It's 1:30 AM and I can't sleep because I'm worrying about the turkey tomorrow morning. I've prepared one before but I have a history of mixing the kitchen and fire and food so...I'm a little worried.
But I can change that worry can't I? Just realize that I'm grateful for having a kitchen and fire and food. It's freezing some places and foodless some places and homeless some places. So, really, there's nothing to worry about but a lot to be thankful for.
And then I see leaping flames in front of my eyes and that all goes away.
How do you worry about a turkey? It's not even a big turkey. Like 8 pounds. And when I went to go buy it the guy at the store said, oh, a really small turkey, almost a chicken. And I said, "Yes" and nodded my head shyly in shame.
And then I think, well, it's small, what happens if it goes up in flames? Then there won't be much left to eat. Maybe I should have gotten a bigger one so that if it gets set on fire then at least that part can be cut off and I can try over again with the rest of it....Or does it not work like that?
I'm glad the fire station is only a few blocks away. It makes me feel safer. That, and my big bag of baking powder and baking soda to put out grease flames. You think I'm joking. Yeah, that's what a lot of my friends think too. For awhile at least. There is always hope. That why I keep trying. You can't burn food forever right? If you keep trying you just have to get better from the practice...right? Right? Anybody? Hello? Okay, I'll just go to bed.
27 November 2008
22 November 2008
Say Cheese
I just got back from one of the most up to date weddings ever. They had a photo booth. Yes, a photo booth! And it took 4 photos and gave 2 copies of those 4 photos. One for the scrapbook of the Bride and Groom and one for the guests to keep.
Another thing they did was have business cards on the table asking all the guests to share their photos by uploading them to the married couple's Flickr account. I've never seen that before either. How smart.
There was also a groom's cake to go with the wedding cake. The groom's cake was a Nintendo theme and was really cool.
Some really great ideas from a really great and cool couple. I wish them all the best. And now, it's time for some sleep.
Another thing they did was have business cards on the table asking all the guests to share their photos by uploading them to the married couple's Flickr account. I've never seen that before either. How smart.
There was also a groom's cake to go with the wedding cake. The groom's cake was a Nintendo theme and was really cool.
Some really great ideas from a really great and cool couple. I wish them all the best. And now, it's time for some sleep.
14 November 2008
Everything I Need to Know I Learned By....
There´s no place like home. There´s no place like home. There´s no place like home.
There is no place like home. And I think we all take that for granted sometimes.
Traveling has taught me several things:
1. Obama has a lot of weight on his shoulders. A lot of expectation. People throughout Europe that I have met and also in the news are expecting him to fix not just the United States economy but the World economy as well. One European I spoke with told me it was a World election not just one for the United States. Good Luck Obama. Good Advisors. Good Decision Making Skills. And Good Family and Friends. You´ll need them.
2. I eat more when I travel.
3. Don´t take anything for granted. Your ability to walk. Having arms. Your ability to breathe. Clean Air. Your family. Your friends. Your culture. Your nation. Your freedoms. Your education. At the same time, don´t limit yourself to your culture. Teach your children to love newspapers instead of the Nintendo DS if you want to. Bring them to see Modern Art at 5 years old and explain the paintings. (There was a huge group of kindergarten aged children with their teachers looking at the Reigna Sophia.) And most of all, teach yourself to try new and uncomfortable things. As long as it doesn´t harm yourself or anyone else. Push your boundaries.
4. Small gifts are the best gifts. Otherwise you´ll spend the day and night before sitting on your suitcase trying to get everything to fit and hoping your zipper will hold. OR Get a really, really, really big purse to go with your carry on.
There is no place like home. And I think we all take that for granted sometimes.
Traveling has taught me several things:
1. Obama has a lot of weight on his shoulders. A lot of expectation. People throughout Europe that I have met and also in the news are expecting him to fix not just the United States economy but the World economy as well. One European I spoke with told me it was a World election not just one for the United States. Good Luck Obama. Good Advisors. Good Decision Making Skills. And Good Family and Friends. You´ll need them.
2. I eat more when I travel.
3. Don´t take anything for granted. Your ability to walk. Having arms. Your ability to breathe. Clean Air. Your family. Your friends. Your culture. Your nation. Your freedoms. Your education. At the same time, don´t limit yourself to your culture. Teach your children to love newspapers instead of the Nintendo DS if you want to. Bring them to see Modern Art at 5 years old and explain the paintings. (There was a huge group of kindergarten aged children with their teachers looking at the Reigna Sophia.) And most of all, teach yourself to try new and uncomfortable things. As long as it doesn´t harm yourself or anyone else. Push your boundaries.
4. Small gifts are the best gifts. Otherwise you´ll spend the day and night before sitting on your suitcase trying to get everything to fit and hoping your zipper will hold. OR Get a really, really, really big purse to go with your carry on.
Jess it was closed :(
Dear Jess,
Didn´t get your e-mail until after the visit. After walking, and walking, and walking all over only to find that the restaurant was only 2 blocks from our Hotel...it was closed.
