Esculent thoughts

Friday, Friday, Friday. I'm so glad. Although it's sad that Traves will be gone after today.

I bought donuts for our section today. Well, I bought them for the section next to us, which we used to be a part of. And I have a lot of leftovers from yesterdays pot-luck, all cuz some fool in the cafe up there forgot to put away the to-go boxes. A lot of it is excellent middle-eastern food--little stuffed zucchini with rice and minced meet in them. And I plan on going and getting sushi today.

All in all the good outweighs the bad, though I'm bored out of my mind here at work and ready to go home. Technically I have another hour to go, but I don't think I'll be able to hold out. It might have been different if I hadn't given up caffeine yesterday, but I did and I'm having trouble focusing as it is now. Plus I have the sinking feeling I'm forgetting something, or I will forget something.

"Oh, everything looks bad if you remember it."

Last night I had a dream that my dad died. I usually never remember my dreams. And actually, when I do, I forget them within an hour or so of waking. But anyway... I was incredibly calm in my dream, because I knew it wasn't the end and that it'd be okay, even though I was amazingly sad. In real life I would have freaked out, guaranteed. Needless to say, when I woke up I was relieved. I also dreamed I got a new car, a new old car, which slightly resembled FK's old convertible with a sun-roof--although there was no top, so no possibility of a sun-roof. This was especially forsightful, considering my car died this week. My transmission went out, and as it would cost more than I paid for my car to fix it...well, I refuse to fix it. So I'm back to driving Eve. I've missed my old car actually. I didn't miss not having air conditioning, but I did miss not having to constantly replace every part on my car one after another. I was never not fixing something on it. At least for the past year anyway. It was a good car while it lasted. And really it didn't give me many problems till I ran into that freeway barrier with it, so maybe it was resentful. Apart from not having air conditioning, Eve has a dysfunctional radio, which isn't that big of a difference from my old car, which had crappy sound. All in all, I don't so much mind this turn of events as much as I likely should.

I made enchiladas last night for the pot-luck today. It feels like a Sunday for once, so that's nice. I'm going to go observe this with my scriptures in the locker room in a second. I'm excited that when I move here for real my ward will be close enough that I can leave work and go to church every week in my own ward, instead of one week in a ward that once was mine but hasn't been for a while, and one week only attending sacrament meetings in a ward where I know no one, when I can.

This next week I'll be house-sitting my parents house--feeding the animals and the like--so that's where I'll be sleeping. Just in case anyone wants to play tennis. They're going to Wyoming with my oldest sister and her family. I'm jealous. I almost went with them, but I have my League tournament on Thursday, and we've been playing savage lately, so it's important I go; and they're only going to be gone 3 days, which is not long enough for the effort. Though I would like to hang out with my older niece and nephews more, not to mention the two little ones who are not as used to me as the rest. Both classified as a "mammas child," though my nephew (who my sister refers to as "Best Friend") is less so now that he's older. Now he just gets mad at me when I take pictures of him and points accusingly, which is so cute I just have to make a point to take pictures of him whenever I see him. I'll just have to find another time to spend quality time with Jessilee, Doll Face, Best Friend, and Girlfriend--as my sister respectively refers to them all, except for the first one, which my niece started.

Jimmy Buffet

So what can I say? Work has really sucked this week. I think it's probably good for Leon to realize this in the beginning, but what a crappy goodbye for Traves, who's last day is Monday. Basically at this point we're really behind for various reasons. I had to defrag our instrument's computer yesterday and the day before to make it workable. The one bright note is that Micro-manager has been gone all week, so we'll only see him Monday of our week. Don't get me wrong, I like him as a supervisor, but he pops out of nowhere and has some pretty drastic ideas he randomly implements, and sometimes it's nice to just be able to breath when working.

That said... I spent my first night in Salt Lake Wednesday. I figured it would be easier to get to work in the morning and I might as well. I only have limited things moved to my new place though, so that was the first and the last till next week. It was weird sleeping on such a small bed so low to the ground, but not as bad as I expected, which isn't surprising since I can sleep anywhere. But my room is nice, albeit a little echo-ey, but I got to work in 5 minutes flat.

Before that point I went to Graywhale Music with two friends I know from work, Sheidi and Golden Boy, to watch a Pete Yorn promotion--I guess that's what you'd call it. It was small--intimate if you will--so everyone could see him clearly, and it was pretty good. I hadn't really heard too much of Pete Yorn before this point, but he's okay. I think he's the kind of singer you can listen to a whole cd of and be content, because they're all good songs, but not wowed by it either, because though he's good, he's no David Bowie. Or should I say, "He's no Neil Diamond." Basically I like his sound, but he's not legendary, so you could probably find several people who have a similar sound. But he plays his guitar well, has a pleasant voice, and his lyrics are not bad at all. On our way there it was incredibly windy and a little rainy. Me and Sheidi heard this loud pop/sizzle and saw sparks that I swear indicated the explosion of a power line. Random. Golden Boy met us there.

