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Oct

21

2011

Photo/Video Friday: Water

I’m still mourning my beach vacation.

For some reason mini golf seems very decadent to me, maybe because it’s such a useless activity. You know we had excess leisure time available because we played mini golf not once, but twice. The second time was on this cool (although completely mosquito infested) real grass course. I beat Dave both times. I felt proud of this achievement and started to think I should take up golf in my retirement. But when I mentioned my victories in an email to my father-in-law, he didn’t allow me to savor my triumph very long (“anyone can beat Dave at golf!!!”).

I managed to run a couple of times. I ran right on the beach, which I’ve never done before. It felt noticeably more difficult, but the view made up for it. I was very amused by what my Garmin running watch portrayed as my running route when I uploaded my information. Having added running on water to my resume, maybe my dream job can be founder of an independent religious movement.

I got a glorious amount of sleep during the vacation. Sadly, the solid eight or more hours a night didn’t seem to make much of a dent in my sleep deprivation.

Our house was on the ocean side of the Outer Banks, so each night I thought about getting up to take sunrise pictures. Each morning I rolled over to find the sun shining right in my eyes. Oops. So the sunrise photo shoot was the morning we left. The results were just OK. I’d hoped the sunrise would be as pretty as sunsets are. I mean, aren’t they the same thing in reverse?

I wasn’t super impressed. I don’t think the lack of clouds in the sky helped, as it was just a sea of orange with nothing breaking it up. But since I hauled my ass out of bed before the crack of dawn and burned my retinas (and probably my camera lens too) for this, I’m sharing one of the pictures. I like it because it looks kind of creepy.

What I enjoyed most about our week away was walking on the beach together. Chuck had never been to the ocean before, and I don’t know how many more chances we’ll get to take him. It kept reminding me of that Little House on the Prairie episode (“The Odyssey“) where Laura and Albert take off on a cross-country journey to California with some dying kid who you’ve never seen before this episode even though there are only 15 people in Walnut Grove (red shirt!) so he can see the ocean before he dies. Don’t think I didn’t cry when I watched the video of the last scene linked above.

Lastly, Chuck is not a water dog and it is very cute.

Chuck at Beach

Chuck is not a water dog.

Oct

14

2011

Photo Friday: Vacation!

The schmaltz around this here blog surrounding Dave’s birthday and our anniversary has gotten pretty thick. But I can’t help myself, I’m writing about Dave again. Don’t worry, this is quick and not schmaltzy.

We went on vacation last week and I couldn’t believe the difference in our packing lists. Prize (the No Shit Award) for first correct guess as to which one is Dave’s…

No seriously, check out Dave’s packing list.

When I saw it, I couldn’t help but wonder aloud, “Are you still working on this?” Nope, he was done. I wish I could be as carefree as “yep, just need some ‘sox’ and my guitar and I’m all set.” Instead, I agonize over whether we are forgetting anything. Say, for example, Dave’s toothbrush, which somehow didn’t make his list.

Since these are lame photos and since our vacation was wonderful and worth documenting, here is our little family self-portrait at the beach. I wasn’t going to bother trying to get a shot of all three of us, but then was inspired on our last night by the enormous family (at least I assumed they were family because there is no excuse for the matching outfits otherwise) doing a self-portrait at sunset. Can’t tell you how many tries this took. We really suck at self-portraits. My camera doesn’t seem to want to focus on us. And trying to get Chuck to look at the camera when we are behind him is always fun. At some point, in my haste to get into position after setting the timer, I accidentally slammed my knee down on the sand way. too. hard. What a great photo that was.

Where’s your favorite vacation spot? First week back after vacation’s a bitch, no? Any ideas for easing back in more smoothly, because I seriously want to run to the hills and not come back?

Oct

7

2011

Photo Friday: Baby Sale

A couple of weeks ago, I started seeing signs like this one popping up in the neighborhood.

And I thought, “Great! I’ve been looking for an inexpensive baby!” Unfortunately by the time Dave and I got to the sale, they’d run out of babies and only had some baby clothes and a stroller left. And who’s going to buy that stuff when the babies are sold out? Bummer.

All was not lost, as Dave and I did have fun coming up with snarky comments about the concept of a Baby Sale. Maybe I’m the only one this sign strikes as funny, but there has to be a better way to advertise this, no?

What was your first thought on seeing the sign in this picture? I know I have witty readers, amuse me!

Sep

30

2011

Photo Friday: 38 Luftballons

I had been planning Dave’s 40th birthday celebration since January. I wanted him to have 40 gifts to open in honor of his 40th birthday.

I got the idea to decorate with balloons from Kim at Let Me Start By Saying. But even though I’m filled with plenty of hot air, I have trouble blowing up balloons. I also have a fear of balloons popping. So I went to the grocery store on the way home from work on Dave’s birthday and asked them for 40 helium balloons, all nonchalant-like.