We´re still on U.S. time for eating dinner. They didn´t open until 8:30PM. It looked lovely from the outside and the menu yummy. But the restaurant wins a pout from me because it dares to stay on Spanish dinner time in the middle of Spain. How dare they!
Of course I´m kidding. Tonight is our last night here so unfortunately, it will have to wait until the next time.
Didn´t get your e-mail until after the visit. After walking, and walking, and walking all over only to find that the restaurant was only 2 blocks from our Hotel...it was closed.
We´re still on U.S. time for eating dinner. They didn´t open until 8:30PM. It looked lovely from the outside and the menu yummy. But the restaurant wins a pout from me because it dares to stay on Spanish dinner time in the middle of Spain. How dare they!
Of course I´m kidding. Tonight is our last night here so unfortunately, it will have to wait until the next time.
Woosh whoosh
Did you know that when you´re swinging the light saber it actually makes that sound? Yeah. How do I know this?
Because.
Because I´ve done it. Swung the real deal and not some plasticy thing from Walgreens. How many of you can say that? Hunh?
Okay. Now that the geek in me has had its playday...
The lightsaber has the sound built it in so you don´t have to make the noises on your own. It´s quite cool. We waited a long time while news crews shot with it since there was only one. It was fun.
The Star Wars Exhibition was quite well done. I´m not including any photos of the exhibition itself here because A. it wouldn´t do the exhibition justice and B. I don´t want to ruin it if anyone does go. On a different note Joao is actually a sound designer not a sound engineer. (Sorry Joao.) He did a very nice job.
The models are exquisite pieces of artwork on their own and the drawings and the whole set up was really great. They have costumes and masks and descriptions and it´s all very well lit. I highly recommend if you´re in Madrid anytime between tomorrow and March of 2009 that you should go. They have original pieces from all six of the films and they´re organized by planet.
Haven´t you always wanted to visit Tatooine? Or was that just me?
Because.
Because I´ve done it. Swung the real deal and not some plasticy thing from Walgreens. How many of you can say that? Hunh?
Okay. Now that the geek in me has had its playday...
The lightsaber has the sound built it in so you don´t have to make the noises on your own. It´s quite cool. We waited a long time while news crews shot with it since there was only one. It was fun.
The Star Wars Exhibition was quite well done. I´m not including any photos of the exhibition itself here because A. it wouldn´t do the exhibition justice and B. I don´t want to ruin it if anyone does go. On a different note Joao is actually a sound designer not a sound engineer. (Sorry Joao.) He did a very nice job.
The models are exquisite pieces of artwork on their own and the drawings and the whole set up was really great. They have costumes and masks and descriptions and it´s all very well lit. I highly recommend if you´re in Madrid anytime between tomorrow and March of 2009 that you should go. They have original pieces from all six of the films and they´re organized by planet.
Haven´t you always wanted to visit Tatooine? Or was that just me?
The Star Wars Exhibition sign
No, I don´t know where I´m going. But as I climb the stairs out of the Metro station I see this sign.
Okay. Yes, I´m in the right place.
I told Joao that I wouldn´t be able to drop in on him until Friday since we had some visits to the Prado and the Reigna Sophia to do. (BTW - those museums are awesome. Works from Picasso and many other famous artists I have never seen before--even in books.)
I walk around to the tower. Okay, big sign but no sign of the exhibition. There´s a museum nearby so I pull out my handy dandy language translator and learn how to ask for directions. When I go in the lady walks me out and points speaking in Spanish the whole way.
I don´t know if she fully understood my question. But the "Star Wars" part of it was very difficult to misunderstand.
It took a bit of doing but I found the entrance. There was a Jedi Knight school. Very interesting. I walk in. The security people say that the exhibition doesn´t open until tomorrow. I say, yes, I know that I´m looking for Joao and I have his phone number but it´s a Portuguese number and he asked me to meet him here.
I show them the slip with all of his handwriting and she says "Ah...Lucasfilm?" And I say, "Si!"
Another security person walks me down and tells me where to go. He also says there is a big press thing going on right now. Uh oh. I should have called.
I walk down to the entrance. A bit intimidated because I´m literally seeing about 7 news crews just from the entrance shooting stuff. (There were many more than that there.) Giving myself a moment I notice a man who obviously works there with his back to me.
Taking a closer look after I get my bearings I tap him on the shoulder.
"Alice!"
It´s Joao.
He takes me around and we take photos. The news crews are having a lot of fun and are really excited. I´ll talk more about the exhibition at the next entry.
Okay. Yes, I´m in the right place.
I told Joao that I wouldn´t be able to drop in on him until Friday since we had some visits to the Prado and the Reigna Sophia to do. (BTW - those museums are awesome. Works from Picasso and many other famous artists I have never seen before--even in books.)
I walk around to the tower. Okay, big sign but no sign of the exhibition. There´s a museum nearby so I pull out my handy dandy language translator and learn how to ask for directions. When I go in the lady walks me out and points speaking in Spanish the whole way.
I don´t know if she fully understood my question. But the "Star Wars" part of it was very difficult to misunderstand.
It took a bit of doing but I found the entrance. There was a Jedi Knight school. Very interesting. I walk in. The security people say that the exhibition doesn´t open until tomorrow. I say, yes, I know that I´m looking for Joao and I have his phone number but it´s a Portuguese number and he asked me to meet him here.
