Cheesecake

Yesterday was National Cheesecake Day, which meant that the Cheesecake Factory was selling cheesecake slices for $1.50. DUH we were there! But so was everyone else on th entire east coast. Seriously, there should be more than one Cheesecake Factory north of the Mason-Dixon line! It felt kind of like Disneyland on a crowded day. You wait in line, and you think you're getting closer, but then there's a turn in the line, and another. And you've waited so long that it doesn't make sense to leave now, and then you get to the ride, and even if it is lame, you have to pretend it was the best ride of your life.

That is what it was like at the Cheesecake Factory on National Cheesecake Day. We waited for 3 hours to get our $1.50 slices of cheesecake, but because we waited so long, it tasted like the best f-ing cheesecake of our entire lives. Jen cynically thinks that this holiday was invented by the Cheesecake Factory; I have to do more research before I can corroborate or disprove that claim.

Today I lived a different sort of American dream. I walked the mile or so to this reservoir nearby, sat down by a table to read Sherlock Holmes, and saw....AN ALBINO SQUIRREL! It was craazy! Basically I was minding my own business when I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. Then it zoomed up a tree and I realized I was witnessing the "Snow White" of squirrels in a dexterous treetop maneuver; if it didn't probably have rabies, I would have tried to pet it. I will have to say it was the most beautiful and majestic squirrel I have ever seen in my short life. Except it probably had rabies. They always do.

Also, I have said there are many hipsters in Boston, but yesterday we were riding back from practice when we passed a boy, college-aged perhaps, walking to work. I thought he was wearing pajama pants, Di thought he was wearing Ralph Lauren pants. He also had a sweatband and a V-neck...does that make him a hipster? also, I didn't understand the pants.

Most likely, he didn't have time to dress and we're overanalyzing. But, that's fashion!

boring zone

So awhile ago, we were listing all the different kinds of zones that exist. Zone is a weird word, valuable in Scrabble, and fun to think of what other words it goes with. Here are some examples:

chill zone (Cassie's brother's hang out spot)
T-zone
danger zone
heart rate zone
friend zone (this is a bad one to be in)
war zone
construction zone
discovery zone

...I forget the rest. but it is a fun game.

Also I will say a little something about Walden pond. It is the best pond I have ever visited. The type of pond I usually think of is the type that Park Center Pond would fall in. Park Center Pond is pretty much the worst pond. I had to swim in it for a triathlon last year and it is full of snakes and goose poop. While I did see a snake at Walden pond, there was no goose poop. Also it was crystal clear, very much the opposite of how Park Center pond is. I can definitely see how it would inspire great works of literature and a conservation movement. Hopefully I can visit again.

I called my house the other day; I think my brother and sister may be an old retired couple. I asked my brother what he was doing for the day and he said he was just making some grilled cheese and vegetable soup for himself and my sister. Then they were sitting down to play a game of gin rummy. It is very suspicious.

This is a boring post. I will have to think of something wittier.

Urban Survival

I am surprisingly good at packing not necessarily the essentials, but a roundabout set of objects which, in the case of an emergency/adventure, could be used for survival. This conclusion was made after my flight to Boston, in which my luggage was lost for three days. I still had my carry-on, however, which proved to contain an invaluable assortment of items.

First, I realized I wanted to work out, which was easy, given that I had a full set of workout shoes and clothes. I also happened to pack a towel, toothbrush, and deodorant. After a bit more digging, I also found: a star gazing book, a calendar, weights-training schedules, a pack of ramen noodles, THREE pairs of sunglasses, an ipod, temporary tattoo "bling", a reader's digest, water bottle, and, while I didn't have my wallet, I did have my brand-new credit card.

This means that, were I to be stranded Hatchet-style in the woods, desert, or mountains, I would be able to survive via:
a) food and water (ramen!)
i) Also I should include hunting. I could use the "body weights" exercise portion of the weights schedule to become strong enough to stalk and hunt prey.
b) shelter (towel lean-to)
c) entertainment (readers digest and ipod) as well as fashion (fake bling tattoos)
d) sundries and commodities (credit card duh)
e) escape. I could use the calendar to track the days and then look up the corresponding star map to plot my course back to civilization.

So I pretty much had it all planned out. Unfortunately, Delta gave me back my luggage eventually, so I didn't get to try out my flawless survival plan.

Boston, also, being a large metropolitan area, has more than enough sundries to go around, which further negates my opportunity to face the elements.

The Trifecta

Today was a trifecta of sorts. And I mean that in the best possible way. Usually when I think of trifectas it's in a deadly sort of way, like a trifecta of plaque-fighting ingredients. It seems like toothpaste is full of them. But this is beside the point. Anyhow, today was a very good day because of three things.

