hot time in the town tonight

It’s been miserably hot here lately, in the 90’s and very muggy, but I’ve managed to have fun even so.

I’ve been to Xi-nando’s house for a fun dinner with a passel of Spanish-speakers from the four corners of the globe, ridden on a historic train, visited the outlet mall, had an amazing dinner with tha BRAINON Krew for BRITEW’s birthday, and have hung out a bit getting to know my new roommate, whose code name is Gola (Seriously. You should be able to figure out her name.), and her budgies, whose code names are…. well… "the budgies." my kitty Maria has also been enjoying "getting to know" the budgies.*

It’s supposed to cool off tomorrow and I’m invited to dinner at Marie’s house, so things are only looking up!

*not like that ! or that - ew! anon, stop that!

Happy B-Day, BRITEW!!!!

you are still the Best Roommate in the Entire World! also, the best Detroiter to come from St. Louis/N'Orleans! the most hot mama of the under-5'5" set! the craziest partier! the rowdiest rocker! the awesomest color-er!

you are supercalifragelisticexpialidocious! ......

enjoy your day!!!!

yay!

the perfect arcade

next in my stealing borrowing segment is cookie's perfect arcade. I grew up in the hey-day of pong and then the atari 2600 (remember when cable was just one channel?). I've grown to enjoy some of the more recent games, too. so here is.....

MY PERFECT ARCADE

1. at the top of the list, my favorite game ever, centipede. definitely should be a stand-up machine. (it is the best: I rest my case)

2. next, ms. pac-man - the table top kind where two people can sit and play.

3. the game where you ride an actual skateboard, I can't remember the name.

4. the basketball shooting game (the kind with the actual basketball)

5. also, darts and...

6. skee ball!!! (it's from Philly, suckerz)

7. of course, a pinball machine, maybe the lethal weapon 3 pinball machine! (hint, hint... my half-birthday is right around the corner........!)

8. and finally, right smack-dab in the middle of the room: dance-dance-revolution!!!


all these machines should be at maximum volume all the time and there should be a snack bar in the corner that sells pizza by the slice and soda (I'll be sure to have cherry coke for ya, cookie!) it should be attached to a roller rink and that should be next door to a brewery which serves tapas and has a great wine list. that should do it.

the perfect jukebox

cookie monster posted his conception of the perfect jukebox and moo has published her own take as well. well here's mine:

1. can't live without my radio - ll cool j
2. cowboy - kid rock
3. stay fly - three 6 mafia
4. nihilism - rancid
5. december, 1963 - frankie valli & the four seasons
6. night fever - bee gees
7. groove is in the heart - deee-light
8. kiss - prince
9. the man in me - bob dylan
10. I'm goin down - mary j. blige

you know you wanna hang with me!!!

and now, for something completely different.....

I've been doing some spring cleaning on the ol' bloggy, take a look around, and look for a few more updates on the sidebar in the coming weeks. meanwhile, I've been inspired to rip off by some other bloggers so the next few posts will be ripped off inspired.

I may be the last one to the party on this one, but apparently, there is a fun and easy way to find out what your porn-star name would be. as I just saw the fascinating documentary on the most profitable movie of all time, Deep Throat this past weekend, I thought that this would be a very appropriate moment in time to discover my porn-star name....

here's how it works (I know you already know how to do this, anon!): you take your first pet's name for the first name and the street you grew up on for the last name. now, this is where it gets complicated. my doggy's name was actually alexandra, but we mostly called her sasha or alex. added to that, we moved a few times. so I actually have several options:

sasha green
sasha allen
alex walnut (nah, this sounds like a guy)
alexandra corinthian

..... and, probably the winner:

alexandra baring

ps - if you enjoyed this post, you are going to hell.

shut-up time

bleh! I've got the talkingest co-workers in the world!!!!! I just went to get a glass of water and the housekeeper took at least four minutes to tell me (ps-I didn't ask!) about the brand of water he's settled on at his house, why, and how much the cost has gone up, per case blahblahblah blah blah....