I show them the slip with all of his handwriting and she says "Ah...Lucasfilm?" And I say, "Si!"
Another security person walks me down and tells me where to go. He also says there is a big press thing going on right now. Uh oh. I should have called.
I walk down to the entrance. A bit intimidated because I´m literally seeing about 7 news crews just from the entrance shooting stuff. (There were many more than that there.) Giving myself a moment I notice a man who obviously works there with his back to me.
Taking a closer look after I get my bearings I tap him on the shoulder.
"Alice!"
It´s Joao.
He takes me around and we take photos. The news crews are having a lot of fun and are really excited. I´ll talk more about the exhibition at the next entry.
They Don´t Move That Fast
Earlier I´d shown Walter how to adjust his camera for actions shots. He was trying to get a shot of a moving man. No explanation needed.
About 5 minutes later
"Later, I want to get a photo of a fast moving whore."
Silence. Another beat of silence. Third beat. And one that makes it just a bit too long without a response. He looks at me. I look at him at the same time. Simultaneously, without a word be both start laughing. Hard. Belly laughs. It was an odd moment of realizing that I had misheard what he had said and he guessed by looking at my face what I thought he had said and I could tell by looking at his face that he didn´t say what I thought he had said.
It was a good 10 minutes until I found out that he had said "horse" and not "whore."
When we were explaining later to Carlos what I thought he had said Walter replied, "Whores don´t move that fast anyways."
Another round of laughter.
We laugh. But these poor young women. I´m told that in Spain the age of consent is 16 years old. No wonder they look so young. In Britain it´s 14 years old. Walking down Grand Via toward the offshoot that brings me to this internet cafe they are around 24 hours a day.
A few days ago I was walking in my brown crop pants, these wacky yet preppyish stripped socks, brown Keds, and my black jacket with purple scarf--headed toward the internet cafe. A youngish man is talking with a hooker, as I´m about to pass he jumps in front of me and propositions me in Spanish. I respond with "Hunh?" and a look that communicated across the language barrier enough for him to move out of the way. The young woman said something to him behind me that I interpreted as You´re mistaken, she´s not one of us.
Okay, I know I´m a bad dresser. But I am so not giving off a hooker vibe. The next morning I ask my travel companions about it and they agree that I neither dress like a hooker nor give off the vibe so the kid was high, drunk, or thinks all women are hookers. Great.
Overheard, "Hola ______(fill in the Spanish word for whore here)"
"Did she just say `Hola ______?´" one of my friends asks the other as we continue to walk past.
"Yeah."
They look at each other incredulous. I´m taking in a scene of one woman dressed to the nines greeting another woman with a male companion and a dog. They do the standard European air kisses on both cheeks. Neither of them look like whores. Instead they look like well to do older women.
" EEEE holay" I don´t know how to spell eee holay but that´s what it sounds like. That´s what came out of Carlos´mouth. It seems appropriate.
eeeee holay
About 5 minutes later
"Later, I want to get a photo of a fast moving whore."
Silence. Another beat of silence. Third beat. And one that makes it just a bit too long without a response. He looks at me. I look at him at the same time. Simultaneously, without a word be both start laughing. Hard. Belly laughs. It was an odd moment of realizing that I had misheard what he had said and he guessed by looking at my face what I thought he had said and I could tell by looking at his face that he didn´t say what I thought he had said.
It was a good 10 minutes until I found out that he had said "horse" and not "whore."
When we were explaining later to Carlos what I thought he had said Walter replied, "Whores don´t move that fast anyways."
Another round of laughter.
We laugh. But these poor young women. I´m told that in Spain the age of consent is 16 years old. No wonder they look so young. In Britain it´s 14 years old. Walking down Grand Via toward the offshoot that brings me to this internet cafe they are around 24 hours a day.
A few days ago I was walking in my brown crop pants, these wacky yet preppyish stripped socks, brown Keds, and my black jacket with purple scarf--headed toward the internet cafe. A youngish man is talking with a hooker, as I´m about to pass he jumps in front of me and propositions me in Spanish. I respond with "Hunh?" and a look that communicated across the language barrier enough for him to move out of the way. The young woman said something to him behind me that I interpreted as You´re mistaken, she´s not one of us.
Okay, I know I´m a bad dresser. But I am so not giving off a hooker vibe. The next morning I ask my travel companions about it and they agree that I neither dress like a hooker nor give off the vibe so the kid was high, drunk, or thinks all women are hookers. Great.
Overheard, "Hola ______(fill in the Spanish word for whore here)"
"Did she just say `Hola ______?´" one of my friends asks the other as we continue to walk past.
"Yeah."
They look at each other incredulous. I´m taking in a scene of one woman dressed to the nines greeting another woman with a male companion and a dog. They do the standard European air kisses on both cheeks. Neither of them look like whores. Instead they look like well to do older women.
" EEEE holay" I don´t know how to spell eee holay but that´s what it sounds like. That´s what came out of Carlos´mouth. It seems appropriate.
eeeee holay
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