weekend update

/ lintqueen / 7 Comments

Thursday night my friend artykim and I drove down to Myrtle Beach for a “Girl’s Weekend” with Mary Jean (my roommate from high school) and three of her friends from Shelby (where she grew up), Linda, Susan and Becky. Kim and I yabbered the whole way down (except for the bit where we were slurping down our McFlurries — I <3 road trip food) *and* scored product goodness BIG TIME at a Walmart in, erm, Conway?, South Carolina (1).

Once at the beach, we proceded to get on with the main order of business, drinking. Two appletini’s and a bunch of catching up later, we fell into bed, exhausted, and slept for 10+ hours!

Friday, after a muffiny breakfast (and much needed coffee), we went for a golf cart ride around the resort, including a cruise by my most favorite house (which was on the market last summer when Jeff and I were there… for a measly $650,000ish :-O We also saw alligators (cute in a really ugly kind of way) and many many birds (most of which either Kim or Mary could identify, which was nifty).

Post-carting, Kim and I were bound and determined to get some beach time in, despite the fact that the weather was none-too-good to start with and the pressure was falling. We trundled off towards the beach (Mary was kind enough to drop us right at the beginning of the boardwalk for conservation-of-knee purposes) and, upon assembling the proper equipment (lovely, if heavy, beach chairs), started the beach-intensive portion of the vacation. We finally gave it up when the sky had darkened, the wind had starting blowing rather fiercely, we’d gotten a bit chilly, *and* Mary and Becky came down to the beach to fetch us as they’d seen the wetness coming.

Then the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down.

Eventually (feel free to insert “gabbing” during any unaccounted for periods of time in the narrative), we went to dinner at Bovine’s, a steakhouse, which is situated next to Devine’s, a seafood house, in the next little town over from Debordieu. We thought about writing the owners and telling them they should open a bar-b-que joint next door and call it Porcine’s, but then we remembered that we were in South Carolina and their idea of “bar-b-que” would not be the pulled pork which we knew and loved (we’re all North Carolinians, except for Kim, who has attained semi-native status at this point).

Back at the ranch, we made a giant vat of frozen lemon drop mix(2) and played board games. The first, called Sequence, was basically Tic-Tac-Toe with more variables, and the second, Taboo, is my favorite game ever. I have *many* words, which is a distinct advantage in Taboo.

Saturday (upon waking, late-ish, unsurprisingly, and seeing the rain, rain, rain come down, down, down) we decided to go shop, see a movie, have dinner and go to a dueling piano bar (really). We headed down to the outlet mall (where I scored a cute shirt and *fabulous* 50’s style dress [on UBER CLEARANCE!! 30% off the 40% off of the “Off Fifth” outlet price — yah me!] for a few hours, then on to Broadway at the Beach, a bizarre mash-up of mall, amusement park, restaurant row, bar strip, mini golf and movie theatre, where you can take the whole famdamily for a day’s fun (or so it would seem).

The movie was Monster in Law…it was ok, but not good enough I want to bother looking up a link for it. Then on to Landry’s, a pretty decent seafood restaurant (had fried oysters, which I’d have never known I’d like had it not been for ferociousbcycad, as I thought I hated oysters thanks to my one experience with raw (ew!) oysters with thebroomecloset… not his fault. His ex-girlfriend’s fault. ;-) Finally we rounded out the evening with a visit to Crocodile Rock (a dueling piano bar). Embarrassing admission: I *love* dueling piano bars.

It was an odd musical mix, though, as it apparently was Harley Bike Week at Myrtle and the bar was filled with hundreds of Harley guys and gals. The mix was heavy on the Southern Rock (Alabama, Skynard) and heavy metal/hard rock (Aerosmith, Poison). I did get them to play “Blister in the Sun” which was fun, and they did play some of the “classic” piano bar songs (“Piano Man” etc.), so it wasn’t all music I don’t entirely adore. That being said, the combination somewhat singable music, a fun bunch of girls and jello shooters served in giant faux syringes(3) turned out enormously well. We got home at 2:00am (it was an hour’s drive), and I had to pack, so I went to bed at 3:00am.

I got up at 8:30 to get ready to go to the airport (an hour away) for my 11:30 flight to DC for my 2:45 (delayed from 2:00 :( flight to NYC to the cab ride (Midtown tunnel closed due to construction…had to route up to the Queensboro Bridge) to the Path train to Jersey City (where Jeff’s place is). Arrived at 6:30, exhausted.

So, I’m in NYC telecommuting this week. And I think that catches me up.

(1) There’s this self-tanner, Jergens Natural Glow, that apparently works, even for the perpetually pallid such as myself (and one of the shades is “Light” as opposed to the “Black Hole Sun” shade that most self-tanners come in). It’s been in a bunch of mags, on TV and is hyped all over the ‘net, so I was determined to try it.