and sometimes in the lunchroom, there's this dude who works here who's a super-yakkety-yak-yak talker. I simply looked in his direction on Friday and he started telling me that he went out for breakfast this morning and so he really shouldn't go out all the time, he should stay in sometimes and eat the food had had brought in, after all, blahblah blah blahblahblah blah blahblah..... I understand that he's a personal trainer and thinks he needs to be friendly to everybody in case they personally want to be trained, but can he understand that I've worked here for two years and never so much as looked in the door of the gym and that when I have a book stuck in front of my face, "yes, I'm reading" and he does not need to ask me "reading?"

so to my ever-so-subtle coworkers, the old "book-in-front-of-the-face" trick doesn't work. I've heard that the best defense is a good offense, so now I'm trying offensive frowning, but I'm worried I may develop wrinkles.

what do you recommend?

ps - anyway, it reminds me of when I was a kid, and I used to say to my friend "it's shut-up time, Sharon." somehow I don't think that would go over in the corporate environment.

the perfect Saturday

wow, I did it - I had the perfect Saturday this past weekend! I could hardly believe it, even as it was happening to me. now I can share the ingredients for the perfect Saturday with you:

1. arrange for beautiful, sunny 70° weather.

2. spend a relaxing morning cleaning your apartment and getting ready to witness your good friend's wedding until in the end, sewing new buttons onto your sweater takes you longer than you thought and then the bride calls you and tells you the freeway is shut down in that direction so now you're in a hurry but luckily the traffic works out and all the lights are in your favor, as evidenced by the fact that you only managed to paint three nails on your way there. you are the last one to show up, but hey, you're still one minute early, right?

3. attend a ceremony where the chapel is precious, the staff friendly and warm, and the preacher takes the time to give the ceremony a special touch. try not to cry... then hug everybody and take a bunch of pictures!

4. have a wonderfully relaxing and fun post-ceremony luncheon with the coolest and friendliest group of people you can find. make sure that at least two of them co-tell the Funniest Story Ever® until you can't even tell if it's the wine or the belly-laughs making you feel this way. have a cup of coffee after lunch - hey, you're about to drive a 5- and 8-year-old to the zoo! (..... oh well, their parents never read this blog anyways....)

5. drive home, change into jeans (& convince the 5-year-old to change out of his bunny costume) and take your two cute kid-neighbors to the zoo. make sure they are perfectly well-behaved, this makes it especially fun. be sure to see the polar bears and kangaroos. carrying the 5-year-old on your shoulders all the way back to the car is optional.

6. gee, weren't you nice to invite those kids to the zoo (even though you used the parents' zoo pass, so the whole time, you were only out the price of one lollipop!!) now you should be invited to eat dinner with the family in the shady backyard. you've eaten so well today, you think a heavy dinner might be too much... but luckily they're having a simple dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs!! have one of each!

7. now watch TV or a movie or something, I can't remember - but I'm sure you'll figure it out!

have fun!

Wagahai wa neko de aru

it was funny to see this new article on wikipedia, because I recently had a related conversation. I got a little tap-tap-tap on my door last night and my littlest neighbor said "do you want reeces pieces or fudge brownie or both?" I figured out that I was being invited for ice cream and rushed downstairs.

after I got my cone, we started talking about the upcoming zoo trip (there's a new Australian Outback Adventure where you're in with the kangaroos!) meanwhile my kitty Maria was going for the comic effect and making a circuit - through their open living room window, through the the living room, dining room, kitchen, then out the open back door and around again. luckily they (like me) find this very cute. the older little neighbor said "she thinks she's the QUEEN OF CATS!" damn! what a perfect nickname - why didn't I think of that?

anyway, if you visit the article and read the full explanation of the Japanese title, you can see that the novel was probably written about Maria, "the queen of cats," direct ancestor.

tha lorida' tha listena'

this week, tha lorida' is also tha listena' and encouraga', as I've got a nervous bride on the one hand and on the other hand, a close coworker with a mother being treated for breast cancer.

frankly, it's a relief to not think about my own problems... so if finding a teaching job doesn't work out, I think I have another idea for my career: click here.

dum-dum-da-dum...

guess who is getting married (in a civil ceremony) this weekend? yes, it's my (dining-out) buddy Marie and her wonderful fiance, Aaron!!!!! the pomp & circumstance will come later, but guess who gets to be a witness for the official bit?

update: aaaaaahhhhhh! what do witnesses wear at civil ceremonies?????

linky-linky

hahahahahahahaha!

that is all.

pudge on first?!?!

