Grrrr

This is, in fact, a real place.


Seen while hiking around the Eibsee.



Grrrrr... I'm about to bonk. So, in order to fend off the bonk, I've put my work aside and decided to look through some pictures. I always find these pictures reminders of good times. Thus, they pretty much always cheer me up.

Hiking in the Alps.

I'm trying not to neglect my home of the past two years, but I really have very little digitized.

Joy and German Beer

This evening has been filled with joy and a little disappointment. I left work with no greater desire than to play a few games of pool. But alas, it was not to be. My usual pool friend, who generally kicks my ass, had a previous engagement. Balls. My other usual pool friend went off and moved to South Dakota for the summer... last June. As if fighting wildland fires is really that important anyway. Despite this, I called and asked. Sometimes one has to make the attempt in life even if the outcome will almost assuredly be unfavorable. Though he was unavailable for pool, we had a nice chat. He counselled me to either a) open the bottle of wine that is still (patiently) waiting on my counter or b) walk down to the corner market and pick myself up a good bottle of German beer. I opted for plan B, got my good bottle of German beer, then had another delightful call from another friend on the walk back. It is now time to extol the virtues of German beer. German beer is so good you could mix it with either a Cola or banana puree and it's still good. Budweiser, eat your heart out. One beer I find particularly charming is from the Brauerei Schwelm, the Schwelmer Pils. Run to your nearest and dearest distributor of German beer and request it. This Pils has the most delightful and surprising hints of honey, it just sneaks up on you. Lecker. Friends + good German beer = joy. I'm so easy.

So we're all on the same page.
Look for this label.

Nostalgia

Last year around this time I attended a birthday party held at a roller skating rink for my friend Pat. I have to say, it was everything I hoped it would be. We did it up right, the entire rink was reserved for his small party almost the entire night. There were varying amount of success between all the revellers and the evening was free of any major crashes.

Perhaps the world would be a better place if we all strapped on a pair of roller skates once a year and went around in a big oval.

Wedding Ninja

My goodness gracious. The skill and concentration it takes to be a wedding ninja can really wear on a person. I left early yesterday morning for the 2:00pm wedding a mere 5 hours away. Luckily my outfit of style and panache of some posts ago does well in a car and managed to pick up some compliments along the way. Go Team! The real test of my ninja skills, however, came during the 1.5 hour ceremony. 1.5 hour Catholic ceremony... with perhaps THE most pious and self-righteous, did I mention boring and thoroughly devoid of wit, priest EVER. I must be going straight to hell. There were about 3 points during the homily where I just about busted out the throwing stars packed away in my purse. For our edification, a homily is "a tedious moralizing lecture." As it was a Catholic wedding, the reception had plenty of vino (by the grace of God) and things improved. I saw old friends and hung out with the folks. This morning I hopped in my little car and hit the road again for the 5 hour return trip. People to see, things to do and all that.

Observe, the stealth shoes of the ninja.

A friday spent alone in The Cave sucks nuts.

aesthetic of baseball

Lightning can strike twice. I attended another baseball game last night. Though Lou Pinella was not in attendance and I missed the frozen T-shirt contest, the sky was clear and the grass was green. I find I'm drawn to the aesthetic of baseball, particularly night games. The lights seem to give the grass a little extra boost, so much so that I'm inclined to call the grass a marvelous verdant green. Slight breeze, cool temperatures... fall is in the air. Fans ate peanuts and Cracker Jacks, though the Cracker Jacks were in bags and not boxes (there was some discussion as to whether or not the prize was still a key ingredient of Cracker Jacks). Beer was also a necessary ingredient of the evening. Perhaps the thing that put the game over the top (besides the two home-run rally in the 4th) was ice cream in a little plastic baseball hat. Brilliant!

