Month: February 2005 (Page 1 of 6)

Bekah asked what a happy Thai dance actually was, and unfortunately, everything I wanted to say to describe such a dance ended up sounding like Ashlee Simpson doing a hoedown. Not happy. I would imagine, though, you’d have to combine the Bangles’ “Walk Like An Egyptian” with some very delicate footwork and bending knees. Think “King and I”. And to really perfect the dance, you’d need one of those Jell-O mold hats, preferably in gold.

I’m having a rep lunch at Thai Place today, so that’s always nice to eat for free. Though, as the t-shirts at a favorite lunch spot in Minneapolis always declared, “There is no free lunch.” Which I didn’t understand when I was there – dude! A sales rep is taking me to lunch, I’m relatively poor, this is a good thing! Free food! Then, the older I got and the more value I placed on my time, the more I understood why the lunch really wasn’t “free”. Combine it with some of the experiences I have had with reps and really, I should be charging an hourly fee in addition to my meal being paid for. I hate those lunches. I really don’t go on them anymore, because the sensation of wanting to chew my arm off to escape the Lunch Trap isn’t very appetizing.

But that is not the case today. My rep is an old friend, we hoot with laughter, and I think she looks at me with a little bit of amazement sometimes, that I’m so blunt and honest and not at all put off by her. Sort of like looking in a mirror.

I may try out the Thai Happy Dance and see what she thinks. Too bad I left my Jell-O mold hat at home today.

Obviously, reason #1 is that I do not have any training as an accountant.
But I can pretty much guarantee if I were one of those Oscar ballot counters?
I’d be all,
(in saucy, yet conspiratorial, tones)

“WELL. You didn’t hear it from me. BUT. Let’s just say it’ll be more like ‘Happy Harry’, not Dirty Harry, next week.” Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

“And let’s hope that boxer girl remembers to thank her husband this time around.”

Last night, I installed Windows 2000, upgrading my computer. Ya. Upgraded the OS, and eeeeverything else went into hiding! So yay! I get to geek out and re-organize my computer. It needed re-organization, but goood gollly miss molly. I have to hide & seek out every single document and image and file I had before I upgraded. It’s the equivalence of a tornado coming through, and while it didn’t destroy everything? It put everything into your neighbor’s yard, and now you gotta go get it and put it away. And re-install every lovin’ program I had on here before the upgrade. First item of bidness is to figure out why everything is in like, Gigantor Font for the Blind.
The terrier is on task. (I will come back in my next life as a rat terrier of some sort. I will get squeaky toys and shake them until their squeakers are gone. I will shake with excitement if I think an intruder is approaching. I will not rest until all my duties are done. Is it any wonder how much I enjoy Kyra’s dogs? Grin!)

I love Saturdays! I love bacon! :) James is kindly cooking me some bacon and the smell of it is making me giddy. High on life, high on bacon. Who needs that black tar heroin, folks?

It’s always fun to do pictures. I’m posting a picture of the in-progress socks for James, who requested “Black and yellow socks, please.” I said, “You realize you will have bumblebee socks?” “Yes, that’s fine.” I’m using Regia self-striping, and these are definitely socks with character. I always do both socks at the same time, and am partial to two circs. Both skeins seemed to start at the same point, but as you can see, not quiiiiiiite. One had a little more black at the beginning of the skein, and so when I finished the heel & joined the instep, one sock has even a little more character than the other! A little jaunty strip of yellow marching across the instep. I sorta like it, but I did offer to -shudder- duplicate stitch it if he didn’t like it. Actually, that was before bacon or coffee, that offer. So it would actually make more sense to just take a Sharpie to it. But it doesn’t matter, we’re leaving them as they are. Yay! Socks!

