Drew: Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes.
Me: ?
Drew: That’s the aquarium…that’s it. Good thing.
Me: Okay.
(Pause)
Drew: It has two heads.
?!
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Category: Drew
Categories
Google me
I wanted to go back through my Google search terms in my phone, because I like revisiting the things I’ve needed to look up while I’m on the go. It’s amusing and can bring back some happy memories. (Like all the Harry Potter stuff I’ve googled.) Unfortunately, I realize that my phone actually only keeps the terms for a couple weeks – major bummer.
So, in order from most to least recent, here they are:
Rampion – I had radicchio at dinner last night…which led to me wondering if that was in the Witch’s “rap” in the opening song of Into the Woods…which led to us doing the rap…which led to Drew saying, “Do you think she entered her rampion in competitions?” (“my rampion, my champion”)…which led to me googling rampion to see exactly what it was. (I was positive that it was a type of lettuce, but it’s just a flower.)
BART schedule – took BART to Berkeley the other day. Checked the schedule a lot.
Lakeport English Inn – I had to find their phone number so I could call and double check that they weren’t cash only. (They’re not.)
Not with a bang but a whimper – The title of the final Dexter episode is “This is the way the world ends,” so then I said, “Not with a bang but a whimper,” and then Erin and I were debating what that quote was from. Then we were talking about how in The Westing Game (the best kids’ mystery book ever), one of the characters says that every quote is from the Bible or Shakespeare. I guessed that this was actually a quote from a Yeats poem, but it’s TS Eliot, which I totally should have known.
AJ Jacobs Drop Dead Healthy – Potentially my next book club pick, although it’s just come out and I’d like to wait to get it until it’s in paperback. At any rate, I love AJ Jacobs!
Fiona Fullerton – there was an oldschool version of Alice in Wonderland on TV, and I thought the actress playing Alice looked familiar, so I googled her. I do not know who she is at all.
Lego game of thrones – Someone recreated the Game of Thrones opening sequence in Legos. It’s okay. It would have been better if they had used the actual theme song, rather than using a weird “brand X” version of it.
Mahogany – On Facebook, The Hunger Games posts daily typography images that fans have done. Good examples are here and here. (That second one is worth a look around – she has some really stellar work, not just The Hunger Games but also Harry Potter stuff, and others.) A bad example is one that used the quote “That is mahogany” but spelled mahogany wrong. I was just double checking that I was spelling it right. Because I’m an insufferable know-it-all like that. (I did not comment on the post or anything.)
Whore of Babylon – Dexter again. Just wanted to get some background info on the whore of Babylon.
How long does it take to get from London to Hogwarts? – Well this is self-explanatory. And the answer is, all afternoon. The train leaves at 11am and arrives sometime around 6 or 7 in the evening.
Low blood pressure – Just wanted to know what was considered low blood pressure. Just keeping healthy.
Handicapped parking san Francisco – Just curious if it’s true that if you have a handicapped placard, you don’t have to pay for parking in the city.
5k miles – The Arthritis Walk was 5k and I wanted to double check what I got myself into. (3.1 miles…so not much.)
Professor kettleburn – He taught Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts before Hagrid took over.
Professor sprout – We needed to double check her first name. (Drew was right, it’s Pomona.)
Carrie underwood blown away – I wanted to show Drew the cover for Carrie Underwood’s new album. Mostly because Jonathan said it looks like the winner of a Judith Light drag queen contest, and I knew that Drew would think that was funny.
Sorry, Carrie Underwood, you know I love you. (But I like you so much more when you’re all country and down-home kinda girl. This is just a lot of glitter, and a lot of leg.)
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Sleep Talking 20
(I’m not 100% sure he was asleep; he may tell me later that this was all fully conscious. But I don’t think so.)
I got up at 3am to use the bathroom, and when I came back, this happened.
Drew: You okay?
Me: Yeah.
Drew: You sure?
Me: Yeah…I had a lot of tea right before I went to bed.
Drew: That is not good. That is NOT. GOOD. *snore*
(I knew it wasn’t a smart idea to down that whole cup of tea at 10:30, but I did it anyway. Because that’s how I roll.)
A foodie, I am not. Which is to my own chagrin, when someone suggests going somewhere “fancy” or “exotic.” (And probably to Drew’s chagrin, when I order chicken katsu yet AGAIN.)
