Of rabbits and conventions and such

First off, Rabbit, Rabbit!! Good luck in May, everyone! Here's a picture of a book I haven't read yet, but it's now on my radar.

This year's convention, held very close to Washington, D.C., was pleasantly accessible to us, and as usual, there are always some memorable moments.

The Big Outing this year was a trip to the Library of Congress, where there was to be a special exhibit of rare magic books. We and a small crowd of seniors waited around quite a bit for our arranged bus, but that's okay, we had a nice, scenic ride, and on the way there, I was surprised to see that The Washington Monument was completely shrouded in scaffolding. I'd totally forgotten that there was an earthquake. It looked like an incredibly long tooth with braces.

Anyway, when the bus let us off at a spot not too far from the library, I began to realize just how old some of our convention companions were. Truly, my hat is off to these elderly men, keeping up with their hobby when their bodies no longer want to travel. I didn't even know that one could hail a golf cart for the quarter mile trip around the capitol building to the library. It is getting more important every year to simply see these men again. I must resolve to be more friendly and chatty. The library's security was strict, though a young person would barely notice. Ekim and I deposited belts and such in plastic bowls and sailed through, while these gentlemen still had hearing aid batteries, pacemakers, hip replacements, and whatnot. Security was cutting them no slack. Now, I do realize that even a person who can't walk up a flight of stairs could have a bomb planted on him, but at the time, all this attention did seem bizarre. Perhaps this is fallout from the Boston tragedy.

The exhibit was not at all what we'd expected, which means there weren't many books involved, but there were some lovely antique posters and prints, along with some rare and fascinating newspaper clippings, mostly about Harry (Houdini). The print that caught our eyes the most was titled

The Maid of the Moon

Source: google.com via sharyl on Pinterest

The one we saw in "person" was in black and white, though there is a colored version out there.

And...there was also an auction, where Ekim got a great deal on a bibliography (he collects meta books), and we got to see another rare Harry Houdini artifact, which was not overpriced at $10,000. Actually, someone has already blogged about this. Back in 1903, Houdini toured Russia, and this was the contract, in Russian, which the famous magician signed with both his stage and real names, "Harry Houdini" and "Ehrich Weiss." Anything with Houdini's signature will bring a nice price, but this double signature is fascinating. The person who is rumored to now own this, who the above blog refers to as owning a big ass warehouse in Las Vegas, is David Copperfield. (Ekim and I were lucky enough to tour it several years ago.)  Auctions are always interesting...Special K, who outbid everyone on the Houdini contract, was staring at his cell phone the whole time, barely raising his hand for each thousand he was bidding.  I took this to be either a nervous or affected habit, since we expected him to get the prize anyway, but it turns out that he probably was in constant contact with...someone else.

Oh, and there is always a magic show the last night, and this year's was very enjoyable. Well, except for a certain guy I find way too creepy, but he came on at the end, and so I just ducked out. Seriously, I cannot deal.  There was also Eric Henning, a great local magician who performed for the Obamas and was effusive about the experience, and the great close up magician and card manipulator, Darwin Ortiz.



And, I ate too much. There are so many restaurants in the Bethesda, MD area, and you can choose any--and I mean ANY--ethnicity you want. We found a Gordon Biersch brewery in the immediate vicinity, an Indian restaurant, and...

This is The Black Market Bistro. I so want to live in this tony neighborhood, where you can stroll down the street, dine or cocktail at a fabulous place, run/walk a trail, or catch the train/metro. Perfect....


And now we're home, jiggety jig, and I will try to be more moderate.


And this is a blog post about one of the nice guys were met this year! Cool beans.


Happy May, everyone! What's going on?

Stuff and Time

Some stranger called this past Saturday, mentioning something about driving through neighborhoods, picking up donations for a thrift shop (what, what, what, what?), but I had to declare that we had nothing to declare. Sure, we have JUNK. Lots of years of junk that maybe I'll start looking through, such as all the tapes I used to play in mine and Ekim's cars, back when we had tape decks in our cars. I'd taped all my favorite CDs. If I get rid of all those tapes, what am I gonna do with this very nice tape deck we have? My records were history years ago, apart from a couple souvenirs, so we never use that turntable we still have. Well, the stylus is finished, anyway. It's an ex-stylus, expired, gone to meet its maker. It's passed on, and the thought of asking some teenaged clerk for a stylus! (I was going to finish that sentence, but) The record player and the tape deck are living in space that could be used for something else, and I will probably get motivated to remove them when I have a clue about what that something else should be.