You can’t get it in the Triangle. It’s sold out at CVS, Eckerds, Walgreens and Walmart. Yes, I called them all. The CVS on Garrett was supposed to be getting a shipment last Wednesday, but when I called them to confirm, they told me they’d gotten notice that the warehouse was sold out.

They are selling on eBay for 1 for $11.00 (plus shipping and the ever-so-popular “handling”) or two for $20.00.

So, you can perhaps imagine my joy (even if you’re not a product junkie like I) when, upon stopping into Walmart for Visine (Tim & Kim have doggies and the essence-of-doggie in the car, though faint, was still making my eyes flip out a little), I actually remembered to go check the self-tanner department (as demarcated by a giant yellow awning hanging from the ceiling, covered in beach balls and deck chairs) and found *six* bottles of the much sought-after lotion. Kim bought one. I bought the other five, figuring that even if it doesn’t work on me, there’s always eBay… :-)

(2) This was a great idea in concept: big plastic bucket full of stuff, which you add vodka to, stir and freeze. The execution, however, was flawed, as it didn’t taste anything like a lemon drop, particularly not the yummy ones that Steve makes. It was sooooooo bitter (not sour, really) that I had to add four Sweet-n-Lows and two spoonfuls of sugar before I could drink it!

(3) Thereby solving the number one problem of jello shooters — how to get the jello out of the little cup. These you just squirt into your mouth — whee!!!

One more oddity

/ lintqueen / 7 Comments

Of late, I’ve been watching Sex & the City (yes, I know, I’m like 40 million years *after* the fact on this one, but they’re on TBS now!) and at this point in the series Carrie is dating “the Russian,” played by Mikhail Baryshnikov.  The whole time I am watching these episodes I’m thinking to myself “he’s vaguely familiar”, but attributing that to the fact that he’s Mikhail Baryshnikov and that I’ve seen him in other things before.

…

(ok, the ellipses are [ellipsis is?] a complete cop-out as far as narrative structure goes, but I’m tired)

When I was at Duke, I worked in Tech Support to earn spending money.  Mostly I did light hangs and sound checks, but every once in a while, Mark Kitchens, the Tech Support manager would call me with an interesting opportunity, like working a show (I saw Fine Young Cannibals, amongst others, that way).

Early1 one Saturday morning, Mark called me and said he had a gig for me that he was _sure_ that I’d want to take, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.  I trusted him though, so I got dressed and headed over to the office to see what needed doing.

There was a VCR that needed setting up.  In a guest room at the Washington Duke Inn.  In Mikhail Baryshnikov’s2 guest room at the Washington Duke Inn.

Yes, I met him.  Yes, he’s just as …mmmmm…. in person.  Yes, it took me three episodes to put the two and two together to get the four.  :-)

1 Back then, as now, “early” means anything prior to 8:30am.  That’s not to say that I get up at 8:30, oh no…in fact, I often get up much later than that.  But when I have to *do* anything before 8:30, then I consider it “early” (and try to avoid it whenever possible).

2He was on campus doing Stephen Berkoff’s “Metamorphosis,” based on the Kafka novel.

5 Questions

/ lintqueen / 4 Comments

from mckenzee
1. Dessert?
yes.
2. Do you have any allergies?
Only two: the indoors and the outdoors (dust, pollen, dander)
3. If we met and I had a limp, moist handshake, would you be disturbed?
Though I am ashamed to admit it, probably yes. I am sure I’d get over it, though!
4. A man in a fedora is standing in the rain, struggling to light a cigarette. What music is playing?
You know I am getting completely stuck on this one…the radio in my head is *very* loud and quite insistent, and since “Whenever You’re Away from Me” from Xanadu (which I saw at the Carolina Theatre last weekend) is currently stuck in it, that’s what’s playing. At least it’s the right era in style (late 40’s-early 50’s), if not in tone (too chipper).
5. Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced? Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful?
Pretty sure there’s a movie reference here I’m missing, but I’ll take a stab anyway… I am experienced. I have been experienced. I’m beautiful (in my own way, or at least that’s what Ray Stevens says), and have perhaps been…erm, elevated. :-)

And now you comment to this post and i will ask you five burning questions. You then post the questions and answers in your journal so everyone can learn a bit more about you too.  (Yes, we’ve played this one before, but this time I’m having a rainy Friday.)

