My Evil Eye and Filthy Mouth Save the Day!

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Frog

The other night we went out to dinner at old lady hitting the buffet time and practically had the restaurant to ourselves. I was even nice to some guy from out of town who could not decide if he actually wanted to eat in the restaurant or if he just wanted to get a run down of all restaurants in the downtown area. I was on a date and thrilled which explains my sociability.

He came over to see the smoked fish dish I ordered as my main course and I encouraged him to get a fork to taste. He skittered back to the end of the bar without tasting and then stood for long enough reading over the menu that the staff finally asked him, are you going to have dinner or what? Patience is only going to hold out so long. He did stay and when we left we all said good-bye to each other.

After dinner we went to the new movie theater and saw Star Trek. It rocked. Very nicely done and no William Fucking Shatner. Hooray! I despise him and I was a little worried that his stupid head would rear itself. Thankfully the only original series actor to show up in the movie was Leonard Nimoy and that’s just fine with me. I hope there are more movies with this new cast.

The new theater doesn’t show commercials before the movie starts. They just play music. It was nice to sit there and have a conversation for a few minutes instead of being bombarded with Coke Trivia. I understand that it may be hard to settle down when the previews start. I love trailers but will put up with people chatting through them because it’s not really the feature film that we just paid $9.75 each to see. I can throw Chatty Cathys a bone during this time. When the feature starts, you’d better shut up.

Well, wouldn’t you know there was some older man who did not follow Frog’s Golden Rule of Movie Watching. He talked through a character development scene–dude, how else are we supposed to know why Bones is so bitter if we can’t hear what he’s saying the first time we see him? So I turned around and used The Voice to tell him to shut up. Apparently I didn’t throw enough Bene Gesserit into The Voice because he kept talking. His companion told him to be quiet as well. When I tell you to shut it in a movie theater, it’s a really good idea that you do it. Really. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.

I turned around and threw the evil eye and a really loud Shut Up at him whilst receiving support from someone else who did the polite hiss and I swear the guy flinched. He also shut the fuck up.

If you are in the Richmond area and an older man from Australia, who uses an oxygen tank, happens to totter into your theater, be ready to put the smack down on him early and often. He’s a rude mother.

Posted in General Spleen Venting, Watching | Comments Off

And you think you could have gone all day without knowing this

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Frog

Spotted earlier in the bathroom at work: turds on the floor and wall.

Posted in General Spleen Venting | 2 Comments

Finding Ways To Fill My Time

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Frog

People have been asking me if I’ve been enjoying my freedom from schoolwork and since I was already the Queen of Lazytown, it’s kind of hard to say Yes. But, it’s true that instead of spending my evenings and weekends reading and writing I’ve had to find other ways to occupy myself. Throwing a party and then recuperating in the hammock were pretty good time killers this weekend.

This afternoon I got home and made two loaves of zucchini bread from scratch with the baseball bat zucchini the better-half picked yesterday. We have no idea how that thing got that big because we’ve been pretty good about picking the garden. We have a crisper full of zucchini and squash right now.

I don’t typically bake and so I’m pretty happy that the bread turned out and we have enough to eat now and freeze for later. We’re also having zucchini for dinner tonight mixed with tomato and onion–from the same zucchini as went into the bread. I’m not kidding when I said the zucchini was the size of a baseball bat. OK, maybe a fat billy club. But you get the idea.

Posted in Eating, Gardening, House Proud | Comments Off

We’ve only lost the vision of the stars we’re meant to be

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Frog

Today we reveal ourselves to our secret pals. We’re having a potluck lunch, because we need very little excuse to bring in plastic containers of picnic foods. I’m bringing in a dish that was leftover from a party the better-half and I had on Saturday. Tacky, I know. But the dish is not something that has gone rancid as it was already pretty pickled and marinated to begin with. It’s been at food-safe temperatures. Why am I explaining this to you? You have no danger of eating the dish today.

My biggest concern aside from the lame choices for lunch is how I’ll maintain my composure as I meet my secret pal and receive what I’m sure will be the most horrifying gift yet. My pal is getting two CDS–one R&B hits from the 70s and one Praise and Worship compilation. A gift that she wrote on her “hints” list at the beginning of this horrible experience. Her experience has been better than mine since, as we all know, I’ve been following her hints while I’ve been receiving cheap crap from the dumpster.

Anyway, the weekend party. It was to celebrate graduation and the fact that most of us are now out of school for summer (or forever). A couple of couples canceled the morning of and one person just didn’t bother to show up, another couple didn’t show up and didn’t send a bashful email until Monday. Whatever. We had a nice time anyway. Perhaps I’m just a freak about RSVPs. If you can’t come, let me know. Simple as that. It worked out because there probably would have been a moment when we worried about enough main dishes.

Monday I took the day off to babysit the nieces. Even though at times it poured down rain that morning, we swam. The Niece worked up her nerve and jumped into the deep-end of the pool several times. I figured that was a challenge she’d have to work up to all summer. But, we worked through the process of practicing jumps at different depths and she did it in one day. I was proud. Now I’ve been challenged to come up with another challenge. My thinking cap is on.

When my sister came to pick them up, she also took me to pick my car up from the dealership. Nearly $700 later the car is inspected and ready to go another gazillion miles before the next major service. The car is 6 years old and has about 90K on it. This is by far the most expensive repair bill we’ve had with the car–other minor bills over the years haven’t come close to the bill on Monday. It’s nice having a car that I don’t worry about. It may not be the sportiest model but it’s dependable and that’s really what I care about. Cars that leave me on the side of the road become someone else’s problem.

