associations with their respective parties and celebrations, but it's not the same. it's not because i'm 'old school' or anything...or because my parents have lived here since 1933 and 1947 (no 'we were here first' themes)...or even because they speak a different chinese dialect from mine. no, i just don't see them as genuine as the people i grew up around.

now, i'm sure that many of these immigrants have had hard times growing up in China/Taiwan; i'll freely admit to having an easy life growing up as a Chinese American...i know i have had numerous golden opportunities that they lacked. what really eats at me, though, is the sickeningly sugary fakeness that is grossly exhibited in whatever function i have attended with my parents. i just don't care to attend any of their functions.

last month, i attended a function that basically provided the straw to break my tolerance camel's back. it was the 6th anniversary for this chinese club...the party was in a restaurant...food was good, but weirdly fancy...and there was even beer on the table (old tong parties just had coke, 7up, and whiskey ;).

what nearly drove me up the wall was the fact that this prominent club had a keynote speaker...Dr. H*nry L** (got this idea from Cindi and Lowa). you know him. he's the famous forensic pathologist who helped with the OJ case. well, he was in town to help with the K*be Bry*ant case. nice man. brilliant man. fucking raging egomaniac...ugh. the man lives to be in the spotlight. gee, what a great way to celebrate a sixth anniversary...BARF! get over yerselves people... i bet it would have been cheaper to find an alternate form of entertainment.

and it's not like the man was there to talk about Chinese community and involvement in Denver. no, he stood up there for 90 minutes, pontificating on past cases he's handled and that law enforcement had bungled. some of the material, i believe, was done in poor taste. he was showing graphic slides of bodies and murder scenes that he was sent to investigate. granted, as someone who has worked with human remains, i thought they were cool ( i think Nelle would've liked 'em too, since we're both fascinated with true crime [especially mass murderer] stuff), but there were kids in the audience. and yet these parents won't let their kids even go to a PG-13 show. yeah, that makes a lotta sense. there were even gimmicks such as tossing out 'sheriff' badges to the dolts who answered the obscenely obvious questions he was peppering his adoring crowd. the 'speech', which had commenced after dinner, ended with him autographing copies of his new book. gawd, i was so pissed, i almost went Denny (heh) on them...grrrrr.

you know, instead of blowing five or ten grand on his speaking fee, why didn't all you tards just commemorate a shrine to the man at the entrance of the restaurant?!? what a friggin' buttkissfest.

so...now you know the 'chinese' definitions for 'tongs' and 'social circles.' and i even threw in a truncated history lesson of chinese immigrants in the Denver area. you can't get good shit like this in W*bst*r's or Br*ttan*ca!

bet you're the ones who are yawning now. hey, the mere thought of reading my blog could put N* D*z and V*var*n out of business...

at least...

by staying in, i have been able to update my new address book. when i was sending out cards, i was looking at my poor, old, dilapidated address book, thinking...'i need a new one.'

well, i found one at Barnes & Noble on clearance and for an add'l 50% off...setting me back a whopping $2.49! it's nice - pics of the Sierra Nevadas...spaces for addresses, fax #, and e-mail too. however, it's not as compact as my old one and there's no section in the back to help you keep track of holiday card recipients and reciprocal senders. ah well...i certainly can't complain considering Lois bought me my old one as a gift and it was $18.

so...that's my new toy for now. ooh, fun.

ha!

right after i published the 'freakin' cold' post, i get an e-mail from Travelocity with this in the heading...

Travelocity - Need a break from the cold? Fares from Denver as low as $121+ round-trip

the irony is just killin' me! wish i could go...NOW!

not very exciting...

but maybe i'm just a boring snack ;)


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freakin' cold outside...

well, i WAS going to take my niece bowling tonight. for the time being, Elitch Bowling Lanes has $7 unlimited (well, 3 hours) bowling on mondays. so, i guess it'll hafta wait until next week.

funny, i think as we get older, we must become less tolerant of the cold. i remember when i was about 19 and we had a massive cold front that was plummeting temperatures to -25 below. i remember it well because i sustained frostbite on both ears - too dumb to wear a hat while waiting for the bus.

the weather channel says it's -5 (-23 wind chill) at the airport right now. not too bad. surprisingly, we're warmer than Monte Vista, which is hovering at 3 degrees and no wind. not too often that we have colder temps than that area in the winter. we're all sittin' pretty right now considering that it's -19 (-35 wind chill) in Gunnison.