Their response? “Are you sure?”

Thirty minutes later, I was finally leaving the store and I had trouble fitting through the doors. I had to walk about a half mile with the balloons and I learned some things about balloon transport:

1.) Tree branches pop helium balloons.

2.) There are more trees in my neighborhood than I remembered.

3.) If you decide to carry 40 helium balloons around, people will notice.

4.) When balloons pop, it will scare the crap out of EVERYONE nearby, not just you. Totally sounded like gunfire both times.

We had to pretend Dave turned 38, because two balloons popped on the way home. I had to walk in the street the last few blocks to keep them away from the trees.

Here’s Dave getting a kick out of me “wrapping” a picture of something he had already bought himself months ago. I agreed to “let him” splurge on some guitar-related things and there was no way that stuff wasn’t counting. I took pictures of each item and inserted each into a card for him to open.

Here’s the cute custom card I got him, depicting him with Chuck.

What’s the most elaborate thing you’ve done to celebrate a loved one’s birthday?

Sep

24

2011

Photo Friday: Panera Chai Tea Latte FAIL

I realize it’s technically Saturday, but I got home late and since I haven’t gone to bed yet, I’m counting it as Friday night. The universe toyed with me today by making Friday feel like Monday. Fridays aren’t supposed to be overcast and rainy. There aren’t supposed to be Friday morning meetings that require a lot of preparation and getting up extra early to finish in time.

My planned reward for these Friday injustices was a chai tea latte from Panera. I’d say I love chai, but I don’t want to mislead you. I’m nothing if not accurate. I love the chai tea latte from Panera. I have tried chai from other places and they don’t do it for me. The chai at Starbucks, for example, tastes like dirty water with a slight hint of spice and a drop of liquid smoke. The chai at the overpriced little café in my building is cloyingly sweet and grainy. Panera’s chai, on the other hand, is creamy and delicately balanced between spicy and sweet. The fragrance is floral and intoxicating to me.

Like I’ve done hundreds of times before, I picked up a chai on the way to work, carefully carrying it on my long commute like a treasured prize, switching hands when the heat got too uncomfortable, guarding it against spills. As I finished my preparations, I looked forward to reheating and then nursing that chai during the meeting.

Panera had other ideas. Here is a picture of the abomination they gave me this morning. In retrospect, the girl who made my chai this morning was someone I’d never seen before and I didn’t watch her pour it into the cup today. The weight of it didn’t feel right as I carried it either. O Precious Chai, my meeting felt extra long without you.

Sep

16

2011

Photo Friday: Peace, Love, and Red Pandas

Have I mentioned I love red pandas? Oh yes, yes I did! It makes me die a little inside to know they are vulnerable.

But September 17th is International Red Panda Day and I want to help spread the word. In honor of the occasion, I have posted my favorite pictures of actual red pandas below. But first, here is my own personal red panda. In my other hand is the awesome “Peace, Love, Red Panda” bracelet I got from the Red Panda Network. I became a member yesterday and I only wish I could do more to help.

Look at that fluffy face (the stuffed red panda, not me!)! He’s saying, “go check out the Red Panda Network.” You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @RedPandaNetwork.

Sep

9

2011

Photo Friday: Vaseline Glass

When we were in Ohio in June, the menfolk in Dave’s family spent a day golfing at their annual tournament (the winner receives a trophy depicting a golfer and a toilet and is expected to display it proudly). During the golf tournament, I tagged along with the ladies for a trip to the Tiffin Glass Museum.

The Museum displays vintage pieces in one room and items for sale in a small adjacent room. Luckily for my wallet, the pieces I liked most were all in the “not for sale” part of the Museum. Tiffin Glass was one of the producers of color-changing “Neodymium glass,” which they unfortunately called “twilight,” even though it has nothing to do with 100-year old vampires living as teenagers. Twilight glass changes color under different light. The museum docent demonstrated that twilight glass looks lavender under incandescent light and ice blue under fluorescent light. He told us people used to buy it thinking it was blue because most stores use fluorescent light and then be upset when they got their piece home and found it to be lavender.

But there was another, even cooler, dual-colored glass there. Vaseline glass looks yellow normally, but turns neon green under black light because it contains uranium. Although my sister-in-law was disappointed to find out that the vaseline glass salt cellars she wanted to buy weren’t actually made by Tiffin Glass, she decided to get two anyway.

In the car on the way home she read the tag on the glass and said that the manufacturer (Mosser Glass) was located in Cambridge, Ohio.

“That’s where Chuck came from!” I exclaimed.

“Well, then you should definitely have one of these,” my sister-in-law generously offered.

