waiting.

cell phone make-out

cell phone make-out
Originally uploaded by another kind of nerd

So, I'm rather disappointed. The US suffered today. Badly. I might go so far as to say, they had their asses handed to them. Marta was brilliant. Her goals... The Goal... words are insufficient. Brazil, quite frankly, outplayed the US at every single point on the pitch. But in all fairness, Shannon Boxx never should have been sent off. Terrible, terrible call. An egregious mistake from the refereeing team as no line(wo)man pulled the center ref aside to discuss the call. Out came the 2nd yellow. Thus out came the red. In stoppage time, no less! Story: At one small place I stayed at in Italy the little old woman who ran the B&B knew no English (it makes things interesting)... anyway, one night, she noticed a chair on the patio, set a bit apart from the others. In an unfortunate but funny accident, the chair broke earlier in the day. All the little Italian woman could think to say when she noticed the newly broken chair was "Disaster!" That's how I feel. Disaster! This is why I'm including the "cell phone make-out" photo. I'd just like to say, in this time of sorrow, that I'm glad that I have friends who perform acts of cell phone PDAs. Errr, I think. I'm also glad that my sister left me with high class vodka.

+ a goalkeeper change

Interesting. Briana Scurry will play in the net against Brazil tomorrow, not Hope Solo. Most interesting....

turn up the heat?

Fall is fast approaching. Time to do a Snoopy Dance if you haven't done so already. We are still, however, in that temperate climate netherworld that is late September-early October. Will it be warm today? Why yes, it will be warm, but only for a 30 minute period between 2:45 and 3:15. Dress accordingly. I'm quite excited and prepared for Fall Sweater weather. No coats, no problems.

Here's the problem... when does one turn on the heat in the house/apartment/loft/condo? Some try to hold out until November, relying on the calendar rather than any honest assessment of temperature. Many also wait for monetary reasons. I'm inclined to let the month of October be my guide. I don't need heat until October... maybe mid-October. And then I'll set it low... 67 or 68. You just watch me. Because I like my windows open, when I get up in the morning it's around 57 degrees in my house. That's a bit chilly. But the windows... at least 1 or 2 must be cracked! They must! Especially the bedroom window at night. It must be open if not cracked! Of course, I guess it all depends upon the climate one calls home.

ps: it is a very comfortable 67 degrees in my apartment right now. Sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt. Hot-diggity-dog!

The Rekishi Ninja

The Rekishi Ninja. Another Cool Kid/history nerd joins the blogosphere. This one is Cooler than most. Check him out.

Do it.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington -OR- Saddam

Oh, the irony. See, this is what happens when you take two personality tests on two different levels of coffee consumption. I took the the What Kind of Classic Movie Are You? test with the first few sips of my cuppa joe. The What Famous Leader Are You? test came a bit later, coffee basically done and getting cold. Hmmmmm......

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Of interest.... or not.

First of all, when doing an "Of interest... or not" post one has to make the decision to use bullet points... or not. I've opted for the not, so clearly in my head I think I have some interesting things to say. Or not. Suddenly I just had the image of a debate much like the one between the The Man in Black (your hero and mine, Westley) and Vizzini in The Princess Bride... "You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" But that is neither here nor there.

A few thoughts cropped up this evening. First (or is that second?), I must reiterate the deliciousness of the beer from the Schwelmer brewery in Germany. The Pils is particularly striking with a subtle hint of honey that absolutely slays me each and every time I have it. Sorry, I haven't had the Pils in a while and it is a fantastic beer. Additionally, I know an exceptional gal from a fine German town near this particular brewery. I must like it. Second, I didn't mind so much that the fellow who helped me at the Beer Haven called me "Hon" repeatedly. I was, after all, buying the delicious Schwelmer-Pils-with-a-hint-of-honey. But more than that, there was no creepiness in it. I heard the same in London, but it was "Love" there. I've since heard from a Brit that the term "Love" is not necessarily a given in England. I have to say, I enjoyed it when I heard it, probably needed it as well. But the "Hon"? Necessary? Probably not. Needed? Definitely not. What exactly is the social protocol for "Hon"? I don't, after all, live in the south. Is that the only reason that it didn't bother me, because I view it more as a weird southern hold-over, essentially foreign? Wait a minute, I say "honey" more than most (thanks Mom).... or not. I guess it's just enough to say that I haven't heard that in a while and enjoyed it more than the blanket "ma'am" that any female of 20+ years receives.