i don't know how people in Assamosa, Fraser, Gunnison, and Leadville do it. people who have lived in cold conditions for long periods of time claim that you just get used to it. my dad has stories of -40 temps in Alamosa when he grew up there in the 30's. forget it. i know i have mentioned it in a previous post, but my friend, Les (who spent a Navy tour in Antarctica), said your skin gets used to it; talks about going shirtless on the ship - crazy. you know, maybe i'm just a wimp ;)

all i know is, when it's -1 and humid outside, it's too cold to start the car to just go bowling. heck, even if i needed to go to the store for food, i'd miss a meal. in fact, when it's below zero, there's only one thing that i'd leave the house (for), a trip somewhere else. those who like to travel somewhere warmer in january know what i mean. isn't it gratifying to pack the car and head for the airport, knowing that you'll be in a warmer climate in a few hours? that is, if you're able to withstand the 'orange' level threats...puh-leeze.

right now, i'd gladly head to the airport if i were going to an island...like the Turks and Caicos. i've never been there, but after reading an article about these islands in Caribbean magazine a couple years ago, the thought of going has stayed in my mind. of course, that means raising the $600 or so for the airfare and who knows how much for the et ceteras...

still, wouldn't you like to see this in the morning?

another puzzle...

has been started. this one is of a mill in West Virginia. really nice fall colors, but that will be the downfall of us. the mill structure isn't so bad, it's the multiple hues of oranges, reds, and yellows that'll make us dizzy!

mouse...well, a dead one.

a few hours ago, i was kneeling on the floor, looking for something on the bottom shelf of a bookcase when i looked up and spied a little brown mouse who had just stopped in his tracks, on his way to the kitchen. sooo, little mouse, did you have midnight reservations in the kitchen? were you going to dine on the most haute dog food (mini chunks)? or were you wondering how you were going to get on top of the computer desk, where my candy is stashed? oh, you'd love it...chocolate truffles, gummi bears, chocolate mints, and assorted hard candies. there's enough sugar up there to put you into a hyperglycemic trance...for weeks.

i'm sorry that you found the cream cheese so tempting though. hopefully, you were killed instantaneously when the trap sprang and bwoke yer neck. in the trash you go...

anyone have other sure fire baits for mice? an exterminator told me that the most foolproof bait is peanut butter on a cotton ball - works every time. 'course, there was no peanut butter in the house, so the cream cheese performed fantastically!

lois knew a chemist in texas who had concocted a chemical bait mix that basically dried up the mouse from the inside...weird huh? i guess that prevented the smell of a dead, rotting mouse that is wedged somewhere. wouldn't it be plain spooky to find a pile of mouse dust though?

shower?!?

i've been sitting here, contemplating going upstairs and taking a shower or blogging. it has been such a lazy day. the paper has been read...dishes have been dirtied...W.A.S.P. is playing on my computer...and i'm typing some re-eally exciting stuff here ;)

saw that Laura spent two hours composing a blog masterpiece, only to have it unceremoniously erased by a merciless disconnect. don't you hate dial-up? i found myself ready to tear a couple walls down in the past few months too. you spend all that time racking yer brain for something relevant and it freezes and disappears...pisses me off to no end.

ugh. i know...i know. january in denver, the coldest month of the year. i am just not looking forward to the cold front that is going to sit its massive ass on top of the city for the next couple of days; it makes me want to do nothing but sit inside and avoid it all. makes me wanna go around the small villages in coastal spain...

that was the phrase last wednesday, when lois and i met our friends charlie and mike at a seedy bar downtown. originally, we were going to have a couple pitchers of Bud w/ 'em, but two crazy girls (we'll call them JB and AM) had joined them and things were looking bleak.

mike had mentioned to AM that we were going to Spain in May. upon hearing that, AM's eyes lit up and she proceeded to tell us about her visit to Spain when she was a child. it was a cool story. apparently, she was raised, along with seven other foster kids, by a wealthy M.D. and every year, he would take them all to Disneyland. he would also take one child to a foreign country every year.

when it was AM's turn, they went to Spain for a couple weeks, mainly in the Barcelona area and the surrounding coastal villages. well, after AM finished her beautiful story, she reminded us to 'make sure that you visit the coastal towns near Barcelona' ad nauseam. guess the Budweiser was finally getting to her. 'yes, AM, we know we should visit the coastal villages. if you remind us one more time, we'll be forced to shove yer beer mug up your left nostril...ok?'