So that was really nice of her. I really should have just bought a piece of this glass myself, since I was so impressed with it. I was just stymied by the black light part. But I got a cheap little handheld black light and here are the photographic results!

Just my Canon Speedlite flash:

Under black light:

Sep

2

2011

Photo Friday: Presque Isle

I went to Erie for a visit two weeks ago. I decided I would take pictures at Presque Isle on Sunday morning for my Happy Fun Time. I awoke to the sound of rain. Dave, Chuck, and I went anyway, and by the time we parked the car, the rain had stopped. But the sky was grey and unappealing and the light was horrible. Of course, once we’d given up on the picture taking, the afternoon sky cleared to a bright blue with huge fluffy clouds.

Eureka! “We’ll go back to the beach at sunset,” I proclaimed. The fluffy clouds would make for an awesome sunset, photo gold! Except for the enormous cloud that parked itself right on the horizon, mostly blocking the sun. I also hadn’t realized how badly my camera needed to be cleaned either until I saw these pictures. I didn’t even bother to Photoshop the dust spots out, because I hate Photoshop, because I’m trying to recover from perfectionism, and because you might as well share in my disappointment. Here’s the best sunset shot.

I love running on the trail at Presque Isle. On this trip, I was able to fit in two runs. The second was on my birthday, so I decided to run a tenth of a mile for each year of my life. I guess the disappointment of the earlier photo shoot made me throw the camera in the car, just in case. I usually run on the bay side, but ended up on the lake side for a short time and saw this.

When Erie pulls shit like this, it makes me wish I lived there. After my runs, I try to make time to check out the lake. I always linger a little longer when I know I won’t be back for awhile. So after I took this picture, I climbed up that slope of sand and stood and stared at the water like I always do. And I said goodbye for now like I always do. And I might have shed a tear like I always do. And I laughed at myself while walking back to the car like I always do.

Damn it, Erie. Why do you have to be so charming right as I’m about to leave?

Aug

25

2011

Thirty-Eight

I’d like to welcome everyone who found Logy Express through Freshly Pressed on WordPress.com! I was overwhelmed, in a good way, by all of your thoughtful comments. I’d love to keep the conversation going. Make yourselves at home. Perhaps you’d like a cold, refreshing beverage? We restock the Belgian beer annually.

I was on vacation during the whole Freshly Pressed thing. Oops. I’m still going through the comments and loving every second of it.

The notification about being Freshly Pressed came from someone who signed her email “Story Wrangler.” Who knew? I’m totally adding that to my list of coveted job titles.

I turned 38 this week and in honor of the occasion, I thought it would be fun to provide “38 More Things About Me.” At first I thought this would be difficult, but I’m the world’s foremost expert on me.

1. Red pandas are my favorite animal. I celebrated my birthday on Monday by visiting them at the Erie Zoo and riding the red panda (on the carousel, people!). EDITED TO ADD: Thanks to my friend Erin for the heads up about the carousel red panda!

2. I’m an introverted Leo. So while people can sometimes drain my energy and I don’t like calling attention to myself, I want people to notice, be interested in, and like me anyway. This is as problematic as it sounds.

3. I’m a recovering perfectionist. The phrase “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” could have been written about me. I’m working on being more efficient and simply letting some things go, because I have a lovely front porch on which I’m dying to sit.

4. My only sibling is nine years older than me. Due to his early influence, my taste in music overlaps disturbingly with that of a middle-aged man (see: Rush).

5. I curse. A lot. (see: older brother).

6. I have no first cousins.

7. My Mother preferred to keep me in shorter hair styles growing up, which I detested. Ever since it has been up to me, I’ve kept my hair long.

8. I love having blue eyes. One of my teachers in high school once said, apropos of nothing, “dark-haired, blue-eyed women are the most attractive women in the world.”

9. Lest you think this swelled my dark-haired, blue-eyed head, another high school teacher once told me she could tell I was from the Baltic countries because of my “pale, oddly-shaped face.”

10. There are a bunch of things most people take for granted that I can’t do: snap my fingers, whistle, wink, tie shoelaces. OK, I can tie shoelaces, but I have to tie two loops together.

11. I need more sleep.

12. One of my favorite things is the feeling of waking up and realizing I can sleep longer.

13. I attended Catholic school from preschool through twelfth grade. Wearing a uniform for 13 years did not help my fashion sense.

14. Catholic school did an excellent job of teaching me to think for myself. I thought myself right out of being Catholic.

15. At eighth grade graduation, I received an award for “honor,” which I still think is one of the coolest things ever.

16. Tom Ridge doesn’t believe I am lazy. He conducted my alumni interview when I applied to Harvard and argued with me when I replied “I am lazy” to his question about my biggest weakness. He also said he thought I’d have no trouble getting into Harvard (I did not get into Harvard).

