You deserve each other, this hat and you

A recently posted comment:

1 Comments:
Anonymous said...
you need to have more things about wicked

6/29/2005 4:29 PM

Well! I've never been one to turn down a good suggestion. More things about Wicked indeed!

First additional thing about Wicked: Oh. My. God. 3/4 of our office (not including the canine constituency) is obsessed with the soundtrack. 1/4 is going to see Wicked again when it comes to San Francisco, 1/2 is seriously considering shelling out the $150+ to go see it again when it comes to San Francisco.

Second additional thing about Wicked: Kristin Chenoweth. In all her squeaky glory. That woman has got a set of pipes that would make Celine Dion blush.

Second additional thing about Wicked, part two: Taylor the Latte Boy, as sung by Kristin Chenoweth (about 3/4 of the way down the page).

Third additional thing about Wicked: "Defying Gravity." Eventually, I'll post this song here. It just gives me chills--and you can download it as a ringtone here.

More additional things about Wicked later. We'll end today's discussion with this image:



Check her out. Don't mess with Elpheba, man. She's defyyyyyyying graaaaaaaaavity...

I Heart NY

Girl: Are you mad at me?
Guy: No.
Girl: Are you being sarcastic?
Guy: No.
Girl: Now are you being sarcastic?
Guy: No.
Girl: Now are you being sarcastic?
Guy: Well yeah, now.

--B45 bus

Some would say best site ever, but I never use superlatives. I will say, however, that there is much foul language. Consider yourself warned. Then laugh your (bleeping) (bleep) off.

Did I mention smoked salmon? Oh, I did?

On the menu this weekend: lox, and lots of it. I will be trying 2 methods of curing some of this salmon that's taking up all of the room in my freezer. A got a recipe for gravlax from Rhonda's friend, which calls for curing the meat with salt and sugar. Plus, the Weber site shows you how to turn your charcoal grill into a smoker. You're all invited, but only if you bring the bagels and cream cheese. And capers. What's more patriotic than alder-smoked Pacific King Salmon? Not a thing. Certainly not hot dogs, baseball, apple pie or Chevrolet, so just shut it.

And they only thing even half as patriotic as the aforementioned smoked fish? Shopping. Well, consumerism in general. And thanks to little miss DRB up in Portland, I'll have to consume these shoes. In red latigo leather. Mmmmmm, economic stimulation.

There's grilled salmon, fried salmon, salmon scampi, salmon gumbo, salmon cocktail, smoked salmon...

I know this person who is pretty neat. I hold her in pretty high regards, and tend to view her words as law. Recently, she told me that I haven't been writing enough in my blog posts. Too many pictures, she says. They're nice pictures, sure, but she wants more words. To her, I say this:



and this:



That's right. You heard me.

Last Saturday, I attended a deep-sea-fishing-surprise-birthday-party for my friend, Silverman. Her boyfriend APV set the whole thing up. We set sail aboard the Captain Joey at 6 am, out of the Bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge, and we kept going until we were 30 miles (or 264 knots...or something) out in the Pacific Ocean. Then, we fished. For four + hours. And, surprisingly, I never got bored. A little nauseous, sure, but never bored. And the best part is, I caught a 20 pound Wild Pacific King Salmon (not the best part for the fish, I'm guessing).





What have we learned? Fish on both sides of the country fear me. And if you're a sea lion, you'd better stay the heck away form Capt. Mushy.

Gone Fishin'

Pictoblog

I got the first 3 rolls of film from NYC-DC developed, 2 Holgas and an Action Sampler. Some highlights:



My brother brews beer in his Williamsburg, Brooklyn apartment. The whole dang place is filled with metal coils and giant glass jugs and things that create various types of carbonation. It's a great place to take pictures of light reflecting off of things. Things like beer-making equipment.



From the top of The Empire State Building, through the haze.

There should really be a warning on maps of Washington DC and Metro stations and hotel lobbies warning tourists NOT to use the Washington Monument as a directional landmark to try and find their way to or from somewhere. It looks the same on all 4 sides so it's incredibly disorienting. You might think you're walking from the Lincoln Memorial to the Smithsonian via the Bureau of Engraving, but you're actually walking form the Lincoln Memorial to the White House via some messed up path known as "The Eclipse." And since, by city ordinance, no buildings can be taller than the capital building (3 or 4 stories), there aren't a whole lot of other tall landmarks to use as directionals.

I'm just saying.

Back in Action

Being home is nice. Don't let my lack of posts since my return lead you to beleive that anything is amiss. I'm simply trying to work my way through this lovely pile of paperwork and other such action items. I'ts great to be home, the dogs, cats and I couldn't be happier (unless, of course, a certain boy were not in London). Tonight, we celebrate with BBQ!

Home sweet home

Four and half hours early for my flight home...honestly, sitting at the airport is better than spending another minute in the hotel. I'd lie by the pool in the sun, but I don't think my skin could take yet another sunburn, and I seem to be more or less immune to sunscreen. Besides, this is one step closer to home, one step closer to my own bed, one step closer to my own shower, one step closer to Cecil B DeCouch (AKA Patsy Recline) and my pirate's booty of TiVo-ed shows--including, but not limited to: the new season of the 4400, Hit Me Baby One More Time where washed-up pop stars and one-hit-wonders fro the 80's compete for the adoration of the home audience, a la American Idol, countless episodes of The Venture Brothers... Ah, I can already feel my brain preparing to go into hibernate mode.

Of course, Dulles airport is also one step closer to my precious and precocious 4-legged friends, those furballs who own most of the available real estate on my heart. (Technically, I'm also one step closer to Max, but he's still in London for another week, and I'm trying very hard not to focus on that.)

