Sunday, June 29, 2008

Birds of a Feather . . .

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flock together.

Not one, not two, but THREE Priuses? Prii? Priuseses? They seem to seek each other out, Greg/us included.

I half-expected another Prius to join the crowd by the time we got out of the movie (aside: Wall-E = quite good).

Monday, June 23, 2008

Queuing Day

The summer between 8th grade and freshman year of high school, my family went with my dad to China on a business trip. Likely the first time I'd ever been to China, since I don't remember any visits prior to that. Aside from the usual tourist attractions (Summer Palace, Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City), we also paid a visit to a McDonald's where there was some crazy lack of appropriate line formations that resulted in what I consider to be mini-rioting. To many (American) people, cutting in line is unacceptable ("No cuts, no buts, no coconuts!"), but it appeared to be the norm in that McDonald's (which I can only logically extrapolate to be indicative of China in general). I think either one or both of my parents had to elbow-and-shove their way to the front of the line to put in our order. (“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” or more accurately, When in China, do as the Chinese do).

It's funny that queuing (a.k.a. "waiting in line") has now become a topic of concern for Beijing's city government with the 2008 Olympics quickly approaching. So much so that the situation calls for queuing days. For Americans (Western society in general, I'd venture to say), waiting in an orderly line is what we were taught to do as soon as we were old enough to follow directions. Line up to go to lunch, line up to go to recess, line up to come back from recess, line up to wait your turn for anything and everything (real rioting and concerts excluded). Can you imagine what'd it be like if things that we normally waited in line for turned into a free-for-all?

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Home Improvement

Some final touches to our house recently:

Sconces in the hallway niche

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Fans with lights on the patio

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Planters with succulents

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On a related note, some of our plants and trees in the backyard are not looking so hot. On the verge of death, says Greg. I feel like a failure :(. At least we have a three-month warranty.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Landscaping the Backyard - Finale

The backyard is done!

Too bad the weeds are pervasive, because I already had to pull some.

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Tomorrow: first-ever backyard BBQ!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Disarray

While on our California trip, a little mishap occurred when the kitties were, for all intents and purposes, locked out of the laundry room (the door being closed and them having neither the height nor the opposable thumbs with which to open said door) where their litter box resides. Due to the unfortunate aforementioned circumstances, kitties had no other choice but to utilize the rest of our house for their bodily functions. The hands-down favorite alternative to the inaccessible litter box? Our new sofa + chaise.

  • Microfiber cushions stripped, washed, and air dried? Oui oui, mon ami.
  • Down layer stripped, washed, dryer dried, and bake-in-the-sun dried? Si, senor.
  • Foam core sprayed with enzyme action pet cleaner? Indeed, my friends.

The challenge is not to take the cushions OUT of the covers, but to put them back INTO the covers. The house, due to active couch cleaning efforts, has been in disarray, much to Greg's dismay.

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Good news though! We're finally done washing cushions and covers and are ready to (attempt to) reassemble the couch. So don't worry, Stephanie&Julio/Brad&Tara, the house is scheduled to be back in Greg-shape by this Saturday. Except for my craft room. Which I will state here and now, will only be cursorily straightened, but not cleaned.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Disneyland and Club 33

No (Southern) California trip is complete without a trip to Disneyland, as Greg would have it.

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Our trip to Disneyland this time included a visit to Club 33 - most definitely the highlight of the Disneyland trip.

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Lunch at Club 33 was the most expensive meal I've ever had to pay for myself, BUT that did include the price of a one-day park hopper ticket. The salad bar and dessert bar were buffet-style, with the entrees served at the table. I think I was most impressed with the presentation of the desserts (though seafood lovers might be happy to know that shrimp and lobster were included in the salad bar):

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The picture really doesn't do it justice, although Greg's got some close-ups in his web album.

Another memorable aspect of Club 33: the toilet. It's shaped like a real chair!

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I am not a dork for taking a picture of the toilet.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Wicked

Elphaba, where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it "history."

A man's called a traitor - or liberator
A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist
Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader?
It's all in which label
Is able to persist
--The Wizard

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Greg and I saw Wicked at Pantages Theatre in Hollywood last night!

Analysis: So good!

Before seeing the play, Greg had been playing the soundtrack for months, so we knew all the songs already. Actually seeing the play really filled in what we didn't get out of the soundtrack, though. It was a very good and entertaining musical with an interesting premise, particularly when you think about the events in Wicked in relation to the events in Wizard of Oz. I recommend seeing it.

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