Random dumb thoughts

This page is to put those little weirdnesses of life that don't really fit anywhere else, or aren't worth a page of their own

Saturday, July 26, 2003

Wow -- accuracy in moviemaking! Who would have thought it?

While flipping through the teevee channels this evening, I came upon that stellar piece of filmmaking, "First Kid". How that one didn't get nominated for an Oscar, I'll never know. But I digress. While getting ready to flip the channel, I noticed that he mall that Sinbad was standing in looked very familiar. As they did the requisite chase scene around the mall, I realized that the mall was the Tysons 2 Galleria -- which is actually local to DC and would be a mall that someone in the White House would actually go to! Not some mall in Toronto or Cleveland or Burbank City.

However, they didn't quite get it right, in that one of the good guys in a wheelchair has to get down to the next level, and he's there within a minute. The Tysons 2 mall is one of the most inefficiently designed malls I have ever been in, with practically no opportunities to get between levels, and only one option for the handicapped (one elevator) in the entire mall. There is just no way he could have gotten between those two points in the time allotted.

I could make a fortune as a continuity editor or factfinder.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Time for the "Wicked French" update...

The last one was "Romanee-Conti is forever a sublime ferret in my underpants". As wonderful as the guesses were, this one still wins, hands down.

The final entry for "Wicked French" for Blogathon 2003 now weighs in.....

Tres grand Saint-Yves, Dessinateur Sacre, Createur Surdoue de la haute couture, je vous prie a genoux de creer pour moi un modele divin que je puisse porter. Apres sept longues annees de regime de jockey, je n'arrive toujours pas a entrer dans vos dernieres creations, Votre Femininite.

Bonne chance! This will close around midnight.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

You know, I need to move.

Now I like my apartment, love the location and am very happy with the management. However, today a friend came by and as I brought her into the apartment, I suddenly became conscious of all of the......stuff that I now seem to have. Although I'm much better about throwing away things than I used to be, because I haven't had to move in almost five years, things are just starting to accumulate. I have often been told that three overseas moves are the equivalent of a house fire -- you get rid of that much stuff.

Of course, there is the one box that never got unpacked. In every move there is always one box that you just never get around to and have no idea where to put the things that are in it. That box is sitting in my dining area. It seems to have attracted lots of other little boxes to live with it so it doesn't get lonely. They're a little club over there, and I'm a bit worried that they're turning into a street gang -- moving onto the carpet, crowding out the dustbuster, inciting the magazines to spill over. I gotta watch them.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

I'm back after a little hiatus -- some housecleaning was done, and dinner is now cooking in the Big Red Pot.

We have some answers to previous items in the blog that are due....

First, Feffer was the closest in "name that food"! The answer is: A packet of Glenny's Soy Crisps, Wisconsin cheddar flavor. They're kind of like mini-rice cake/chips. Very good. At the moment my favorite flavor is salt and pepper, but those are hard to find. Most common ones to find are lightly salted, onion and garlic, apple cinnamon, Wisconsin cheddar, and barbecue.

The previous round of "Wicked French" -- the self pitying statement was: "The lone water lily signifies the essential loneliness of existence" Good tries for all of you, and props to Mike for remembering to bring the Smiths into this.

And now -- forget that existential crap, it's on to the completely bizzarre! The next entry in "Wicked French" is: "Le Romanee-Conti restera a jamais une sublime rat de cave dans mon calecon"

I'll even give you hint that the category is wine-related, but that's not going to help you here. Really.

I'll announce the winner around 9 pm.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Newsbreak!

I know we've all been ruminating in depth about such important social issues as porcupines, asses, Cary Grant, clarinets, office supplies and Preston Sturges, so as a community service, I bring you the current headlines from CNN. (Yep, another window open, but I decided to do that in a different browser program because I'm already way too confused here)

Main headline: "3 G.I.s Killed in Iraq Attack": "Three U.S. soldiers guarding a hospital northeast of Baghdad were killed in a grenade attack today, U.S. Central Command said. The troops, from the 4th Infantry Division, were guarding the Ba'qubah Children's Hospital."