Then, we have a few pictures of my friend Kyra’s dogs. They are SO FUNNY! I just love ’em. The first time I saw them, they were all perched on the couch, at various levels, staring intently at someone who was eating. They are intense little dogs, and they make me laugh laugh laugh. Thursday night, I gave Sammy a modified hairdo – I swirled his hair on top of his head into a bit of a mohawk. He was lookin’ fierce. Kyra’s got stories for each of her dogs, as Tommy makes belts in Guatemala and sells them on the beach, Barkley’s a math professor, and Sammy’s exact story escapes me, but he wears tough guy clothing, I recall that much.

Inspired, I told James last night that Polly wants to take guitar lessons, but Suzy only wants to learn bass. We got at least 30 minutes of laughter out of that with more to come, I’m sure.

Enjoy your Saturday. Get some fresh air. Eat some bacon. Love the good people in your life and forget about everything else.

Dance of the Bumblebee socks for James 

OH MY GOD do you have something for us to eat? Do you have any rats that need catchin’? We are ready to move out and on to task in an instant.  

What’s happening. What’s going on. We are Jack Russell Terriers and we demand to know everything, right now. Sammy (left), Tommy (top), Barkley (rounding out the bottom) 

Tommy & Sammy, chillin’, but ready to move at a moment’s notice. 

Whilst getting a Diet Coke from the machine, a co-worker walks up and says, “Jennifer? Have you been to Thai Place in Westport?”

I had to lean on the machine, I couldn’t stop laughing, and I was certain I was being set up somehow.

The co-worker looked confused. “What? Did (the other) Jennifer already ask you this?”

Me: “No. It’s just that I go there, like, 3x a week.”

And on the Thai Food Front: Whilst getting donuts this morning (I’m not sure where this 14th century English affectation is coming from, please let it blur by), I drove by the now-defunct China Spring, and it appears, in fact, that everything my former-Thai-Place waitress told me is coming true: they are under new management and opening soon. As a Thai restaurant. Peeps, having this restaurant means hot Thai food will now be available a mere 6 blocks away. They are long, irregular blocks, but all the same. A Happy Thai Dance Must Now Commence. Prithee.

So, I thought I’d move on and do another post. You try, too. Props and recognition to Friday’s Feast.

Appetizer – Name something that makes you scream.
Well. I guess that would be PHIL FUCKIN’ KLINE. And bad drivers.

Soup – Who is a musician you enjoy listening to when you want to relax?
Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, October Project

Salad – What was the last book you purchased?
A Treasury of Magical Knitting” by Cat Bordhi. I saw the sequel last night & thought the first book had to be rockin’. Hello, my dear friend Amazon. You make it all so easy.

Main Course – If you could live one day as any historical figure, who would it be, and what would you do?
I would be an unknown assassin who killed Adolf Hitler before he could come into power. If this is not Quantam Leap & I can’t change history, then, I would be Dorothy Parker & hanging out with my Algonquin Round Table chums.

Dessert – Tell about a time when you were lost. Where did you end up? How long did it take you to get back to where you were going?
Oh sweet mary. I was on a business trip, and we were going to Adamsville, TN, (you turn south just past, I kid you not, Bucksnort TN.) We left Nashville, and our puffed-ego twit account director was driving (he was wearing a scarf, and DRIVING GLOVES), and of course was in charge, as he had been to the client before. He went the wrong direction on Hwy 40. FOR AN HOUR. We saw a lot of pretty countryside, but when three of you are squeezed in the back of a Jeep, it is not comfortable. Why rent a Jeep for five people? Because Jeep used to be his account when he was Big Time. So he only rented Jeeps. A couple of other people kept asking, “Are you sure this is the right direction?” I always called him the Bloviator. Because he wouldn’t ever SHUT UP. (Bloviate is a word: to speak or write verbosely and windily.) And I lost my temper because he tried to blame US for going the wrong direction and in one of the few instances I didn’t bite my tongue, I screamed back, “If you hadn’t been going on and on talking & waving your hands TALKING the whole time, like you do in every Monday Morning Meeting this wouldn’t have HAPPENED.” Oddly enough, my outburst didn’t affect our relationship. He was just. that. self-centered.