After we went to that we went and got pizza, and of all the things in the world, watched "So you think you can dance." I don't really understand why everyone I know is so into this, but they are. I was content to watch it as well, because Golden Boy is moving to Ohio in a month, so I won't have many more opportunities to hang out with him, and I could honestly have more fun throwing paint chips with these two people than doing almost anything else with almost anyone else. Some of the dances were painful for me to watch, but a few of them were really good. Mostly it was the commentary by my friends that made it so enjoyable. The judges were pretty funny to watch, though I'm not sure what gives them the authority to judge other people's dancing. I mean seriously, being a choreographer for the backstreet boys should count against your ability to judge dancers if anything. And I'm pretty sure the second judge was getting drunker by the minute, and the louder she got the harder it was to not laugh at her absurd statements, which were generally always positive. I think the real hook they set to make people continue watching is that you don't find out who will get kicked off for that night's performances till the beginning of the next show. But I haven't watched it again, so I have no idea the outcome of the one I watched. And there's my two cents on the subject.

How I spent my 24th.

So I went on this date on the 24th... I don't think I like dating that much. Such a frustrating process to put one's self through, even necessary as it is. But we went hiking, or attempted to. I don't think he had a particular trail in mind. Well, I know he didn't, but people from Oregon shouldn't go hiking unless they know what they're doing. It didn't help that I generally have no idea what I'm doing. But yeah, I don't think he knew what he was doing the whole time. I've noticed this about this boy, that he's very into spur of the moment ventures and not planning ahead. It's nice to have and be comfortable with that kind of deviative system, especially since things in life rarely turn out how you expect, but it's also good to start out with a plan in the first place that you can deviate from. And I hate having an executive say in matters, as to what we're doing and where we're going, when I'm on a date that I didn't ask the other person out on. Stupid guy. The hiking was fun (because outside is pretty), but I'm surprised we didn't end up getting trapped in an avalanche or something, with all of the thought that went into following trails that I don't believe were meant to be followed. We ended up going to eat after, then played Sorry--of all the random things, then went to a movie. It was fun I guess, after sorts, and I do consider him a friend, but I can guarantee you that I'm one who's way too easily frustrated to end up with someone so indecisive. Too much like myself. And yeah, it was pretty frustrating. If he wasn't so many feet taller than me, I would have seriously considered shaking him. Which can't help but remind me of a certain friend on a date telling the guy that 'if he touched her again, she'd rip off the appendage he touched her with and beat him with it.' Just thinking of that story makes me smile:)

I didn't so much do the whole fireworks thing. Duckling and I went to the store to develop pictures, as we often do together, and I totally scammed the system. I guess you're not supposed to make picture copies of photographs taken in professional studios. I had three pictures of my parents from when they first got married that I totally loved and wanted copies of, and of a better quality than my printer can provide. My mom told me the guy with the studio had been dead for at least 20 years, so it's not like I could get his permission or anything, but I found out only after making them that I wasn't supposed to. I'll admit, I never read those disclosure statements they have at the beginning of things. So I basically just put them amidst all my other photos, and all was well. Anyway, they totally don't have a way to make copies of 3x5 photos, except for one that's about $1 a pop. I was not going to pay a buck for every picture, those of which I was just going to cut up and make smaller anyway. So with all my 3x5's I ended up going to my older sister's house, scanning them in, and saving them to file to print at my parent's house. It would be easier if my dad would have just figured out how to install the scanner we already have, but though he has no intentions of doing so, he won't give it to me to do either. Anyway, as I was leaving I noticed that my sister and brother-in-law had these stupid grins on their faces. Also, they were looking out the window through the curtains. A bit of side information here might help to clarify. So my sister wants me to marry into this family, of which a friend of hers belongs, for the selfish reason of her wanting to be in-laws with her. I don't think it even works out that way. But this friend's younger brother was sitting out on the lawn with her husband or something on camping chairs, no doubt anticipating the firework show they were about to watch (only it wasn't dark, and they were in their own yard, so it's not like they needed to get good seats in advance), which is what my sibling and her spouse were spying on out the window. So then my sister says to me, "That's the boy we want to set you up with," to which my brother-in-law avidly agrees, and then she says, "Just a warning, so you don't do something to make yourself look stupid. Like falling flat on your face." HAH! Like I have any control over the things I do to make myself look stupid. But yeah, I didn't fall on my face, and I got home in one piece. I then fell asleep to the sound, and more importantly--the feel, of fireworks going off outside my window. I'm thinking the selection chosen by my neighbors could not have been legal, because you don't feel fireworks like that everyday. You know they're good if you can feel them go off. But I absolutely love watching firework shows right up next to where they're setting them off, because you can feel them and I love it.