Honestly, there are times when I wonder why we do jack for these people. Ambassador Bremer on Charlie Rose last night said that they're attacking our successes. While I tend to agree, I also still get mad as hell. Let them rot for another 35 years.

Other headlines:

• 7 killed in Liberia church as help heads to region
• Official: Police presume body is Dennehy's
• Bryant case D.A. office says it received threats
• Justice Dept.: House vote means 'terrorist tipoff'
• Jury weighs taped police beating case
• Koreas, U.S. mark 50th war anniversary
• SI.com: Lance Armstrong in line for 5th Tour triumph

It doesn't seem like a good time to be a GI or a basketball player. The House wants to make it so that you can't get a court order to search a suspected terrorist's house without giving them a warning. "Hello -- we're the FBI. May we come in and look around?" "Ummmm, sure, but could you come back in an hour? It's 'not a good time' if you know what I mean, nudge, nudge, wink, wink". "Sure! You go, tiger!"

And I did that control/apple thing again... sigh.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

It's time for.....

Name that food! While I tend to eat a lot of natural foods, there are a few "food substitutes" that I have been known to imbibe. Can you tell what this is from the list of ingredients?

"Low fat non-GMO soy flour, rice, cheddar cheese powder (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, whey powder, maltodextrin, soybean oil, buttermilk, citric acid, natural flavor, disodium phosphate, lactic acid) whey powder, milk powder, mid oleic sunflower oil, sea salt, maltodextrin, calcium carbonate, natural flavors, torula yeast, lactic acid, citric acid, extractives of paprika, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin K"

After typing that, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought. I think I was too scared to go for the protein bars, though.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

It's the 3 pm round of Wicked French! Mike was pretty close on this one.

The previous phrase -- from the "Waiting for Godot's Telegram" actually meant: "Excuse me, but do you have a porcupine stuck up your ass?" But that porcupine probably does have some Grey Poupon. And he better be wearing a condom.

For this next one, it's the feeling sorry for myself quote (only hint you're getting): Le nenuphar isole incarne la solitude essentielle de l'existence"

Blog on your bad selves.....

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Stop me before I blog again.

I think this is why I didn't sign up for the blogathon. Writing every half hour is draining, and I don't have anything to say. Arguably, I haven't had anything to say for a while, but here I am wasting electrons anyway.

Soon I will have to start cooking for the week. In honor of the blogathon I've switched my "in" and "out" weekend days -- I'm meeting up with a friend tomorrow to take her out to the outlet malls an hour away. (Okay, I may be a duchess, but do you know how much it costs to keep up a castle nowadays? We're turning into a frugal lot). I probably won't be posting the recipe for lunch (Vietnamese chicken salad) because I'm pretty sure I've posted that before. Dinner is going to be some kind of stew in the Big Red Pot -- I'll have to go through my purchases at the farmer's market to see what's going in there. I love the Big Red Pot -- you can always get dinner out of it. I know there's some folk tale with a magic pot like that. (I had thought about comparing it to the loaves and fishes, but that would be a bit presumptuous)

Hey! Wake up -- don't you fall asleep on my blog!

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Answer to "Wicked French" phrase number one: "I'm afraid I don't know much about milking/slaughtering cows". I have no idea when that would be useful, but WF helpfully puts it in the "Your first rural experience" section. I like many of yours much better.

Next up: Pardonnez-moi, mais avez-vous un porc-epic coince entre les fesses? Hint: it's a phrase that Americans have found useful in Paris, and it also seems to contain the current #Squeeze word-of-the-day.

Answer will be provided around 3 pm or so.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Let's face it. I'm high maintenance. I know this to be true, and I have embraced my inner princess. Actually, I suspect it's more of a duchess than a princess -- princesses are awfully mamby-pamby.