The first reason this was a good day was because today is National Donut day! I love holidays, and I looove donuts, so I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened up firefox to see that today was the first Friday in June, commonly accepted as National Donut Day! (sidenote: it is probably also officially accepted, as basically anything will pass into a law these days. Case in point: Idaho's new official state raptor.)

To celebrate, I went to happy donuts (obviously) and asked if they had a special for National Donut Day (NDD from now on). The guy working had no idea it was even going on, but he agreed to give us a deal (just for us!). We were pretty excited and bought 6 donuts, 2 of which I ate immediately after while trying to back out of the lot. (If we're going to talk about legislation, someone should outlaw donuts while driving. Much more dangerous than cell phones, and they're illegal now). So basically NDD was a success, even though they didn't have the sprinkle kind which I like.

More importantly, the second part of the trifecta. So I have this hummingbird feeder that I installed right outside of my window. Before yesterday only one hungry bird had come to taste my nectar but apparently had found it unsatisfactory because no other birds followed suit. WELL. Today that changed. Practically an entire FLOCK of hummingbirds visited today; I almost couldn't concentrate from all the humming (and my heart rate was pretty high also from the excitement)! So either the hummingbirds are starting to value my nectar (expertly concocted, I assure you) or one very hungry hummingbird keeps coming by. EDIT: The latter cannot be true. I have looked up different species of hummingbirds and at least TWO kinds have visited. One is the Rufous Hummingbird, whose wings make a cricket-like chirp as it flies!

The third reason: I'm done with undergrad aaand I found my backpack which was missing! 2 for one (like the deal we got on donuts!). Now I can wear the clothes I couldn't find while relaxing from not having class! Woohoo summer.

And by relaxing, I mean I will just be watching this link over and over again: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-442520862512743500

My brother is working on an autobiography so I'll post that as soon as possible.

Non-opposite Night: Back to the Future

Today is Thursday. Meaning tomorrow is Friday. Friday. Question:How much angst did I experience with every Friday growing up? Answer: too much. Why? First of all, Friday was "Spirit Day" at school, which meant that instead of uniforms, we could wear jeans and our "Spirit Shirt"! Well, my Spirit Shirt was never around, or it would be the case that there would be three of us girls, and only two spirit shirts. Sorry Megan, but I have to call seniority on this spirit shirt.

But I digress. This is not why Fridays were so stressful. As any child knows, Friday is OPPOSITE DAY! HOW EXCITING! It's unbelievable how much I simultaneously looked forward to--and dreaded--opposite day.

For those who don't know, Opposite Day (I think it deserves to be capitalized) is when you say the opposite of what you mean. for instance, "I love your haircut!" would be a great compliment to hear on any day of the year. Any day except Opposite Day, that is.

My problem with Opposite Day was not that I didn't take it seriously enough, but that I took it too seriously. WAY too seriously, some would say, although to them I would say, "what a nice haircut".

Here's the deal. it's Friday, Opposite Day, and let's say I want to have a secret meeting with my sister Christine in her room after dinner (this isn't so far-fetched, we had a secret club and thus meetings were essential). Would I say, "Christine, I DON'T want to have a secret meeting upstairs after dinner in your room"? Well that seems pretty obvious. Great. now EVERYONE knows. So how do I phrase it in an opposite-way?

well it can get complicated, to the point of "I don't want to not have a public meeting downstairs before breakfast in my room". Ha! Who's going to crack that code?! (Turns out, not Christine, which defeated the purpose).

Novice mistake.

I always got too hung up on what constitutes an opposite...e.g. dawn is the opposite to dusk , before is the opposite to after, but is before dawn really the opposite of after dusk? It seems like those are the same thing. Do two wrongs make a right? do two rights not make a wrong?

And when I would say, "Megan, don't give me your spirit shirt later", she didn't seem to respond to what I meant, being, "Megan, give me your spirit shirt now!" And then I would have to wear my uniform to school. Not cool, Megan.

To me, it seems like the point of Opposite Day would be to have the meaning of your phrase be the opposite. Maybe this would have been easier if I weren't the only one celebrating Opposite Day. I'll get my revenge some day when I'm testifying for the Supreme Court. "But your honor, it was OPPOSITE DAY! Ha!" I guess it's a good thing I still have that "in" with Sandra Day O'Connor.

With that, I say, Unhappy Monday to nobody!

When I am bored in class, I make lists. Recently I found some from last year--most still apply. All are ranked in order of my opinion.

Animals (cool)
tiger
okapi
quetzal
blue morpho
chinchilla
kangaroo
dingo
iguana

survival tools
water
matches
knife
compass
light

Countries (badass)
Brazil
Switzerland
Finland
Ireland
Australia
Chile

Dorm Themes
Prothetics (for Roth)
Lewis and Clarkin
FrosoCoHo
Sotone deaf
Paloma Prieta
Cedro Masochism

Best 5 States
California
Hawaii
Vermont
Idaho
Alaska
honorable mention: montana, Massachusetts, Oregon

Worst 5 States
Nevada
S. Dakota
Mississippi
Utah
Virginia
honorable mention: delaware, Alabama

Bad Ideas
knocking over my water onto my computer
invading Iraq
mullets
communism
NEW: clovers in the phone (4 leaf or otherwise)
almost hitting the Dalai Lama on my bike
eating a spoonful of cinnamon
icyhot up the nose

I've been luckier.