Mac and Cheese Confirmation

Every once and again I'll eat something I don't particularly like just for confirmation. The food I most consistently try and don't like is the mushroom. Why mushrooms? It's a texture thing, really. They're squeaky, and not in the good squeaky cheese sort of way. My tastebuds also pick up some sort of metalic undertone that just doesn't make any sort of sense. But every couple of months, I try mushrooms again. Silly? yes. But I now like onions (mostly when they're cooked), so things change. Last night I didn't particularly feel like cooking and thus decided to put maccaroni and cheese to the test, yet again (boiling water for noodles doesn't count as cooking). I thought I might have found a winning horse with Annie's brand mac and cheese. Wrong. I could barely finish my little bowl and then immediately threw the rest away as leftover mac and cheese is even worse than mushrooms.

One Bottle of Wine

I purchased one bottle of wine. As I'm still in the financial hunker-down mode instigated by graduate school, this is a slight splurge. Thus I throw down the gaunlet: what good is life if you can't eat cheese and drink wine for their own sake? My plan to consume said wine and cheese was interrupted with an invitation to dinner. Just because something is an interruption doesn't mean it has to be unpleasant. One of my fire-brand friends is leaving town. I supped with she and her family at a consistently above average restaurant and had a grand ol' time. Austerity be damned! But my thoughts returned to my unopened bottle of wine waiting patiently on my counter.

Gang of Nerds

Since I seem to be in a rather loving mood lately (loving the woods, dancing in the kitchen, etc.) I'll just jot down something else I love, dictionaries. Definitions are highly entertaining. For instance, my rather cheap dictionary tells me a nerd is a noun, slang, meaning "an unpopular or socially inept person, esp. one regarded as excessively studious." There is nothing remarkable about this definition if given a cursory glance. I, however, take exception to the "excessively studious" bit. Are we now to be judged by the publishers of a $5.99 dictionary? Such is life.

Watch out for me and my gang of nerds. One unpopular or socially inept person generally does little harm, but get a gaggle of us together and you might need to run for cover.

What a glorious day. Well, perhaps glorious is a bit too, too. If nothing else, much was accomplished and friends were seen. I, of little style or panache, found an outfit full of style and panache for a wedding next weekend. Score one for the home team. I also added things to my profile, a sadly vacant space before this evening. I love saying nothing and everthing at the same time. Friends, ah friends. My friend helped me pick out said outfit of style and panache (Chris, I must devise a way for you to bear witness as I know you are a fan of style and panache). I then randomly saw two other friend while my outfit friend shopped for food stuffs at the grocers (meaning: "One that sells foodstuffs and household supplies." I enjoy the term foodstuffs.) . I provided the transport and she the style affirmations. A cake was in the works for one of my grocery store friends. Despite the heat, it would be a good day to bake a cake. I find I enjoy the idea of finding things to do while a cake cools. One of my great joys in life is, in fact, kitchen dancing. Kitchen dancing is generally an art performed best when cleaning. But one must adapt to the situation.


What is this thing you call style?

Woods, Words, and Whiskey

Ah, the picturesque. I completely and totally understand the 19th century focus on the sublime in nature. Conjure up some painting from one in the Hudson River School. Though little comes close to Norman Maclean's work. Talk about a way to end a book, "I am haunted by waters." The whole of yesterday afternoon and evening was dedicated to frolicking with and in nature. To that end, we were most successful. Boulder hopping all the way up this not-to-be-named-so-the-uber-fisherman-of-the-group-doesn't-strangle-me stream made for a glorious end to the week. Absolutely clear skies, nice warm temperature, a small flask of quality whiskey, and good company protected by the loving embrace of forest largely untouched by a woodsman's axe. Well, chainsaw really. There is something magnificent in rolling up ones pants and walking in clear, cold running water. This experience is manifestly different from beach frolicking. On a beach you are open and exposed to the saline wind and sand in unspeakable areas. One leaves the beach with no greater disire than to take a shower. Have your beach, waterbabies. I chose the mountain stream or river.

The Woods

Today I venture up into those great young mountains to frolick among the trees and splash in some creek water. All signs point to a good day. As I know how to flyfish, thanks to one wonderful undergraduate P.E. course, and chose not to for various reasons I brought along some excellent reading material that has a lot to do with fly-fishing: A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. And now, a quote (all the more applicable as I'm going with stylish people), "After my brother and I became good fishermen, we realized that our father was not a great fly caster, but he was accurate and stylish and wore a glove on his casting hand." Perhaps I chose this quote as I fancy I could be accurate and stylish, if nothing else.