Contemplating pronouncing the word "stylus" in front of kids reminds me of a rather funny story one of my coworkers told me about her son. Her son and his friends were choosing theme songs for each other, and Coworker thought that a particular young man should choose the song "Flirting with Disaster" by Molly Hatchet. Her son replied, "Uh, I don't think he'd pick a song that's sung by a girl."
It's strange that I got that right away, even though I've never heard a woman's name in that name before.

Anyway~

The space that's being occupied by the dinosaurs could be used to shelve more books, since I seem to keep buying used paperbacks. I do have a Nook, and yet...when Better World Books shots people emails about how they are gilding their lily for a few hours, it's hard to resist. I just increased my Joyce Carol Oates collection by three books for only $8.60. Those folks are such enablers; it would take me the rest of my life to read every book in this house (Ekim collects lots of authors), and then there are all those titles on my Nook. Blush.

And since the mention of a thrift shop gave me an ear worm, here is my token picture:

Source: i.imgur.com via sharyl on Pinterest

I do buy used clothing, I love getting things for 99c, and I figure it helps to keep the world's stuff under control. Snape doesn't look very happy in that cat, though.

Instead of popin' tags tonight, I need to settle down and read. Only 4126 to go...

Spring. It's spring.

Source: sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net via sharyl on Pinterest

It snowed yesterday, but since it was just above freezing, the stuff didn't stick to the roads. We've had irritating weather and I've been plagued with a couple irritating colds and moods. But lo, I slept better last night, I got up and ran for the first time in days, it looks like the sun is coming out, and gee, that's much better. As a rule, I'm not wild about Tuesdays, and this is going to be a long one (staff meeting), but--snow is over this year. It is, it is.

And I need to get a serious move on. Happy feet to everyone!

Exhaling

My father passed away two weeks ago, and yesterday was his memorial service. He'd been so sick for so long that his death was not a shock, but the many remembrances of his life before did come as a precious surprise. My younger sister took the podium and spoke for the immediate family, remembering Dad in years past, when he was a great sport for fun, had some amusing habits, and instilled in all of us a love for reading. Most important of all, though, was his enduring spirit of fairness and kindness towards others. No one was smarter or more educated than Dad, but he was never intimidating to talk to. His feet were firmly planted alongside ours.

As my older sister says, before there was Google, there was Dad.

When Dad wasn't available, we had to look stuff up. There were no cell phones when we were youngsters, so.

After the service, the family invaded Mom's place and we got to talk to members of the clan we hadn't seen in decades. It was another one of those times to be cherished. I'm thankful for the lovely service and for everyone's memories. I needed them more than I knew.


Mom, I hope you are totally relaxing today! You are amazing.

March march march

Howdie! A belated Rabbit, rabbit!! to everyone...

Just a couple things that made me chuckle during my relaxing weekend, both from NPR radio shows--the word sequestration seems to be derived from two words--sequester, to separate (a word I will always associate with juries who must tackle high profile, difficult cases), and castration, to have NO BALLS.  Yep. That funny tidbit came from Wait, Wait! Don't Tell Me.


Meanwhile, A Prairie Home Companion included a very funny skit about TMI Airlines, in which the pilot and crew got on the mic and told passengers way too much about their private lives and those of the passengers who may or may not be sitting next to you, too. This prompted me to ponder the fact that I will forever associate TMI with Three Mile Island. Yes, yes, it's been a long time, way back when I was about sixteen, and yet it's ingrained. Hell, no, we don't glow.

Happy first full week of March, everyone!

Still walking around

Ah, Sunday afternoon, sunny and cold. Sunny, but cold. Cold, but at least it's sunny, for now.

I tend to sleep too much on weekends lately, trying out the part time hibernation idea. It's not good. However, I did get out to run errands yesterday, and also milled around the local mall for a bit. There was no urgent reason for going there, other than that I was out of the house and on a roll.

It was a very crowded place, let me tell you. Perhaps everyone was out of bed and on a roll...I saw one tall, skinny, teenaged boy wearing a tee shirt with the words FREE HUGS in very large lettering, and wondered what might have happened if I were an obnoxious extrovert who enjoyed embarrassing boys. Or, is this a movement? Perhaps this is The New Thing in public places.  Or just a style, perhaps a sarcastic one. I don't know.