Stupid way to injure yourself, #112

/ lintqueen / 13 Comments
  1. paint your nails occasionally
  2. sometime, when you think of it, forget to tighten lid on a bottle of nailpolish
  3. set said nailpolish bottle on your bedside table
  4. knock it over
  5. discover it several days later
  6. bemoan the slow leak which has become a puddle, affixing your bottle to the tabletop
  7. pry the sucker off, using a screwdriver
  8. bemoan the fact that you took some of the nightstand varnish with the bottle
  9. use the nailpolish to refinish the bit of the nightstand you just de-varnished (well, it’s not like it was a *nice* nightstand)
  10. return nailpolish to its rightful home (the spiceracks on the closet wall where all the nailpolishes live…clever, eh?)
  11. forget
  12. for a long time
  13. decide, on the spur of the moment, that you need to paint your nails (heck, you’re going out to see Xanadu…now that’s a nailpolish-worthy occasion)
  14. try three bottles of nailpolish whose caps are thoroughly stuck on (it has been a while since you’ve painted your nails, hasn’t it?)
  15. think about using your teeth to open one of the stuck ones
  16. think about the three crowns you already have and decide that’s a bad idea (for once!)
  17. find a bottle of nailpolish whose cap seems to be willing to turn, if somewhat reluctantly
  18. rejoice
  19. grab the bottle in one hand and the cap in the other and tttwwwwwwiiiiiiiissssssttttt
  20. OW!!!
  21. look down at thumb
  22. notice the blood
  23. realize that there’s a knife-like shard of dried nailpolish stuck to the side of the bottle that you just dragged your thumb across
  24. wonder why there’s this flat, sharp nailpolish blob on the bottle

25. remember the nightstand
26. find the liquid bandage
27. sigh

tee hee

/ lintqueen / 1 Comment

funny is as funny does

Pope choosing

/ lintqueen / 2 Comments

If it were me, I’d have been Pope George Ringo III.

:-)

/ lintqueen / 3 Comments

In the World Of NotFun category: tonight I’m writing my Grumps’ obituary. No, he’s not dead yet (please no Monty Python jokes), but my mother and aunt wanted to be prepared. As the holder of the advanced degree in Journalism, that makes it my job.

(I know it makes sense to be prepared, and I know that the last thing I probably want to be doing when the time comes is frantically drafting an obituary. Still, it’s making me cranky.)

ETA: I am honored to be doing this. It’s just thinking about Grumps not being around that’s making me not-happy.

/ lintqueen / 2 Comments

Via trillian42 and repeated here ’cause one day I’ll want to find it:  Tact Filters.

Weekend in review

/ lintqueen / 9 Comments

So the weekend, all told, was pretty good.  Saturday night Jeff and I went out to Thai Palace in Chapel Hill, where the Tom Kha Gai was not as good as normal, but the Mee Krob and spring rolls were delicious.  Before we left for the restaurant, Jeff had the foresight to think to call Target to see if they had wheelchairs — and they do!  After dinner, we headed over to the Target were I was darned pleased to be able to scoot around in their motorized wheelchairs — free and unencumbered.  Sadly, I am not a particularly good motorized wheelchair driver, and every time you back one of those suckers up it *beeps beeps beeps* loudly, calling attention to the fact that you’re not a very good driver.

Earlier in the week, my friend Kim came to visit and brought me both a delicious dinner and Peeps treats, including a peeps egg-dying kit.  Now, I love to dye eggs… it’s part of the whole holidays-being-a-big-deal when I was a little girl.  We took come again-Harding, tree-decorating and Easter egg-dying quite seriously, spending hours and hours perfecting our designs and executing them.  Many years ago, I had an egg dyeing brunch at my house and had friends over to dye Easter eggs… that was a great deal of fun, but I haven’t had the opportunity to dye eggs ever since, so I let at the opportunity.

Sunday morning, Jeff and I dyed Easter eggs — and it was a blast!  I don’t think he completely understood the seriousness with which I approach projects like this, so he might have been surprised by my requests for crayons, masking tape, candles, the spare egg dyeing hooks that I keep in the junk drawer (no kidding, really I do), etc. In fact, he only vaguely remembered dying eggs as a child himself, and seemed to think that dyeing eggs consisted primarily of dumping them in a single color, and then eventually fishing them out.  I showed him the joy that Easter egg dyeing could be (and his eggs were quite pretty!).  The best yet, later this week I’ll devil them …mmmmmmmmm… deviled eggs..

Sunday afternoon, I decided I needed sustenance of substance for dinner, and wanted a stake.  Jeff was kind enough to run to the grocery store and get steak and sweet potatoes for me.  While he was gone, I broiled some asparagus that we had on hand with butter, olive oil, lemon juice and sliced almonds to go alongside (note: cooking on crutches is no more fun than any of the other routine things to do on crutches. feh.)

He came home with not only steak and sweet potatoes, but also an Easter lily, which I’ve always wanted, but never had.  I didn’t realize that they smelled so good…

Then, after dinner — super-treat!! — Jeff brought out the cupcakes that he’d gotten for me from the store (at the Target the night previous, I’d had fits over the woman in front of us in-line, who had cupcakes..), and we watched the remake of The Avengers, which was actually pretty terrible.  Oh well, the cupcakes were delicious.