Chris,
Big Ups on the apartment and Pat requests that you watch the on-line trailers for Snakes on a Plane.

I've been coming across all these great quotes while reading my little books. Unfortunately I neglect to tag them all and bring them in for a little blogging. Thus I revert to movie quotes, microfilm quotes, and quotes I find on the internet while trying to prompt other quotes to come forth from my brain.

• A Quote for Today: EM Forster - "We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot forsee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship."
• A Quote for Tomorrow: President Skroob in Spaceballs - "Sandurz, Sandurz, you have got to help me, I don't know what to do! I can't make decisions. I am a president!"
• A Quote for 20 minutes ago: Me - "You could get air in my eyeball."
  

Deadwood, part II

Yesterday while riding my little bicycle home a little boy trained his Battlestar Galactica-esque toy gun on my head. We still live in the same world, but with a lot more guns... some of them plastic.

Deadwood

How I love Deadwood. Last night witnessed a viewing of the episodes for the last two weeks. The total package of the show is fantastic, but some things really stand out. Top of the list has to be the great quotes....

Examples, ahem:
Mose: "Charlie Utter's been lookin' for you."
Jane: "Tell him his chances'll improve once his head's out his ass."

E.B. Farnum: "Allow me a moment of silence, Mr. Hurst. I am having a digestive crisis and must focus on the suppression of its expression."

Walkabout

4:00 Walkabout: Random Sightings

View

It's in the view. I neglected the last couple of days just because...

I snapped this nice little photog on Saturday night after the game.

Sunday was as pleasant as the sunset.
I went to a BBQ, saw the Blue Angels, and had a nice, though short visit with a chum. The day, of course, ended with much driving, but what can you do?

National Pastime

Ah, how I enjoy the national pastime. Well, that's not entirely true. I like watching the Mariners (mostly when they are winning) and going to SafeCo Field for games. Part of the whole baseball experience is the ballpark, the grass, the beer. The beauty of Seattle baseball is the accepted pretentiousness of it all. Honestly, the menu items of the park are exceptional. Red Hook and Fat Tire, the bratwurst, garlic fries... lecker (thats German for tasty). Add to that a roof that closes to keep the bad weather out, marvelous.

One thing that I do miss about the Mariners is sweet sweet Lou Pinella. He was at the game today. Perhaps my favorite Lou Pinella moment happened one evening when the home plate umpire wasn't calling balls and strikes to Lou's satisfaction. After the straw that broke the camel's back, Lou stormed out of the dugout, argued with the ump, and the proceeded to get on his hands and knees and cover up home plate with dirt, as the umpire obviously wasn't using the plate to call the game anyway. This moment goes beyond Lou falling on his way out of the dugout, picking up and throwing a base, and kicking his hat (not necessarily on the same night).

Today was a good day.

Snapshots

To continue with entertaining things in miniature and add on fun moments in time I'll tell two stories.

There is an older woman who walks past my apartment complex with her little weiner dog. The dog does not require a leash and stays generally 5 feet in front of or behind the woman. Sometimes the little dog runs, which is not all together an easy thing to do for a dog so wildly out of proportion and small. I don't know if the dog adheres to the Golden Ratio, but I seriously doubt it.

Last night I saw someone crossing the street walking backwards and it stayed in my mind as a single frame, as a photograph. It was dark and the person was backlit by a streetlamp. My mind was left to fill in the blanks as to whether or not the backwards walking person was in fact speaking with someone behind them. I rather think the person was walking backwards for no particular reason other than the impulse to walk backwards.

In Miniature

I really enjoy things in miniature. This enjoyment, however, is predacated on there being a normal sized equivalent. Reason be damned. I saw a miniature street sweeper this morning on the way to work. The miniature street sweeper had all the accoutrements of their larger bretheren, just on a really small scale.

A list, in no particular order, of fun small things.

• mini grilled cheese sandwiches - totally possible, just look for the fancy miniature bread at the store and go crazy
• a miniature horse or donkey
• those really small bananas at the grocery store
• the SMART car (see picture)