17. The first presidential election in which I could vote was 1992. It was the first and last time I ever got excited by our political process. Between parsing the meaning of the word “is,” and the horror of the 2000 “election,” I now have to fight the urge to yell “la-la-la, I’m not listening!” when politicians speak.

18. I am smart enough to be painfully aware of how much I don’t know/understand.

19. Discussing things I don’t know much about makes me uncomfortable.

20. Tennis is my favorite sport.

21. I spent one summer during high school in the Netherlands and a college semester in Belgium. But my knowledge of Dutch/Flemish is limited to counting and phrases from Yahtzee.

22. I love taking pictures. I am irritated when I have to use Photoshop.

23. My only recurring nightmare involves really needing to go to the bathroom and not being able to find an acceptable place to do so. I go to the bathroom a lot.

24. I’ve never wanted kids. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve held a baby.

25. Although…I never wanted to get married either, and then this happened.

26. I hate musicals. They all remind me of the scene in “Elf” when Buddy sings “I’m in a store and I’m singing!”

27. Music, on the other hand, makes my world infinitely better.

28. My favorite band is the Police. For some reason this was the world’s most uncool thing to my classmates. There are millions of Police fans, and somehow I have never met another one.

29. Howard Stern wakes me up every weekday morning.

30. I own over 100 exercise videos and DVDs, have worked out with some of my favorite instructors, and have even seen the filming of several videos, but since 2008 have gotten most of my exercise through running.

31. Glass half empty or full? I once reported being “cautiously not pessimistic” about one of my projects during a staff meeting.

32. A nickname I’ve heard for my Myers-Briggs type is “the Inspector.” I don’t think all of the Inspector characteristics fit me and I certainly don’t believe rules should never be broken, but I do often notice when they are broken and I also sort of enjoy pointing it out. Maybe I should be a meter maid?

33. I have a thing for frogs.

34. I don’t get flip-flops. They are neither attractive nor comfortable. They are good for the beach, pedicures, and slipping on for emergency dog walks. I could never commute in them.

35. Inept reporting of research findings irritates the crap out of me.

36. Dave does all the cooking. I don’t like to cook. When I cook, my food tastes only of my effort. I’m horrible with knives and my eyes tear up even half a house away from a cut onion. If I had to fend for myself, I’d eat a lot of takeout, eggs, starchy carbs, and dessert.

37. I brush my dog‘s teeth every day.

38. My favorite element is Molybdenum.

Aug

19

2011

Ten Jobs I Would Be Willing To Do Without Pay

Do you know what today is? It’s my anniversary. Today I celebrate 15 years of employed bliss. As I discussed yesterday, one of the reasons I have stayed where I am so long is a lack of a “big dream” to pursue.

I recently saw a suggestion to think about what you would still be willing to do even if you weren’t being paid for it. I guess the theory is it helps you identify your true calling and maybe shake loose a possible idea for turning it into income. I remember laughing heartily at the suggestion, because the only thing that immediately came to mind was sleep. I would definitely be willing to sleep for free. Anyone want to step forward and make my dream of a new career in somnolence come true*?

In honor of my momentous employment milestone, I decided to brainstorm some dream job titles to try to uncover my passion. It must be in there somewhere.

Ten Jobs I Would Be Willing to Do Without Pay (in alphabetical order):

1. Back Rub Critic

2. Dave’s Wife/Stay at Home Dog Mom (additional husbands and windows would require a paycheck). Also, can someone please explain to me why Gwyneth Paltrow kept popping up when I searched for images of “traditional housewives?”

3. Family Photographer. All I mean by this is taking pictures of whatever I feel like. Ironically this photo shows Dave would make a good photographer.

4. Grouch (Oscar’s bound to retire sometime, right?)

5. Ice Cream Taster. This is making me want krunch kote.

6. Lode Runner

7. Lounge Singer (thank you!)

8. Neighborhood Watch President. I would write copious amounts of front porch sitting into this job description. EDITOR’S NOTE: This used to be accompanied by a photo of a very disgruntled older lady wearing a clear babushka, but the link is sadly broken now. So I’ll replace this one with Segway Meter Maid (photo of us on Segway tour is a placeholder until I can sneak a picture of the dude I see writing tickets on a Segway several times a week).

9. Orgasm Reviewer

10. Red Panda Caretaker. The July/August 2011 issue of the National Zoo’s Zoogoer magazine has an article about hand-rearing baby animals, including red pandas, at the zoo. Mother of God did I ever go into the wrong profession. The photos of the baby red pandas made my eyes melt out of their sockets. I haven’t seen the new babies yet, but here is a picture of a regular old, ridiculously adorable, red panda I took a few months ago.