Pondering

M and I had a great weekend, spending some time with friends, tending the garden (and the neighbor's garden - solved the problem of the overgrown weeds and trees by just cutting them down ourselves! [with permission]), getting a pedicure, and going on a long bike ride. We got all the way to Glencoe and stopped for a drink of water and a brief sit in a lovely gazebo when it propitiously began to thunderstorm. Later this summer we hope to take a two-day bike ride with an overnight B&B stay, somewhere between here and the Wisconsin border.

Today I saw more odd cell phone behavior at the Spa when a woman in the locker room deftly tucked her cell into the depths of her sports bra and then waltzed out for her workout. Do you think it was on vibrate?

Lately I've seen a fair number of people walking about in rainless weather with parasols. Today I pondered the question: Do those people deserve my scorn? Discuss.

Goings on

Today when I was at the gym Spa I saw two people talking on their cell phones as they worked out. Can you imagine? If I ever call a devoted reader whilst huffing away on the treadmill, I encourage you to hang up on me immediately.

I know fans of What's in My Garden? will be sorely disappointed to hear that we largely know what's in our garden now. It's finally shaping up to be the outdoor wonderland that we always imagined, however lacking in hot tub it may be. Soon I will post a picture of our rambling fence rose to prove my point. Now I am merely faced with the problem of wishing my neighbor would clean up their yard so that it doesn't mar the view. Does anyone have any tips on how to ask one's neighbor to weed and cut down trees that are growing out of the fence on their side?

We plan on being deep in tomatoes and basil before long, and you know what that means: bruschetta! Until then, we more than satisfy ourselves with this lovely crostini:

Slice baguette, smear with olive oil, and toast.

Roast beet (wrap in foil, throw in oven for about 30-45 mins), dice and mix with herb (I like oregano) and salt.

Spread toasted baguette with goat cheese. Spoon on beets. Wonder if tomato bruschetta's all that.

TGIT!

As if someone looked deep inside my soul and located my deepest desires, I've found two amazing things I've been looking for ... all my life, really. The first was just yesterday - a website that lists how people in different countries pronounce the sounds of animals (via Swissmiss). ie: we say "meow" for a cat, but in Japan they say, "nyan nyan". Then, today, what do I find but another websites that has sound bites of children from various counties prouncing what animals (and ambulances and race cars) say in their countries (via How about Orange).

I have a brilliant idea to make a coffee book about toilets around the world. That fascinates me even more than how people make animal sounds. Whenever I go on vacation and say, go on a tour of a super old house or a castle or something, all I'm really interested in is how they used the toilet. You probably are too, but you're too afraid to ask, aren't you? That's why my book is going to be a best-seller. Nobody steal my idea, ok? This is my Big Idea. Did you know, for example, that in Japan, apparently, bathrooms A. have heated toilets and B. have some kind of switch that turns on loud annoying music so no one can hear you tinkle? Isn't that FASCINATING? Anyway, the whole book's going to be like that.

Check out the new Top Five!

The Spa

I recently joined the gym - although, I call it The Spa, in order to make it more appealing to myself. It has a hot tub and a dry sauna, so it's it's not a terrible stretch. Tonight I went to a spinning class, for the first time in a loooooong time. It wasn't a great class, but it brought back a lot of spinning memories. I used to go back in the day, when we lived in San Francisco. I went to this class downtown that was really popular - so you had to get there early to get a bike. Probably there were 50-75 bikes (I think there were 6 people at this class tonight). It was really hard, but I loved it. The class was full of high-powered business women and these outrageously fit (in a way that only gay men from San Francisco seem to be fit) men. The music was awesome. The instructors were amazing (although one time, a guest instructor made my friend D cry, and that wasn't cool). Those classes were like, the only time in my life I ever felt that elusive exercise "high" that people talk about.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my dear ol' dad (as he likes to call himself)! As my parents are becoming more and more web-savvy, I get such a kick seeing my dad's comments on my blog. He's my Dada Daddy, and I love him!
In non-father related news, M and I saw The Incredible Hulk last night. It was, naturally, much better than Ang Lee's 2002 version, which I gave the SMACK DOWN on my old website (I'm sure Lee still feels its bitter sting!) This new Hulk, played by Edward Norton and some CGI (which largely avoids the perils of the uncanny valley) has the sensitive Bruce Banner just trying to keep his heart rate low while he's plagued by the US military, who want to replicate him (or something.) Why can't they just leave Hulk in peace???? Hulk wonders. What's really bothered me in the past re: all things Hulk is the Physics of the Pants, whereby when Bruce becomes the Hulk, all his clothes but his pants split off, and when he turns back into a dude, what do you know? He's still got his pants. In this Hulk, they actually spend a good deal of time on pants physics, which I appreciate. What's the secret? Elastic.