Reflections on a Week Past...Not to Be Confused With a Past Full of Weakness.

As is often the case, I don't really know what I did last week. I really should keep a journal or something, because I did do things. I don't think much happened till Thursday though. Friday I went to a pub. It was with a group of friends I don't see as often as I'd wish, but I do rather enjoy the quality time we spend together. I got the meat loaf. Like Duckling, I LOVE meat loaf. We could all definitely benefit from a uni-loaf. But it was seriously the best meat loaf ever. Kind of spicy, with a sweet glaze on top...it was good. It kind of reminded me of my first experience trying haggis. Anyway, the mashed potatoes with it were way too good and too creamy to not have some sort of dairy incorporated, so they were either made with cream or cream cheese or there was something else that made them slightly cheesey in there. And let's not forget the fried green beans, which I thought were asparagus at first, but were tastey nonetheless.

After the pub we decided desert needed to happen. They were out of the cheesecake, so we went in search of gilato ice cream. Once we'd found it we decided to see if there were any movies at the dollar theater we might want to see. I've got to say, not that good of a selection right now. The only thing that most of us hadn't seen, and that the one who had seen it was willing to see again, was Akeelah and the Bee. I hadn't really heard anything about it, but it was really good. Very feel good for the family, but pretty funny as well. It doesn't hurt if you're the kind of person who will find something to laugh at regardless of whether it's funny or not though. So I laughed at the funny parts, and I laughed at what struck me as funny, which made my good friend Mody next to me laugh, which made me laugh more...and I enjoyed it. You'll all be happy to know that I wasn't as loud as sitting next to Clarkie in X-Men though. Or afterward when he tried to put his hand through the window pane and then exclaimed, "I can turn air solid!" A very nice power to have as a mutant I must say:)

The unfortunate part of this was that I missed a rodeo to go to the pub. I don't regret it of course, just that the rodeo was on the wrong night. I've never been to one before, and I'd like to eventually, but mainly I'm sad because it's been so long since I've hung out with the work friends who went, and I never laugh so hard as when I'm around them. Sheidi in particular not only makes me laugh, but usually surprises the laughter out while making me laugh, so I don't know how it can be better than that. And my old bench mate has entertained me for so long with stories of her randomly impulsive and hilarious brother that I'm sad I missed out on the opportunity to finally put a face to her stories. Oh well, what can you do? I am going to Pete Yorn with some of them tonight, so that will be fun.

Let's see...that puts us at Saturday. By far the best part of this day was the cheesey Hallmark movie that Pinkie, Duckling and I watched in Pinkie and FK's basement. Love Comes Softly. So funny, but decidedly not through intention. Except that one part: "IT. The love." But about half way through the movie I had the ending predicted exactly. It was kind of cool seeing it play out exactly as I had described, but no one could have predicted the music that went along with it. Very westerny, and totally reminded me of that "beef, it's what's for dinner" commercial. So he's coming over the hill on his horse, and it's all like, "dah, DAH--dah, DAH!" Very dramatic. And then there was the softer "chigga dung, chigga dung, chigga dung" part which followed, which Duckling impersonates best with her riding on a horse actions. Then they kept alternating them while flashing back from him riding the horse, and the wagons he was trying to catch. A classic movie moment, though not so much if you weren't enjoying it with us.

And I think I'll end it there. I could say something about the 24th, but I'll wait till next time.

Too Much Stuff

I suppose I'm a bit prone to overexaggeration lately, at least in the case of my new pad. Rather, I'm a terrible judge of size, because thankfully it's not as small as I suspected...which is easier to see with the lack of someone else's stuff in it.

I started moving my stuff into it the other day. I have the small size of bed--a twin? A full? I don't know, but it looks pretty small in that room. My dad says the room is larger than my room right now; I think it's about the same. But I'm not bringing half the stuff I have now there. It should be interesting. I'm pretty sure I'll fall out of it at least once, used to a Queen as I am. My dad helped me move all of my heavy things down there yesterday. I'm still deciding what to bring and what to leave behind.