It should probably be considered a character flaw. I’m just not that adventurous when it comes to food. I wonder if I can blame it on growing up somewhere without a lot of exotic food. I mean, the one Chinese place in Lakeport is called Hong Kong. And I still think it’s delicious…but I’m not sure how Chinese it is.
I had sushi for the first time in high school (out of town)… Thai food for the first time in college… and Indian food for the first time about 6 months ago. (Since THAT little work-friends lunch, I’ve definitely been called out in public for my vanilla palate. But I mean…turkey sandwiches and Greek salads are just so good. Why would you change it up?) Among the things I haven’t tasted yet: Moroccan, Ethiopian, churrasco.
It doesn’t help that I’m not really into spicy stuff. I got a quesadilla at this taqueria the other day, and accidentally ordered it with the spicy chicken. Oops. Trying to find the non-spicy option can be limiting at certain establishments. Also embarrassing, in general.
But I have been reading back through my livejournal entries (whoa, right?) and I found this entry about Drew’s and my farewell-to-New-York dinner, back in July 2009. (I just realized I titled that entry “food food food delicious food.” I didn’t try so hard, back then.)
We dressed up all fancy and went to Gotham Bar and Grill in Greenwich Village. Luckily, because I’m a hoarder of information, I wrote down exactly what we ate that night. (Most of it is taken exactly from the menu, which is why it’s so specific. But the Gotham Market Pasta is a seasonal thing and so I didn’t have the exact wording.)
I had:
SMOKED MAGRET DUCK BREAST
fresh figs, mostarda di frutta and pecorino tartufo
balsamic vinegar reduction
GOTHAM MARKET PASTA
last night’s special was fettuccine with mushrooms, spinach, and cheese. I’m sure they would have worded it better than that though.
CRISP SOFT SHELL CRAB
chanterelles, asparagus, sweet corn and brown butter aioli
white verjus sauce
He had:
BLACK BASS CEVICHE
honeydew melon, hearts of palm, grapefruit and radish
jalapeno cucumber broth
FOIE GRAS AND ORGANIC CHICKEN TERRINE
toasted brioche, kumquat marmalade and balsamic vinegar
RACK OF LAMB
swiss chard, roasted cipollini and potato purée
For dessert:
RHUBARB PINEAPPLE SOUFFLÉ
rose petal jam, crisp meringue
strawberry ice cream
and
GOTHAM CHOCOLATE CAKE
with seasonal ice cream
I remember thinking it was delicious. And I remember, at the time, thinking that going out to a place like this was a good idea. But then it makes me wonder…what happened that I changed my tune, so that I just want grilled cheese and apples with peanut butter? And am I hiding this flaw well enough? Also, what is an appropriate occasion for me to suggest Outback Steakhouse? Or do I need to just bring it up ironically and then see what people’s reactions are? Alternately, would Outback deliver lunch to my work?
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Cribs
We keep telling ourselves we have plenty of time to get everything ready for this baby, and that’s kind of true. But we had our crib just sitting around in the box, so today we put it together.
Here’s the “before” shot:
This was an exciting moment – realizing we didn’t need any additional tools and that all the pieces are carefully sorted and labeled for you!
So step one is to…dump all the pieces out onto the ground in a pile. (Bonus points if the pieces are about the same color as the carpet.)
After a false start or two, we got our sea legs and things started coming together.
Love the finished product! We still have 80% of “nursery” stuff to go – including a crib mattress – but if the crib is the centerpiece, then we made some real headway today.
I tried my hardest to update last night, but my computer was completely uncooperative, and so here we are.
Yesterday I was just going to say a little bit about cravings/aversions, because I think it’s kind of interesting. I haven’t had a lot of cravings, per se…I don’t think it’s fair to blame pregnancy for wanting milkshakes every other day (I do not automatically give into that “craving”), or for my current phase of eating tortilla chips and salsa every chance I get (delicious!). I also have been enjoying drinking water a lot more than I used to…can’t complain about that.
What I’ve seen more of is food aversions – things that I used to love that I can’t stand anymore. I really liked beets, but now they sound repulsive (the mix of vegetable matter and sweetness? or something?). I’ve been avoiding a lot of vegetables, actually, including broccoli and squash, both of which I used to like. I like carrots and peas, which are both fairly sweet, and I wonder if that has something to do with it? I’ve also been avoiding eggs in all forms, and roasted garlic, which I used to eat with a fork. I’ve been trying to make up for the lack of vegetables with fruits, and sneak vegetables in wherever I can.