she was pretty harmless though. now, her friend, JB, seemed to be the antagonistic type. i think she's a lotta big talk but can't back it up...and when there's trouble, i bet she lets AM do the scrappin'. i just did not want to be around JB - a total waste of time...and mebbe even space. so, that was when we headed over to the new Little India's on 15th and Champa.

i am going upstairs now...brb

so many jumbled thoughts...

do you ever find yourself wanting to blog...and needing to blog...but not being able to sort out all yer thoughts and put it in a post? i'm having one of those moments right now.

tonight, i've been splitting my time between the computer and piecing together a jigsaw that lois and i started yesterday. for the past fifteen minutes, i have resisted the urge to go smash in a few pieces and remained at the computer to actually blog.

the puzzle is a $1.99 special from Big Lots. it's a still life called, "Sewing Circle." mainly, it's a jumble of spools in a basket, a couple pin cushions, and a classic Singer. lotsa colors and not too much frustration ;) good thing it's only a 500 piece and not 2000...

stopped by the local Family Dollar with susie this afternoon. she needed to buy some laundry detergent and dish soap and i had the urge to buy things that i did not need at all; the best reason to tag along. in the end, i found some blue and green xmas ornaments that were .50 a pair, another jigsaw, junk food (in this case, Little Derbs Twinkie knock-offs), a brown winter hat, and some 13-gallon size trash bags. sooo exciting.

the jigsaws at Family Dollar are good deals. only a buck and some nice photos. however, the 500 piecers tend to be somewhat small (10"x18"), which makes for some small piece searching. the Big Lots puzzles we've been buying have bigger pieces and come in sealed bags (inside the box) - keeps the dust down.

well, maybe i shouldn't say that the items i bought weren't completely necessary. let's just say that i had no intentions of looking for these things. does this buying things on the spot qualify me as an impulsive shopper? after all, they were needed and will be used...

the brown hat was just a stroke of luck. i knew that lois didn't have a brown hat to match one of her coats. yesterday, when we were downtown, lois had realized that she hadn't brought a hat and i had left my gloves in the car. so...we wandered in to the Walgreen's amidst throngs of people who were looking for NYE hats, etc. bought another hue of (blue) gloves and (red) hats for a few bucks. while we were shopping, we saw a gal who works with Lois, Mari Cruz. she was there with her two kids and niece, rummaging through the New Year's paraphenalia.

strange, over the past three days, with the exception of Mari Cruz, we've been running into people that we haven't seen in a while. i wonder if it has been less coincidental than fateful.

take, for example, our trip to the mall on tuesday. we were there to find some shoes for Lois at the Easy Spirit store, which is upstairs. well, instead of taking the escalator, which is just in front of the entrance, i asked Lois if she wanted to take the stairs instead. she had no problems with that and we huffed up the stairs.

right after we reached the second floor, i pointed out a young gal who was walking past us with a yorkshire terrier puppy in her arms. owning two squeak dogs always elicits stopping and chatting with other squeak dog owners.

turns out that the gal was a best friend of one of lois' former co-workers. they chatted a bit, passed the puppy (Henry) around, before we headed for the shoe store.

of course, lois found three pairs of shoes that she couldn't live without. deciding on the shoes was greatly helped by the fact that numerous styles were half off and that we were armed with a coupon too. and actually, there were five or six pairs, but her size wasn't available in a couple.

anyway, as we left the store, i looked down on the ground level and saw a Peaberry Coffee stand. can't leave the mall without me indulging in an almond latte... so we took the elevator down and...ran into Ronda, who went to high school with me (but is two years older) and was my main study buddy (fifteen years ago) for Chinese class in college! hadn't seen her since 2001 though..so we caught up...got her business card (she's a Reiki practitioner now)...and treated her to a vanilla latte.

tonight, we ran into Zach (good friend of Susie's) at Black Eyed Pea...which was my choice for dinner. hmmm...four encounters in three days. what if we hadn't:

gone to Walgreen's on NYE? i had considered going to Rite Aid, across the street.
taken the stairs up to Easy Spirit? escalator would have gotten us there faster...
decided on stopping for coffee?
decided on the Pea and gone for BBQ instead?

had we not done those four things, we wouldn't have seen those people...

all this coincidence/fate talk is making my head spin. think i'm gonna make a bag of microwave popcorn. wonder what would happen if i decided against this...would i miss someone/something? nah, guess i'd just be hungry ;)

sorry Katie, no M&M's or Equal to sprinkle on the corn...call me boring lol