The 25 Things Thing

Lately I've been reviewing my online identity. This involved going through my facebook profile in depth. And I discovered: The 25 Things thing. 25 facts about yourself. And if you're like me and enjoy A. talking about yourself and B. learning about other people, then this is the sort of thing you'd get a kick out of.
It was a forwarded note (Do you remember "notes" on facebook? Do you remember before there were even photo albums on facebook?! Or... before there was facebook?)

I'm re-posting my 25 things. Its too good not to revive....

Wowza! This is a great way to kill some time! Here goes...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. When I was little I used to meticulously string spinach leaves to sticks and attach them to my mom's exercise equipment and eat them during elaborate fantasies in which I played a brontosaurus.
2. I once played what I believed to be a very clever trick on my mother in order to get out of taking a bath. If you find poop in the bathtub and blame it on...uh...someone else?... your parents will not make you bathe in feces...
3. Once Mel and I spent a week preparing a very complicated, choreographed dance to Michael Jackson's Bad, with bad ass costumes and all. There is video proof.
4. I love cheese, and I used to have mom shred a bowl full, which I would sculpt into little cheddar birds nests. Then I'd place paper birds in it until I got bored with that game and then I'd eat it. Not the bird though, eating paper would be ridiculous.
5. I played the viola for a year, and I learned the piano by finding the same note on my viola and then taping all the note letters to the keys, which my parents were equally impressed and furious about. I can't read music anymore...sadness
6. When I have nightmares they always involve having to cross pits filled with alligators.
7. Speaking of dreams, I don't have reoccurring dreams, but I have reoccurring dream locations (a giant hotel, an amusement park, a dream version of Paris, etc...) which can get weird, cuz as a result, sometimes I can't tell if a place I remember is a dream place or a real place.
8. I have a cat. Her name is Vega. She has a lot to say. Sometimes we get in fights, because I don't want ANYONE to sit in my lap when I'm in the bathroom. She doesn't understand that.
9. I'm a little embarrassed by the amount of toilet humor, food play and weird dreams and fantasies that are surfacing in this list and I am once again psychoanalyzing myself. I think Freud would have a lot of opinions here...
10. I've traveled a lot. I really like France. Its charming and lovely.
11. I got bed bugs in Italy. So I don't like Italy as much as I like France.
12. I adore my family. All of them.
13. Brian and I once rode the escalator of the Toys R Us in Times Square up and down for like a half an hour taking pictures of ourselves with the cool neon light squares behind us (if you've been there, you know how amazing this is...also the giant moving T-Rex in the legos section ROCKS). Then my computer died and now the pictures no longer exist. A devastating loss.
14. I once directed a play: Shoppers Carried by Escalators Into the Flames. It is one of my proudest achievements and if you knew about when it was being performed and didn't come see it, I secretly hold a giant grudge against you and will not forgive you, which is totally immature, but true.
15. I have a subscription to the Sunday New York Times, The Economist, Smithsonian, and National Geographic, which makes me feel very intellectual...but I mostly just look at the pretty pictures...
16. I LOVE pretty pictures and want to believe that photography is not dead, but I got a degree in Art, which just made me a cynic and a critic. Studying art is like learning that Santa isn't real. It ruins the magic.
17. I think its possible to be too intelligent for your own good.
18. I was an extraordinarily awkward tween. Big bangs. Bad skin. Braces. Wardrobe of a 40 year old man going through a mid life crisis. Could have used an intervention, Mom...
19. I have a 2 foot tall statue of the Virgin de Guadalupe in my kitchen.
20. I am obsessed with The Office, and I think its because I also misproununciate my big words and I too want to have fifty children, because then they'll all have to be my friend.
21. My favorite people are all old men or little boys... so if you are always full of sage advise and complain about the service in restaurants, and you're also totally fussy and really like hot wheels, then yes, I will marry you.
22. I once sang a song about molluscum. I will sing it for you if you'd like. Do YOU know what a molluscum is? (I bet you're googling it right now...)
23. I do not have a molluscum.
24. I'm scared of kids, because I know they are smarter than me, and I really respect them, and when I get over that fear, I want to teach them awesome things someday, like how to get out of bath time...
25. I grew up in South Dakota, and I have nothing but wonderful memories of everything and everyone there, and my backyard was like paradise surrounded by lilacs and happiness and if I could be seven years old and in my backyard in South Dakota forever, eating cheese and playing dinosaurs, I absolutely would.

Notes:
*6./7. I haven't had an alligator OR a reoccurring location dream in a while! Odd...
*15. My subscriptions to date: Sunday New York Times, The Economist, Real Simple (I read them for the reading. I still have all those Smithsonians and National Geographics - for the pictures. :)
*19. Now she's in my bedroom.
*24. I do teach kids now. I love them. I'm no longer afraid of them. And they are pretty awesome, but they're definitely not smarter than me.

Jammin!

A visit from a dear old friend, and a delightful brunch - perfect summer day.

With Sarah making a mad dash through Chicago to help her brother move into Marina City, I knew there were a few activities we had to make happen hurriedly.

Mainly: brunch. Our old favorite!

I'd heard nothing but great things about Jam, a hip local brunch place just down the street, and having not been yet myself, it was a perfect fit. In true form, I order a savory meal, Sarah a sweet one. (We're the happiest odd couple imaginable.)


Note how BLUE these blueberry pancakes are! We asked the chef - there is nothing artificial involved, simply fresh berries turned to a jam and then added to the batter. Every bite is steeped in berryliciousness. And note those cute little toppings on the side? Adorable AND yummy.

Color me lovely! Pretty pink and gold and blue!

Its official: I'm in love. With this phenomenal savory buckwheat lamb crepe. I died a little...

Nom nom nom...

And of course following brunch, we walked to two of my favorite local shops, Greenheart and Renegade Handmade, where Sarah grabbed some gifts, and I grabbed her a felt pin shaped like Illinois with a heart on it, in my continued efforts to encourage her to return to this beautiful city. And in our gift bags from Renegade? Bubbles! So what else would two gals do but walk down the street and blow bubbles to celebrate a beautiful day?

Oshkosh - Oh my gosh!

I've had the crispiest, most wonderful weekend!

Things I did:

I road a scooter with a 150cc engine through a field filled with campers. (that means it could go fast, which I did, and it was delightful)

I camped - Camping elements included: brats, campers, fires, potatoes, pot-o-lets, mosquito bites, happiness.

I threw a football around / bumped a volleyball around in a grassy field in Wisconsin in the sunshine. I fell asleep in that sunshine in a grassy field and awoke to parachutes with giant American flags falling out of the sky. And got a crispy sunburn to match.

I saw some really amazing airplanes doing some really amazing tricks as well, which I could elaborate on, but instead I will simply encourage you to attend Oshkosh before you expire. So. Much. Fun!

Here's a sampling for you of the different types of fires I saw:

Fireworks!

Firewall!

Campfire! (featuring happy feet)

And for your viewing pleasure, a video of one of the first nighttime pyrotechnic airplane shows! (also featuring my squeals of delight in the background)



Serious shout out to Jen and Angela for bringing me along on their fantastic summer tradition: camping at the Oshkosh Wisconsin annual Air Show.

Followed Oshkosh with a delightful jaunt to Milwaukee for lunch. Stumbled upon Alterra on the lakefront. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for a lunch outside in a fun new city.

Cappuccino, Gazpacho, and Asparagus/White Cheddar sandwich, with a side of Murakami to go.

Thanks Wisconsin for such a delightful weekend!