*&%#***#$***!!!!!!!

the power just went out and I lost my whole post!

screw it! the main point was that ivan rodriguez was playing first base last night for the Tigers and I linked to some articles and blog posts of interest about it, gave my opinion as to whether he'd do well in that position (I'm about 65% confident he can pull it off), pissed and moaned that I missed the end of the game because I knew it would be interesting!, and wrapped up by stating that I'm still a big fan anyways. I also linked to this guy for a reason that doesn't matter now that I'm not explaining the whole thing again, but, hey, go visit him anyway. he's been posting some gold lately....

ain't that some ****?

I recently got a flier for a town meeting about AT&T to be held at the public library. it was being run by L. Brooks Patterson, our county commisioner who looks just like, and is, a very scary Republican politician. I thought to myself "I don't care about AT&T. I've got a cell-phone," and threw out the notice.

well, well! when I went to the library Monday night, I found out the meeting had actually been about a topic very near and dear to my heart - wireless internet! as you may remember from this post, the city promised to have wireless service for all by the end of March. but in a shocking turn of events, anon was right! and I may now have to pay him a quarter (hey, that's 1/6 of a half-pint at happy hour, you lucky dog!)

apparently, the wireless signals would have to piggyback off the telephone lines, or something, and AT&T says if they don't make any money off it, they ain't participating. WANKERS!!!!! it's hard to believe that this is only the second time I've blogged about politics, considering the politically-active family I grew up in, but.... I guess it just proves that you have to find the issues that really matter to a person, and mine appears to be... BLOGGIN'!

bloggers unite!!!!! we must fight the man on this one!!!!!! go bloggers!!!!!!!

Nepalese food

Marie and I ate at a Nepalese restaurant in Royal Oak last night - I had no idea what kind of food it is, so I was very excited. luckily, just before I left, my neighbor let me in on the fact that it's floor seating and pricy, so at least I knew to put on comfy pants and brought some extra $$.

unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, so I'll just have to tell you it is pretty chill. there are carpets all over the floor, and cushions scattered against the walls and on the floor around low tables. there are fake flowers everywhere, even formed into wreaths on the wall, which are interspersed with pictures of Hindu gods. top it all off with slow, random blinking colored Christmas lights on the ceiling. melloooooooooooooooow, man.

the food was awesome (and according to the menu, holistic). it was like Indian, with curries and clay-oven cooked chicken and lamb, but with a twist. and they had my favorite food in the world, dumplings, so that's what I had- veggie dumplings. I had been afraid the entire menu would read:


********************

MENU
Yak
Yak butter

********************


so I was relieved to see the actual menu. they did have an item called yak & yeti salad, but them most scary thing in there was garbanzo beans.....

yesterday my kid neighbor turned eight! he invited me over for cake and ice cream, which was apparently delicious as I seem to have offered to take four kids to the zoo- yikes! on the plus side, the parents have a zoo membership, so at least it won't cost me $44 just to get through the gate.

buy I am psyched to visit the butterfly house, see the big cats, and maybe catch a glimpse of the baby polar bear. maybe I'll even get a big rainbow lollipop!*

*read the philly tour post if you don't catch that reference....

almost time to sign off at work....

what a long day full of crazyness at work - as the cookie monster would say "thank fuck that's over!"

I hope you're resting up today after your extra-long weekend, cookie!

rockin' De-troit sunday!

yesterday was a beautiful spring day, and BRAINON and I went out and enjoyed it to the maximum! first off, we went to the ballgame (tix courtesy of my boss - thank you! boss). we watched the Tigers shutout the Twins to make it a 3-game series of wins.

then we stopped by the Motor City Brewing Works, which has a wonderful relaxed, breezy atmosphere, especially on a breezy late weekend afternoon. finally, we headed over to Mexicantown and had dinner at el Comal Restaurant. they're a fav of mine because they have a great kitchen: they serve mexican, guatemalan, columbian, salvadoran and vegetarian food..... I had enchiladas suizas. it was definitely the best enchiladas suizas I've ever had.....

what did you guys think, BRAINON?