And so I've spent the last two days packing. I get easily distracted, but I did have League yesterday, and I have a gathering of sorts tonight, so I haven't wasted my days completely... While attempting to pack I've found myself trying to organize things--like all of my pictures and papers, and getting rid of a lot of stuff I don't know why I kept all these years, and I'm farther than ever on my pinata--which I feel needs to be done before I move due to a lack of resources once I move (FYI: I've been using a 15 page paper I wrote on the planets, in the ninth grade, to paper mache this thing--which is an excellent example of something I never got around to getting rid of that should have gone long ago). Not to mention I've accomplished all of this while listening to some stellar music. So basically I feel I've accomplished a lot, but my room looks pretty much the hurricane it has been since I started the moving process. And I'm on my fifth Mountain Dew for today. Bad news.

That said, I can't believe it's 4 in the afternoon already, and a Friday at that. Man the week has flown. And not in a good way.

Here a llama, there a llama, everywhere a llama llama.

Saturday was Llama Fest. I don't know why I got it in my head to go this year, but it's something I heard about long ago and have since wanted to go. Personally I enjoyed the experience, despite some minor setbacks. Beginning with the heat.

I think it hit somewhere above 100 degrees...like 101...which is plenty hotter than 100. This and it being held at a Hindu Krishna Temple (on the fringe of the Fork of Spain) made it feel like we were in the middle of the desert. It was a pretty cool looking place, although the pictures of their blue god scared me quite a lot, I don't know why. We (Duckling, FK, Pinkie, and I) first went into the temple, because we got their half an hour early. It was nice because not a lot of people were there yet, and after it started the place was packed. We had to take off our shoes to enter, and on the first floor was a gift shop...weird; both being in a temple shopping and shopping without shoes on, with a stone--or otherwise hard but smooth and cool-to-the-touch--floor. A lot of llama stuff. Surprisingly the only thing I bought was a snow cone. I wanted to get my sister one of the little dollar llamas that were woven out of string or whatever, but by that time the fest was in full swing and I wasn't going to wait in the line for something like that. Also, they sold out of small shirts pretty quickly, and as much as I want a llama fest shirt, this years was not as cool as the one hanging on Arbogast's wall. I'll have to go again with my sister when they have better shirts.

So with 10 or so minutes till the start we went upstairs to the actual temple part of the temple. They had this central piece at the front with quite a few colored statues of gods lined along a wooden carved inset that was quite impressive. I'm a little sad I didn't get a picture to explain it better, but I wasn't sure if that was an insult to their religion or not to be taking pictures in there. I'm thinking not, because I saw someone else do so and they did allow the public in their holy place. Next to this central piece, on either side, were statues, presumably of gods, one a man and the other an elephant man. The other walls of the room were lined with very ornate (possibly Persian?) padded chairs and sofas that had hard frames that could have been made of wood, but I really didn't inspect that particular part of them all that well. It was highly impressive though.

Then we went outside and sat down to watch the llama judging. They did form, look, and all that stuff, then had an obstacle course they judged them at. I thought it was cool (I'll admit that on occasion when bored at home I've been sucked into watching the occasional dog show, which is what this reminded me of in a slightly convoluted way). Other than that there were a lot of llamas and a lot of judging which made it go by more slowly than weÂ’d hoped for, yet it was enjoyable. It was here we really noticed the heat though. Pinkie in particular is not one I would recommend hanging out with when she's hot because she gets incredibly cranky, but FK was also somewhat irritable--I think it must be a family thing. I've noticed that they're always hot regardless of whether or not it is hot, so when it actually is...beware. I don't know why it didn't bother me at all, but while I recognized it was incredibly hot, I also really was enjoying it. Maybe it's because I've been drinking incredible amounts of caffeine lately and thus have felt the need to over-compensate in my water intake, which can't help but prevent dehydration. I noticed the other day at Frisbee this was the case; I've never played so well in League in my life, except for the time I played in the pouring rain, while at the same time feeling so good. Then again, it could have been the fact that the humidity that's seemed to accompany the heat this summer (making it more oppressive) just happened to be absent. I like dry heat, but detest wet heat.

We actually weren't there very long, because no one else seemed to enjoy the heat as I did, and we only briefly went to look at the llamas up close. It took quite a bit of convincing even to get Pinkie and Duckling to come with me and look at baby llamas, and IÂ’m not sure we even found them. I would have liked to have gone into the pens to pet the llamas, but I realized my compadres wanted to leave, so we left soon after. We then went to a diner down there before heading home, and I for one enjoyed the food.

It was a pretty exhausting day at that, but that may have had as much to do with not really sleeping the night before as it did with the heat. That said, I would go again next year, but I doubt my companions this year would be enthusiastic at the prospect of going again, when it's sure to be that hot again, so I won't drag anyone into it next time. Except possibly family members.