I also heard someone call my name, and was surprised to meet up with a couple women I'd worked with a very long time ago (at least fifteen years), and that they actually remembered stuff about me. This was thought-provoking, because sometimes I realize that there are chapters in my life that have been out of mind for so long that being confronted with them is a sudden reminder of just how long I've been walking around.  Yeah.

In other news, we rented Prometheus last night, and I'm sorry about that. It's surprising when a movie with good people in it turns out to make such little sense, and be too long, t'boot. And there are lots of gross scenes, too. This morning, Ekim did some research into what the plot was supposed to be, and it turns out that we'd understood most of it, but we're not going to be seeing the sequel.

Also, tomorrow is our 24th wedding anniversary, another reminder of how long I've been walking around. How old will you be when you've been married half your life? I think this is an easy question, not a puzzler at all, but my husband works with some real brainiacs who did find this question difficult. It was too easy for them, obviously. They're used to the types of mathematical questions it takes a computer program to solve. Either that, or they are simply not as close to the answer as I am!

Back when we got our wedding license, we were asked three questions:
1. Are you cousins?
2. Do you have syphilis?
3. Are you insane?

 Basically my wife was immature. I'd be at home in the bath and she'd come in and sink my boats.

--Woody Allen

 

 Ah, that reminds me, we did have a Scrabble game planned...

Why are there so many pictures of cats with Scrabble boards? Probably because their owners have to keep such close watch on them whilst playing.  Don't move those tiles too quickly, and make sure the cat gets some attention, too. Heh.

Have a great week, everyone!

 

Still winter...

I've become accustomed to its hum, the way it comes on loudly and continues to purr, but in a couple weeks, it will probably be gone, a memory, and silence will reign for the balance of winter.

We're retiring the furnace that has been in this house since it was built in the mid-1960's. It's old. The guy who came by this weekend to take measurements and give us estimates was really tickled. He'd never ever seen an old Chrysler furnace before, and he's been in this line of work for many years. He thinks maybe it belongs in The Smithsonian. Ha ha.

And this is a totally random picture that reminds me that I haven't been to the movies in a long time. I haven't seen Life of Pi, and I'm very curious about how they pulled it off, and I haven't seen Lincoln, which probably isn't any better on the big screen that DVD, and I haven't seen Les Miserables, and I'm not sure I'm ever in the mood for something so sad, anyway.

And tomorrow is another Monday and the end of another weekend, but I actually ran outside today for the first time in quite awhile, and discovered that I've gotten a bit out of hill-running shape, since I never use that incline thingie on the treadmill. Heck, to be honest, I haven't been putting in many miles at all lately, especially on Sundays. So, today was an accomplishment, even if I felt slow and out of it. Oh, and I finally finished a long novel and will read something lighter next...

And tomorrow is the last Monday of January. So. Any thoughts?

The DEAD of Winter

Today, for the second time this young year, I had my picture taken by someone I don't really know. First, it was the drunk guy on New Year's Eve, who took our foursome's picture just because we were so well dressed, and then some lady came through the drive-thru at work and snapped by picture. She said it was for her grandson's photography project. Hmmm

Oh, and a coworker insisted that I participate in sending another (absent) coworker one of those timed photos--it's some kind of new phone app I don't understand because I don't have a cell phone and can't keep up with popular culture.

No cell phone? Yeah, well, reading blogs and facebook posts, looking at Pinterest and cat pictures--it's already time consuming. It's cutting into my reading time--by which I mean book reading time. If I had a phone, at least one person in my life would be bombing me all day with stuff that I would feel obliged to acknowledge, plus I work with some young cut-ups, and there's no telling what my life would be like. And I must admit to a fear of possible addiction. It's not pretty, and evidently, it's catching.

The last time Ekim and I sat at a bar, all the single guys were staring at their phones, which made me strain my memory:  what did single guys do at bars before cell phones? Watch whatever game was on? Talk to the bartender?  At work, the majority of people who come through our drive-thru are either on the phone, smoking, or both. (Actually, this sometimes happens in the lobby, too. I'd be embarrassed about having a conversation everyone could hear, but that's just me.)  No one just sits and listens to the radio anymore. We have customers who don't even look at us, let alone take our pictures--I bet this is a once in a lifetime event! Good thing I recorded it.