That is all.

pink + blue

Shhhhhh........ fall is coming. Don't say it too loud. Just go stock up on your late summer fruits and veggies and get cozy. Went to a farm yesterday and came away with delicious produce and a nice bouquet of flowers. How many tomatoes should one consume in a day, do you think? I'm currently avoiding the kitchen because I'd turn into Cookie Monster. Not the Cookie Monster of old (the cookie consuming one I grew up with and love), but the Cookie Monster that is hip to things like childhood obesity and thus stuffs his face with fruits and veggies.

Huzzah! 2 - Nil!

Yay! The Women's National Team defeated Sweden 2 - nil.

Now, random thoughts:

• The talent of Chuck Norris knows no bounds... anyone who has heard the Walker, Texas Ranger theme song can attest to that.
• The yummy goodness of garlic really is worth the dragon breath.
• An interesting barometer for any town is whether or not fairy wings are an acceptable addition to any outfit for an adult at any point during the year.
• The acceptance of capes, in the style of a superhero, is also an interesting barometer of a town.
• Cool, overcast days are delightful when they immediately follow 90+ degree weather.

Finis.

darnitallto.....

A tough start, but not one that can't be overcome. The first game ended in a 2-2 draw between the Women's National Team and the Korea DPR. Sweden is up next for the US.

I don't like that games start at 4:45am US time.

manual labor and other such things

So, this weekend I did about 3 hours of manual labor... outside... moving dirt... a lot of dirt. I have to say, that the 3 hours went by in a flash. Caught up in the spirit of community, pushed forward by good tunes (if I do say so myself) and necessary dance breaks, as well as a wee game of catch with a pooch, I was happy to be of some use. That 3 hours further cemented something (as if I needed it) that I have long since known about myself: I'm not cut out for manual labor. I'm a wimp. After the work was over I came home, took a long shower, and popped some necessary ibuprofen. Wimp, wimp, wimp. Of course, it's only because I don't have to make my living doing manual labor that I can be so cavalier about the whole thing.

To sort through past decisions and those moment that change the trajectory of ones life, numerically speaking, I checked the latest census numbers for my current city X and my hometown of Y and culled the most pertinent to any discussion of labor, manual or not.

City X ................. City Y

Population (est. 2003) .............................. 142,185 ............................... 80,223
Language, other than English
spoken at home (2000) ............................. 10.0% ................................. 30.5%
High school graduates, percentage
of persons 25+, 2000 ................................ 91.5% ............................... 69.4%
Bachelor's degree +,percentage
of persons 25+, 2000 ............................... 37.3% ............................... 16.0%
Persons below poverty, 1999 ................... 17.1% ............................... 22.4%
Per capita money income, 1999 ............... $21,315 ............................... $15,920

And the sad part is, my hometown isn't the worst, by far. Just to give you a look at just how close people are to the poverty line, a single person that earned less than $9,800 in 2006 lived below the poverty line as determined by the government for the 48 contiguous states and D.C. Yeah. Big thanks go to Mom and Dad for pushing me towards college and your continual support. I'm not dumb enough to think I did it on my own.

my little friend

This summer I've had a fairly regular visitor. He first showed up on my basil...


He stayed a week or so, then seemed to disappear. A little less than a month ago I spotted him hanging out on my screen door. I think he was watching TV. Anyhoo, he disappeared again.

Last Friday I spotted him in my kitchen... sneaky little bugger. My little friend and sometimes basil thief was hangin' out on the ceiling, like he was listening to Lionel Richie or something. To each their own, right?

Needless to say, I couldn't leave him unaccompanied all weekend, so out he went (gently). On the way out he told me his name was Pierre, named by his Francophile father who, of all things, road the rails.


ps: migraines still suck