This morning Drew and I got up early and went up to Crissy Field in San Francisco for the annual Arthritis Walk. We were on an 8-person team headed up by our bff Erin (who works at the Arthritis Foundation), and I believe our team raised about $1200.
It was a totally beautiful day for walking around by the water, and before the walk started there was time to hang out, get some breakfast, and even check out the various entertainment…like this awesome marching band!
I’m not sure what you call a band that is just marching in place…but later they marched to start the actual walk.
At this point I stopped taking pictures, but Erin was enlisted by her work to run around and take photos of everything. It was a great way to start the morning!
The other day Drew put on a jacket he hasn’t worn in over seven years (apparently) and said, “Oh wow, guess what I just found?”
My first thought was Twenty bucks??
But what he showed me was kind of way better than that.
This is the ticket stub from the first movie we ever saw together. It was January 9, 2005, it was a Sunday, and I think it wasn’t actually a date.
I remember that I was running late getting to the theater, and parking was hard to find, and he was already waiting and had already purchased his ticket. I don’t remember how late I was but I hope it wasn’t bad – I know now how much he hates being late. Oops!
While we were reminiscing about this movie, I asked him why it wasn’t a date, and why he didn’t buy my ticket, and why we didn’t do anything afterward. His response was, “I don’t know…but don’t worry, everything worked out in the end.”
It’s just so weird to think about – when this ticket was printed, we were just two people who went to school together. And then less than three weeks later we had started down a path that would lead us inexorably to New York City and back, to marriage, to starting a family…and that’s all within eight years. There are so many more years yet to come!
I saved the ticket stub, by the way. I mean…wouldn’t you?
Categories
Sleep talking 19
Drew: Look, what did you say?
Me: Nothing.
Drew: Look…What?
Me: No one said anything.
Drew: Okay.
Me: I didn’t say anything.
Drew: Okay.
Me: You’re crazy.
Drew: Okay.
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“Will Work In Seattle”
As I mentioned, this weekend I was at an arts marketing conference with NAMT (National Alliance for Musical Theatre) in beautiful Seattle, Washington. It was gray when we arrived, and yet within 2 hours of being there, 3 separate native Seattlites (that must be what they’re called, right?) had commented about how great the weather was. On Friday and Saturday it was actually pretty clear and nice, for which I say to you, Seattle, YOU’RE WELCOME for bringing up the California weather, and leaving the Bay Area in rain.
I thought I would make some lists about this weekend, since I love making lists.
Things I learned at the conference
- Doing post-show audience surveys (every show, every audience member) is very useful
- Lots of theatres in NAMT are not non-profit (we are)
- We should allow patrons to take their drinks into the theatre
- People are greatly divided on “tweet seats” (I’m on the “opposed” side)
- Lots of people get around discounting by raising the ticket price, and then cutting it in half, but really it ends up being about the same cost that it was originally – tricky!
- Some people think you should give your patrons special treatment, not if they’ve been just a long-time subscriber, but you should use a more “What have you done for me lately?” approach
Awesome shows I saw
- First Date – a new one-act musical, a co-production between ACT and 5th Avenue Theatre (loved it!)
- It Shoulda Been You – a musical comedy at the Village Theatre, with a major twist right before intermission
How much I overpacked
- Two tank tops (even though I used four, or something…that is definitely classic overpacking)
- One work top
- One long-sleeved non-work top
- Two pair of socks
- One pair of underwear (that’s technically not overpacking, that’s just good planning)
- One book (I finished The Night Circus, read about 100 pages of The White Castle, but didn’t crack open Bright Lights, Big City yet)
What I missed about California
- My own bed (well…sort of my own bed)
- My own toiletries (the hotel stuff was all lemon-sage-scented, which is fine, but isn’t really my style…and there’s never enough conditioner, am I right?)
- Wireless internet (the hotel wifi was all over the place, and impossible to get on in some places)
- Free time
- (And most of all) Drew!
Categories
Sleep Talking Is Legal! (18!)
Twice in one week! Can you believe it?
Drew: You don’t know.
Me: ?
Drew: Why it goes from this one to the blue box.
Me: What goes?
Drew: *mumbles something that sounds like “wizards”*
Me: ?!? What?
Drew: Razors.
Me: …Oh.
The Cameraphone Diaries 