I do NOT have "wash and wear" hair. My VeryExpensiveHairdresser at the VeryFamousSalon assured me that I could wash my hair, put this goop in it, scrunch it, and forget it. Ha! Now it's just curly, scrunchy Roseanna Roseannadanna hair. However, I shall call it "blogathon hair" because no one can see me today. Time to get the rollers and blow drier out again.

Other duchess-y things: In order for rings to look good on my finger, the stone has to be at least 1.5 carats, and 2 looks much better. I instinctively gravitate toward that "understated-but-elegant" stuff in the store that is also always the most expensive stuff in the store -- clothes, furniture, art, china, etc. I've never been to a Wal-Mart. I don't eat lots of stuff, and what I do eat tends to be organic. Synthetic fabrics make me itch, acrylic particularly so.

Just call me Your Grace....

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Reasons why decaf coffee sucks: No buzz. Hard to find any that aren't tepid, sour pee-water.

Reasons why decaf coffee is awesome: No heart palpitations. No running to bathroom every 30 seconds to pee water. (beer and coffee, man)

I don't really feel like running over to Trader Joe's for more French Roast decaf, so I'll probably head over to the Whole Foods at some point today.

New beverage discovery -- Rooibos tea from South Africa. Naturally decaffienated, mildly naturally sweet. Pretty good, but pretty expensive.

What's your favorite hot beverage?

Oh, and the regulars should head over to #Squeeze. There has just been some Big News announced......

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Things around me on this mess of a desk -- I really need to clean off the top.

--Three issues of MacAddict and one MacAddict freebies CD-ROM (*now gone, filed)
--One glass of water, soon to be replaced by a large cup of coffee, decaf. (I will have to leave during the day at some point because I discovered, horror of horrors, that I'm almost out of coffee!)
--One notepad and two pens, with all random scribblings (internet order confirmation numbers, calculations from various online quizzes, etc)
--One napkin
--A bunch of printouts and order receipts from Amazon.com
--Hard copies of the photos my mother took when we went to Russia in April
--One deck of Iraqi Most Wanted Baddies Playing cards
--One clock
--One framed picture of me at my friend Jane's wedding in 1999 or 2000
---All my travel books and language dictionaries. Locations: China, Cyprus, Moscow, "Off the Beaten Path Britain", Rough guides to Paris, Wales, Scotland and England. A Latin dictionary and a Russian dictionary. Berlitz language guide in Arabic, German, Russian, French. Japanese language tapes and two workbooks on Japanese characters, Hiragana and Katakana. A copy of "Wicked French"
--A Mandarin hat from my trip to China ("One dolla, one dolla"). I'm sure it's truly offensive to someone; it's got the pigtail down the back -- but the Chinese were the ones trying to get us to buy them.

Here's what we'll do for a while. There's some weird stuff in "Wicked French" -- I'll provide the original, and let's see what y'all think they mean. First entry: Je crains ne pas bien m'y connaitre dans la traite des vaches/l'abbattage du betail. (Sorry, I'm not going to figure out how to add the accent marks)

Have at it.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

It's a good thing that I have a nice new iMac sitting here with mega memory (not a gig, but close). I've got so many windows open -- Blogger, my blog, Heidi's blog, Bet's blog, assorted comments windows, #Squeeze, iTunes, and whatever else strikes my fancy. The old desktop would have thrown in the towel a while ago, and the laptop would be groaning very heavily at this point. I'm glad that I'm on this one, because I'd hate to have to go to CVS to get medicine for the other ones. I'm a bit scared of CVS at the moment -- my blogs earlier this week should tell you why....

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

And for your reading pleasure, here's a recipe for my Farmer's Market Breakfast! This morning I went with a friend to the local farmer's market (which is why I wasn't around for the blogathon kickoff). We arrived home safely, I'm glad to say, which means that it's now time for breakfast.