Working for the weekend?

I had a thought on Tues, which was, "Oh my God, it's only TUESDAY?!" and then I got kind of stern with myself, and I said, "Self, we must learn to appreciate each day." I feel like I can get into a bad habit of considering days that I work sort of not-me days, then, what do I do but lose 5/7th of my life, right? Do other people have this problem?

M and I have been amusing ourselves this week by becoming ridiculously addicted to LOLCat. There seems to be something for everyone, even LoTR nerds (I mean, "fans"):

But this is the official favorite for our family:

In other cat and existential news, I encourage you to create a "Cat Lady", as I intend to do, and enter this contest with me.

Obama for President!

As you know, I was hoping Clinton would win the nomination, but, obviously, like her, I now throw my (considerable) support behind Obama. I never had anything against him, in fact I think he's pretty amazing, I just hoped that Clinton would win. I was depressed for a few days that we won't see a woman president just yet, and how misogynist the media coverage and reaction to HC was throughout her campaign. Also, after eight grueling years with the Bush administration, I was looking forward to some Clinton antics in the White House once more (Bill, all is forgiven!) I think we all missed out on something pretty amazing - I mean, Bill Clinton as the First Laddy would have been a treat.

I am excited, however, by the promise that Michelle Obama will be the most kick ass First Lady this country has ever seen (Suck it, Dolly Madison!) Don't you think so?

Springlessness

Woo! What a weekend! We saw tons of friends, celebrated my friend D's birthday, and today M and I went downtown to go to the annual Printer's Row Book Fair (where Augusten Burroughs was speaking - that jackhole owes me 14.99 and about 6 hours of my life back). So, we take the train downtown and the minute we step out onto the sidewalk, a torrential downpour commences.

I was talking with a friend the other day about how misleading the term "Global Warming" is - especially to those douchebag types that, over our very cold winter were all, "You call this Global Warming yuk yuk yuk" A better term, IMHO, is Global Weather Eff-Up, which is how I shall refer to it henceforth. I mean, you don't call a Plague of Locusts a Grasshopper Influx. Global Weather Eff-Up is the reason for that outrageously miserable winter, the reason it snowed that day in May, the reason we didn't have a spring, and went from wearing winter coats one day to to turning on the air conditioning the next.

So, anyway, it starts pouring down rain (which may or may not be attributable to the G.W.E-U), like you've never seen before, and we run back in the train station, which has glass walls all across the front, and outside we see these poor souls running around, like they're trying to outrun the cold in The Day After Tomorrow. So much for the outdoor book fair. We waited (a long time) for a slight break and then jumped in a cab and headed for the W Hotel and the bar.

I forgot to post this video I made for my friend D on his birth day - sorry this is a bit late!

Gal Pals

Saw Sex and the City the other night with some girl friends - was GREAT fun. Ladies, I gotta tell you, even though the movie's a little cheesy and the ending's not that great, if you have any love in your heart for the show, grab your best gal pals and head to the theatre. A huge part of the fun is sitting there with a couple hundred women, laughing at the funny parts and laughing harder at the cheesy parts, sneaking in cosmos, and figuring out who in your group is the Miranda and who's the Samantha.
(Our foursome looked almost just like that, except a couple of us where wearing zero-inch heels!)