I wonder what it looks like?

Now, this would be an intriguing photo project: make the paparazzi at least as cute and captivating as the subjects. Perhaps they could even take turns with the camera. If one of them figures out how to set the timer, the possibilities will be endless. 

Okay, okay, I've got the DEAD of winter doldrums. I really should turn the PC off, but--but--it's so hard to give up---
 

Happy Lucky New Year and a Chicken

Ouch, this is just too much ugly sarcasm for any business to have towards its customers, and yet it exists somewhere, because someone must have taken this here picture.

We closed earlier on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve than we ever have, and we really took guff for it. Not so much for closing at 1pm on Christmas Eve, but closing on 3pm on December 31st made many of our customers angry. The hours were posted physically and on the website, but it was still unexpected. And our buildings have these silly flimsy glass doors that make a lot of noise when there are a couple people trying to pull them open and yelling stuff.  This made it really hard to concentrate on getting all the normal settlements done, plus all that end-of-year inventory and filing. I got done a little after 4pm, and must admit that I was nervous about leaving the building. Sorry for the inconvenience, we closed at 3, sorry....sorry...sorry.

December 26th was quiet in the morning (I always work the earliest shift that day), but January 2nd was noisy with complaints and very busy. Perhaps The Suits will keep us open 'til 4pm next year on Dec 31st. IF everything goes well, we'd be out by 5:30pm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 On New Year's Eve, we went out to eat with another couple, who happen to be in our book group, and had a fantastic evening. Dinner was at Alfred's Victorian, which I have pictured in this blog before, but this time, it was decked out for the holidays and looking extra swell.  J & C, the other couple, had never ever been there before, and were impressed.

We didn't rightly know what we were doing after dinner, so decided to play it by ear, and we did surprisingly well. Knowing that  Downtown Capital City was going to be a mob scene, we stayed across the river--just across the river--at a sprawling bar with a room with a view of the local fireworks. And yes! There was plenty of parking and plenty of room to sit. I  had had so little faith that we would find such a perfect spot, but lo. And they had a wagging happy beer list, too. On draft. The lucky discovery of the night was  DuClaw Naked Fish.  Oh, and some drunk stranger took our picture because, he said, we were the most dressed up people in the place. That was funny.


Every Christmas night (I do jump around, sorry), we play this gag gift game at Pez Central, also known as Bushland, and I wound up with a most amazing toy...

The choking feature on my toy isn't exactly the same, but you get the idea. (Whoa, those eyes.) After a couple few several beers, I decided that I needed to have this, and so now I do.

What else? I haven't seen any new movies, and was shocked to see people lined up at noon, Christmas Day, to see something as sad as Les Miserables--and people working at noon, Christmas Day.

And now, it's mid-January. Isn't that amazing? Things are back to normal, except for the temperature. It's been in the 40's (degrees F), and even that is beginning to feel cold to me. I'm such a wus.

Have a great week, everyone! Any special plans?

Sea of Glass

While on the beach in St. Croix, I observed a good number of people picking up sea glass. So, I joined them. I only collected a handful, but these shards are interesting. Yesterday's litter has become an intriguing beauty. Most of the pieces I found were various shades of green or amber, no doubt from beer bottles or such. I have nothing to do with them, except put them in a tiny jar, as a memento of a pretty beach day.

At times, I'm tempted to collect any number of things, but it does make for some clutter, and my clean-up and organizing projects don't last long. A couple days ago, I actually sorted out the gloves, scarves, and hats in our living room closet. Big whoop. That was the organizing project of the week. Ha! More honestly, I should call it the semi-annual clutter sort-out.

But then, last night, we watched a documentary called The Queen of Versailles, a fascinating look into the lives of a filthy rich couple, and now I don't feel so cluttered. Whoa, check this out! The film makers started this project before the economic meltdown, so they got way more than they bargained for. This film would make for some interesting discussion, too.

And now, on with the rest of Sunday. We've actually got a paper to read! Yes, that's news. Ironically, the plight of the local newspaper has become news: as its circulation is dwindling, the company has decided to put out just three papers a week, a curiously bad decision. So, we're only getting the Sunday paper now. Oh, and look! Twice the puzzles. Unfortunately, though, they accidentally published one of the sudokus completely filled in. (No guesswork there!) How's this happen? No copy editors left? Such carelessness.

Whatchaupto?