Unless there's a free wireless hotspot here (doubt it), I won't be posting this until I'm actually back in my apartment, and chances are my computer will be the last thing I want to deal with once I get there. So hopefully, when my hundreds of eager fans are reading this, I'll be fast asleep with an Oz at my head and a Nanna at my feet, TV softly glowing in the background...

On my way home

Honest Abe: Correction

In my post the other day about the Lincoln assassination display, I wrongly identified the bloody sleeve as that of Lincoln. It is actually the sleeve of Edward Curtis who assisted in the autopsy. Thanks again, Sarah Vowell!

Early evening on the National Mall

It's humid in DC. Just look at that frizz:



Granted, it was a blustery day yesterday. Perfect weather for checking out the National Sculpture Garden. Yep. Some of our national art is damn strange.



And some of it so awesome, I would hypothetically cross the "Do not cross" line in order to get a better picture. Hypothetically.



Washington DC is more than a city of National thises, National thats, and National the others. It's also a global city of internationalness. Hence the International Spy Museum. It's fun to learn about how the whole world lies to one another in order to learns each other's secrets. And the gift shop was extraordinary. Plus, the sign is super snazzy (you know how I feel about marquees).



I know, I know. "What about the conference? You know, your job?" The conference is going well; it's good to see the international community coming together to promote Small Business. Plus, I get to practice my Swedish. There's a huge focus here on Women's Entrepreneurship, which is exciting especially as some of the Middle Eastern countries are starting to give their female citizens a few more of the freedoms afforded to their male counterparts--financial freedoms, physical freedoms--the elements necessary in enterprise creation. I've always felt that if the women in some of these more volatile societies had more freedom and social responsibilities, there would be less fighting, less religious fundamentalism, less classism and racism, and more education--the US included.

How's that for a tangent?

Honest Abe

We spent yesterday morning at the National Museum of Heath and Medicine in the Walter Reed Army Hospital. Wait--it's better than it sounds. We saw formaldehyded conjoined twins, the history of prosthetic limbs, a hairball shaped like a stomach (removed from compulsive hair-eating girl), and real, live leeches! But the best part was the bullet that killed President Lincoln. It was on display along with bits of his skull, the probe used to dig the bullet out from it's resting place, 6 inches deep in his brain, and a piece of Lincoln's sleeve with drops of blood on it. The whole thing was fascinating.



Fittingly, we spent the evening at the Lincoln Memorial (along with 2,500 high school students. If you come to DC in June, prepare for lots and lots of high school students.). That building is the definition of majesty. I've just started reading Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, and she was a real Lincoln fan. The fact that I heard her voice narrarating as I read the Gettysburg Address on the side of the monument really made the whole experience even more surreal--and more pleasant.



Today I had time to briefly check out the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and the Albert Einstein Planetarium before the work began. Conference set-up went smoothly, and it looks like the International Council for Small Business is ready to rock and roll.

admittedly, it's been a long trip from BEA to the Lake to DC, and I'm missing my dogs and cats something fierce. Ozzy had another emergency trip to the doggie dentist and is now minus one tooth. Luckily, I got him a giant stuffed plush halitosis germ from the Health and Medicine Museum--no teeth necessary.

The McPherson Square metro station

Taking the Metro in DC

The Blog is Back

(Warning: this entry contains graphic images that may offend some sensitive readers. Approximately eight fish were harmed in the creation of this entry.)

After seven glorious days at Arnold Lake, I am enjoying the amenities and air conditioning in my hotel room in our nation's capitol, Washington DC. Let me just say, there is nothing like spending your days swimming, canoeing, and walking around the lake. Here are a few pictures to prove it:



There was much paddling of the canoe. It's just like riding a bike! But wetter.



And where's there's a lake, there's fish!



Thankfully, where there's fish, our neighbor Chuck is close at hand to do the dirty work:



Now that's good eatin'.



We left it all behind today as we boarded the plane from Albany to Washington.



We are now enjoying the beautiful yet muggy Crystal City area, complete with underground mall, metro stop, and lovely fountains.



Soon, I will have remembered how to post blog entries that are more than just pictures. I promise.

Milford, NY: buying bait

Barcade

After listening to some fantastic jazz at the Jewish Community Center in midtown Manhattan, and eating some delicious fresh beet salad in a French-style bar/cafe in South Williamsburg, the only logical thing to do is to drink micro-brewed beers in a bar that has allllll the old arcade games--Donkey Kong, Galactica, Ms. Pac Man, you name it. There were other strange things about the bar, but none really worthy mentioning. The evening became admittedly hazy so even the lack of salted peanuts at the bar seemed strange to me.

In two hours, we'll get on a train to Albany on route to the Lake, leaving the exhilaration of New York City behind. It will be a bittersweet departure.

Guess where I am?

Site-seeing in NYC

@ The Planning Shop booth, day 2

Reading Are Fun!

Book Expo America: Day 2.

2 late nights of theatrical entertainment.
2 many free books to ship home.
2 swollen feet.

The taping of The Daily Show was so great. It's as if Jon Stewart and I have this standing date, every year, on or around BEA. It's magical. Or something.

Last night we saw the musical Wicked, and we were absolutely blown away. Talk about a spectacle! And the music was awesome, the performers were outstanding, the story was clever and touching. The post-theater, times square rueben sandwich was $24.95. You know I love New York!

The combination of the disney-esque music form Wicked and the bagpipe player who's been in the BEA lobby the past two days has made for some strange music going through my head.

At Wicked, the musical

BEA day 1: still smilin'

Arthur and Paul waiting @ the daily show

Dedi waiting @ the daily show

Hard at work

Start spreadin' the news...

At the airport, about to board the plane