What is there to say?

The wedding was INSANE. My flight was cancelled, so I then had to fly to Boston, where my parents picked me up. There was a huge rainstorm and flash flooding, which required us to pull to the side of the road in an attempt to keep the car from stalling/flooding. Eventually I made it to the rehearsal dinner at 10pm. Just 5 hours late. No big deal. Fortunately I've been in a wedding or 2 so I knew what to do. What a tiring weekend.

Not even in North Carolina

When I left work last night it was still REALLY hot. At 9:20pm, it was still 92 degrees outside. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure we didn't even see that kind of weather in North Carolina. 85 overnight maybe, but I don't remember 92 at 9:30. Any of you still living down there can correct me if I'm mistaken :)

Fortunately, it apparently stormed like crazy last night (either I finally slept through something or it didn't hit very hard here). 125,000 people lost power in Chicagoland. By the way, I didn't make up that term, Chicagoland, it's actually what they call it. I guess it's shorter than saying "Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area" or something.

In other news, I'm utterly exhausted and haven't been able to work on my stupid paper nearly as much as I wanted to. The end is in sight, and yet it looks way too far away to handle right now. I just want to be done, but I'm afraid if I leave it with half of the second section finished it will look pretty lame and my advisor will clearly be able to tell that I pooped out on the end of my paper. Sometimes I wish I was satisfied with mediocrity. But then I suppose I wouldn't be in grad school to begin with. eeeeek

Carded

For the first time in my life, I wasn't carded at a bar. How can this be? you might ask, since I do indeed look about 12 (unless it was the huge bags under my eyes from the utter exhaustion I'm experiencing thanks to heat, garbage trucks, and construction next door). Well, it was either because I was out with 3 other single girls who are in their late 20s (ok, Tiffany's a little older, but we won't mention that) :) and they just figured I looked older, or maybe they don't care as much here in the Windy City. I do know that the girl skipped over me when we ordered at the first place, but maybe I didn't look ready. In any case, I ordered 2 drinks (definitely my limit in these new, almost entirely non drinking days) and didn't have to show an ID one time. I can't decide whether this is a good thing or not. I'll get back to you.

The Domestic Science Recipe of the Day

I can't keep it to myself any longer.

Scallop Salad
Soak the scallops in salted water; simmer five minutes in boiling water; drain, cool, cut in slices and marinate with French dressing. At serving, drain, mix with equal bulk of celery; dress with mayonnaise; shape in a mound. Mask with mayonnaise. Outline designs on the sides of the mound with capers; fill in the designs with chopped white of egg and figures cut from beets.

I expect everyone will now rush out to make it. For the sake of historicity, I will include the source of the spectacular recipe. If you're a student with access to the American Periodicals Series database, feel free to check out the picture that goes with the recipe. Janet McKenzie Hill, “Dishes to Tempt the Palate,” Ladies’ Home Journal, September 1900, 23, http://proquest.umi.com.

You know you love her

After only 2 years with this adorable little kitty, she finally decided to use the bed I made for her.



You will not type any more! Ok, maybe you can type a little, but please try not to disturb me. Your keyboard makes a very nice pillow! (What I imagine PJ was thinking as I tried to type my paper last night. Fortunately she didn't actually press hard enough to type anything, or, worse yet, delete, but she certainly wasn't appreciative of the clicking by her ears. By the way, I'm trusting that no one will steel the fantastic piece of writing that's visible on the screen :) )

Manny

Andy always says that one day, when we're old, we'll talk about the days when Manny Ramirez played the way people talk about Aaron, Gehrig, Mantle, and the others. I'd say that's a pretty accurate statement, considering Manny's lifetime 20 grand slams - just 3 less than the all-time leader, Gehrig, with 23. Will he surpass that number in his career? Most definitely, barring some horrible disaster. David Oritz, who has been on fire the last few days only has 8. Of course I say only - that's still quite a few when you think about it. Not only do you have to hit a homerun, but you have to be batting when the bases are loaded. This doesn't happen everyday.

Of course, we shouldn't count Ortiz out - Ramirez and Ortiz hitting 3 and 4 is one of the best combos ever. I'm not just saying that because it's the Red Sox, either :)

Red Hot Chili Peppers trivia

I've been an off and on fan of the Chili Peppers ever since 5th grade when my friend Lauren and I would sing Under the Bridge while swinging on the swingset in her backyard. I'm sure we sung it other times, but that's what I distinctly remember. I can credit Lauren with introducing me to MTV as well, probably much to my parents' chagrin, but I had to learn about Kriss Kross somehow, didn't I? Well, that's another story.

Anyway, while trying to figure out what mysterious Chili Peppers song I like, but whose name entirely escapes me, I searched the library's holdings of their CDs. Maybe the name would come to me? Well, it still hasn't, but I've learned a whole lot about the Chili Peppers. First, they've been around since 1983, and Flea and the singer guy with the long hair are original band members. Others have come and gone, due in part to a lot of drug use (including singer guy. No idea if he's cleaned himself up or not)

Second, 5th graders love the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day. I know this because I work with 5th graders. This makes me feel cool and old at the same time, since someone in 5th grade now was decidedly not alive in 1991 when Under the Bridge was released. They're not even old enough to have experienced Dookie the first time through (1994). Is this how our parents feel when we "discover" some group from their childhood? eek.

Third, apparently the Chili Peppers' red hot new single, Dani California may actually be a downright copy of Tom Petty's Last Dance with Mary Jane. Some guy actually put together an mp3 that compares the two songs. For more info on that, check out Wikipedia - there's probably a lot out there on the regular old internet as well.