Well I am lucky to be alive, and being as I am both lucky and alive, I will address these two issues.

First. I found my first ever four-leaf clover. It wasn't as dramatic as one would expect; I looked online that a four-leaf clover occurs once in every 10,000 clovers (sidenote: the record is an 18 leaf clover!) so I figured I could find one pretty quickly if I scanned 3 clovers per second. Well, I found one, but it wasn't a four-leaf clover. it had four leaves, all right, but not in the right configuration. It was a fake PSEUDO-four-leaf clover. This is important. Thinking I had used up my 1 in 10,000, my search was a bit less enthusiastic, but soon after I found a REAL four leaf clover. In order to protect them both I put them in my military-grade phone. No safer place.

well it turns out ONE of these clovers is unlucky, and I think it isn't hard to tell which!

Since the clovers, my phone has not been working (you would think it would be luckier!) and a bird tried to fly into my room but more importantly, I almost died. Literally. Let's just say it was a good thing I had a backup clover.

we were up in the hills and saw a newt in a little pond thing. I was opposed to picking it up because I remembered that they can secrete deadly poisons, but we picked it up anyway. I even reached into my candy bag after touching the newt!

Well as it turns out these newts secrete a poison 100 times more deadly than cyanide! How UNLUCKY! (thanks, fake clover). If it had wanted to, the amount on the head of a pin kills an adult, so this newt had our number for sure. LUCKILY, it didn't kill us (thanks, real clover).

I think I might try to find another real clover to tip the balance in my favor.

I'll end with an excerpt from my brother's story titled: 2042. it's set post WW3.

"Somehow, somebody in my family had survived the radiation, and it carried over to their children. My mother was nine feet even! My clothes I had had since I was twelve; and since then I had grown three feet. One bad thing about the defects of radiation (like my height), was that my left pupil dilated extremely slowly, so I couldn’t go out in the sun too fast. "

Novice Day

This is my blog.

I’ve noticed in my time blogreadding that blogs are usually one of three things:
1. Newsy (often overly so) updates about one’s life
2. Witty/funny stories or observations
3. Pet peeves or tirades about hated things.

Since this is my first blog, I think I will include one of each of these things.

1. MY DAY: don’t you wish you knew all the details. Let’s just say it involved more than one near-death experience. The first one was when I went to a park with Drusia and she tried to kill me on the teeter-totter. Seriously. I almost died. I was hanging on with one arm and I had to leap just at the apex of the teeter-totter swing in order to avoid serious bodily harm. She did it on purpose. Thanks, Drusia. The second was when we were tandeming and my otter pop almost came out of its casing. I barely caught it in time and in doing so, almost steered us full speed into a girl walking by. I mean, I barely missed her. She could have died. I didn’t say it was my death that was near.
2. WITTY/FUNNY STORY: This might be better categorized under “my day”, but I feel it is worth mentioning. Even though today was technically the third day of the quarter, it was my first day and thus I was excited to revive the quarterly ritual of the New York Times crossword. Not to brag or anything, but I’m pretty good at the crossword. Therefore, it came as quite a blow to my esteem when I found myself struggling with the lowly TUESDAY crossword. What was wrong with me? Well, it turns out it was not me, but the revolution of the earth which was the problem. You see, it was actually Thursday, so I had nothing to worry about. Phew. This reminds me of last week when I thought my sister was in Arizona with my family, but actually she was in Costa Rica. Now she’s tracking great whites by satellite in Monterey. But I should probably check my sources. This also reminds me of when I thought “ello” was the Spanish word for “he/it” for about 2 weeks in Chile. That was embarrassing.
3. MY TIRADE: Ok if there’s one thing I hate, it’s oatmeal cookies. Actually not oatmeal cookies per se (they are actually delicious) but the IDEA of oatmeal cookies. I have never been able to fully enjoy an oatmeal cookie because all I can think of is how much better it would be if it were a chocolate chip cookie. The WORST is when oatmeal cookies HAVE chocolate chips in them. That’s tempting the gods, people! WHY ADD THE OATMEAL?? I don’t get it. They’re good, but they could be SO MUCH BETTER. It’s like, why were they even invented? It’s not like chocolate chip cookies are flawed in any way, why even HAVE another kind of cookie. I haven’t gotten tired of them yet, and I eat more than my fair share of cookies.

Well that should be good for my first day. I don’t want to overdo it. Although I have to give a shout-out to my little brother who hid all the toilet paper in our house for April Fool’s. Nice.