Speaking of someone else’s problem, I’d better get my nose back on the grindstone before I am someone else’s problem.

UPDATE: Scary soap dispenser is the last gift
shoesoap

Posted in Generic Thoughts | 3 Comments

Back on the horse

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Frog

It’s been ages since I tooled on work so here we go. This will be short but necessary.

Tuesday morning I had to go to our campus location to take care of something that I can’t do at my regular office. Because, you know, giving me software at my regular office would just be crazy. As I was sitting in the campus office working on the problem thing, I heard one of the people who sits in this part of the office say something about how bright the stairwell was. Yeah, I turned on a light. Perhaps you’ve heard of electricity?

This morning I am working at that same building because I have a meeting later today with a professor to figure out what I want to do with my life and it was just easier to work here rather than run back and forth between offices. I turned on the light again. I’m eagerly awaiting comments. I also turned on the A/C. The temperature was in the mid 70s this morning with 91% humidity. I deemed it time for some cool, dry air. I’m really curious if there will be comments about how comfortable it is now in this part of the building.

Update for Afternoon Irritation One:
I’m reading a training manual that an outside consultant wrote. The writer used the word peak instead of pique and that’s like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Posted in General Spleen Venting | Comments Off

Long Day

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Frog

We left here around 9 this morning to head up to Northern VA for the funeral. We stopped at a place we love in Vienna (Anita’s) and had lunch there for the first time (we usually are there for breakfast). It seemed fitting to have lunch there because the place was introduced to us by the better-half’s uncle. My Florida sister emailed us right at lunch and so I emailed her back letting her know what was going on–it was nice of her to reach out today. After lunch we went to a schmancy grocery store to buy olive oil and truffle salt–we had time to kill and had awesome truffle popcorn while in Chicago and decided we needed to try to duplicate that taste.

The funeral service was really very nice with one of the better-half’s other uncles giving the eulogy. There was some humor thrown in with some frank conversation about the depression that had plagued the better-half’s deceased uncle. I was glad no one shied away from talking about what happened. The graveside service was super short and then we watched as a former member of the Navy was laid to rest. That plot was far enough over that we couldn’t tell if a current serviceman had died or if it was someone older. Either way there were a ton of American flags at the cemetery.

We stayed for about an hour at the family wake/stuff your face full of excellent food thingamajig afterward and drank a ton of iced tea, but didn’t actually eat anything. It was hotter than hell there and we aren’t the mixing type so we talked to a few people, finished our glasses of tea and then left. By then it was rush-hour so we took a scenic route home that was still pretty crowded with traffic. Dinner was in Ashland and then, finally, we arrived at home in a huge thunderstorm. I know it isn’t quite summer yet, but it was one of those sorts of storms…big rain drops, some lightning and pockets of rain followed by completely dry conditions. I’m ready to lay on the couch.

Posted in Thinking | 2 Comments

Life is a Balance

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Frog

We got home on Tuesday afternoon. We had a fantastic time in Chicago. Friday the 29th we ate deep-dish pizza and drank local beer and then stumbled upon a polish extravaganza at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Technically we have partied with Lech Walesa. The closest I will ever actually come to a former head of state to be sure. While we were standing there listening to Lezek Mozdzer, I leaned over to the better-half and told him I was a little in love with Chicago.

The better-half took this picture while walking around the city during one of my class days. I like it for all the curves:

This Thursday morning the better-half called me before 9am from his cell. Calls like that are never good news in our little family. He called to tell me that one of his favorite uncles took his life the night before. I’ve only ever felt like crying at work one other time. After we talked for a bit, I hung up the phone and quietly said, fuck. The funeral is Monday.

Posted in Thinking | Tagged | 1 Comment

Good Advice

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Frog

We saw this yesterday at the Museum of Science and Industry…good advice:
Think

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Good Food

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Frog

Class is over now and the fun can begin! Actually, we’ve been having a good time eating well. Last night we went to the Saloon Steakhouse and that was some awesome beef. We went up into the John Hancock Tower Observatory after dinner and it seemed the view went on forever. It made you feel like a small fish in a really large pond.

The night before we went to Topolobampo. The food and service was some of the best I’ve experienced. Every step of the way the food was outstanding, from the guacamole at the start to the small candies at the end. We even got to see the man himself–it’s nice to know he still stays active in the kitchen.

Tonight, it’s time for some deep-dish pizza.

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Richmond, lame as usual

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Frog

We were supposed to have an easy flight from Richmond to Chicago. Instead we sat on the ground in Richmond longer than the flight was supposed to last. A cascade of fail occurred including the coupler doo-hickey that fuels the plane automagically broke and a guy had to sit on the wing and pump the fuel in…it was like a long trip to Wawa. Then, we were overweight and couldn’t use the long runaway because in typical Richmond fashion the runway was closed for road maintenance. When we finally rode past that section of runway the f*ckers were standing there doing no work. I’m sorry, but if I sit on the tarmac for 2+ hours then I’d better see someone lifting a shovel as I go past. Richmond and their inability to do anything correctly when it comes to road maintenance—road, runway, whatever the FAIL is high in Richmond.

Dinner in Chicago was delicious and we finally go to try Fat Tire Ale. Not spectacular, but something I’d buy to have on hand for hot summer days. Also, finally, tried Grappa. The ale and the grappa are things we never see on the menu in the RIC.

Posted in Eating | 1 Comment