Scrambled Eggs with Leeks and Squash

1 egg
1 small pattypan squash
1 small leek
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp wine vinegar
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
Soy sauce
Hot sauce
Thyme
Oregano
Salt
Parmesan cheese

1. Finely slice the leeks and the squash. Saute in the olive oil with thyme, oregano, and salt to taste. When the squash and leeks are nicely sauted, pour over the vinegar.

2. In a bowl, beat together the egg, mustard, soy sauce and hot sauce. You can add a little water or milk to thin it down a little.

3. Pour the egg mixture over the squash and leek mixture. Let it cook for about a minute, and then start stirring it around until the egg is cooked to a consistency that you like. (I'm a crispy critter gal when it comes to eggs)

4. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Okay, it's Blogathon 2003! I'm not actually blogging for any organization, but I will try to throw in as many blogs as possible in sympathy for some neat folks Stennie and Bet who are blogging for some worthy charities. Check out their pages and follow along in the 48 blogs in 24 hours that they will be doing. Just call me moneybags!

Random observable number one: The one annoying thing about switching between Macs and PC is cutting and pasting. On a Mac it's Apple-C (third key from the left on the bottom) and on a PC it's Control-C (first key on the left on the bottom). You can occasionally do some serious damage to files by choosing the wrong location from instinct. But, as usual, on a Mac it usually just dings at you and does no harm, but I've lost files on a PC that way.

And away she goes.....

.: posted by Lily Saturday, July 26, 2003

Monday, July 21, 2003

Okay, far be it from me to cast aspersions on the less than perfect and rather nuts folk out there but (there's always a 'but' with a beginning like that, isn't there?) the guy who waited on me today at the CVS (hmm, I'm sensing a CVS theme here) really took the biscuit. And when I said the guy waited on me, I'm not using a figure of speech. He must have been the slowest creature I have come across in a long time. It was one of these single lines feeding to a bank of checker-outers, and I had been watching the people behind the counter. I had been hoping against hope that one of the others would free up before my turn, but no luck.

The reason why this guy was so slow was that he had to stop and adjust the latex gloves he was wearing every 30 seconds. He'd remove one item from the basket, lay it on the counter, adjust the gloves. Another item, gloves, until all the items were out of the basket. He touched them all very gingerly as if he was afraid of them. Then he asks for my CVS card, which he again holds by the outside, as if to avoid all the bad CVS card juju. No argument there, but still. It takes him about 45 seconds to scan the card, because it's really, really hard to do if you don't want to pick up the scanner and touch it. Then he has to slowly pick up every item that he's just put on the counter and scan that without touching the scanner, replacing the item on the counter. More glove tugging in the midst of all this. Then he hits the button to ring up the sale, and it comes up on one of those card readers in front of me. I pull out my credit card (the extremely ridiculous drug-store prices are the subject for another rant on another day), and stick it in the machine. The line comes up to sign, and I start to pick up the fake pens that go with those touch screen things, when he says very forcefully "No! Don't touch that!" and hits some button on his register. Then he has to sl-o-w-l-y and gingerly pick up every item on the counter -- interspersed with more glove rearranging -- and place it in the bag. He then pushes the bag toward me and thanks me. However, I say "don't I have to sign something now, and where's my receipt?", and he begrudgingly rips the two sheets from the register, pushes them in front of me and hands me a pen (I had noticed that he hadn't given any papers to the two people immediately before me on line -- must have a thing about the paper). I sign my copy, take my receipt, and leave. A good seven minutes for five items, but the show was free, I guess.

Another reason why I don't want my CVS to be a drug-free environment. This guy really, really needed some Prozac, or whatever they make you take for OCD-type disorders.

(Yes, I realize that this guy was mentally ill and I do commend him for getting out and CVS for taking him on, but it still was a very weird and long experience at the end of a very long day)

.: posted by Lily Monday, July 21, 2003

Comments by: YACCS