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10/30/2007
A British Invasion
Well, I know it must of seemed like I dropped off the face of the planet, but as much as it might displease DJ, I didn't. Oh yes, dear readers. My long period of silence was caused by a British invasion. No, they didn't show up in California with red coats, bayonets and the intention to reclaim a colony. Besides, California was never a colony. At least to the Brits. It once belonged to Mexico, but that's another story, another day and another blog, really.
No! The British invasion began a week ago Monday with the arrival of Matt's parents. Let me give you a slight run-down of what my week was like.
A week ago...
Saturday: Matt's sister, Nadine, and nephew, Zach, were scheduled to fly in, but Nadine had been one of the people that told the airline if she and Zach needed to be bumped, they could be. So they were there at Heathrow on Saturday and sure enough, they agreed to be bumped. They were both given a fabulous package for their trouble and they were put on a flight the following day.
Sunday: Nadine and Zach really do fly in. Matt lost her mobile number on accident so there was no way of knowing whether or not she really made it, but we figured that no news was good news. As it turned out, she and Zach got here alright and made it to their place of temporary dwelling without much fuss. They stayed on Fort Mason property, so they were really close to the Golden Gate Bridge (hereafter referred to as 'the bridge'), North Beach, Chinatown, the Presidio and the Embarcadero. They weren't at a loss for things to do...let's put it that way.
Anyway, Sunday, Matt and I also went to church and spent the afternoon at the pastor's house making friends with Claire. She's one of the little girls at the church and as cute as a button. She really is adorable. She and I formed an alliance to keep a bouncy ball away from Matt. We resorted to all sorts of clever tricks and did very well! After we exhausted ourselves being mean to the boys, we sat and colored and before I knew it, it was time to go back to church for the evening service.
Matt and I piled into the car and drove back. When we arrived we found Claire waiting for us outside the church looking rather shy. She asked me, as we approached, if she could sit with us. Me, having little brothers myself, asked her if it was alright with her dad. She replied that she had just asked him. I then told her that she had better ask Matt if she could sit with us because it was alright with me so long as it was okay with him. Matt teased her about being mean to him, but she just laughed and he gave in.
So Claire sat with us and halfway through the service she climbed up onto my lap and fell soundly asleep. A good day, all in all.
Monday: I went to the airport (SFO) to get Matt's parents. I did this all by myself because he needed to be at work. So, I went, collected his parents, called him to let him know I had the package, took Richard and Fiona on BART back to the East Bay, loaded them and their luggage into a car, drove them to where they were staying, saw to it that they had everything they needed and came home with the promise of returning in an hour to get them for dinner.
I returned as I said I would, took them back to my house where they met my people and chatted for a bit before Matt came home from work. We had dinner then and chatted for a while before Matt and I took his parents back and then I took him home. I have to say, this whole having to come home at night thing sucks. We need to get married so I can just crash on our sofa at the apartment and not worry about having to stay awake to go somewhere.
Tuesday: Everyone came to my house. Nadine and Zach, Richard and Fiona all met up in the city where they were collected by Matt, who brought them all back to this side of the bay. Dinner consisted of prime rib with veggies and a baked potato. There was fruit salad and yoghurt for dessert, which was uber yummy.
Needless to say, I spent the day helping my mother and grandmother with cleaning the house (more than I had before!) and preparing stuff.
Wednesday: Richard and Fiona went the apartment for dinner, which freaked me out. I was wound up tighter than a clock. They spent the day at the bridge where they both went to the top of the north tower with my dad. Personally, I spent the day cleaning the apartment and changing out the sheets, making sure there were enough towels, etc. You'll find out in just a moment why.
Matt met them in the city and came back home with them. I made a stir-fry with tons of veggies and tofu (chicken for Richard because he likes meat). It was actually really yummy and Matt liked it, even if I'm not sure his parents did. Dessert was yoghurt, berries and granola served up in a martini glass. This was uber yummy, I just have to say.
After visiting a short while, Matt and I took Richard and Fiona back to their place and began the long and arduous journey to the city. Why? Well, Martyn and Jay (brother and sister-in-law) were flying in. We got there later than we anticipated and spent a good deal of time just wandering around the terminal looking for them. You see, Martyn and Jay flew from Manchester to Atlanta and from Atlanta to San Francisco, so by the time they got here, they were considered a domestic flight.
This, of course, meant that we had to go to the domestic terminal instead of the internation one, which admittedly would have been much easier to navigate. After tempers were well on their way to flaring, we finally found them, took them back to the apartment, got them settled in and I got home well after midnight where I crashed as soon as I got in.
I broke out in hives that night as well.
If you couldn't tell, Martyn and Jay stayed with Matt at the apartment.
Thursday: Matt had that day off, so he and I, Martyn and Jay all went into the city. We took a picnic, drove over to the bridge, ate and then met up with my dad so that Martyn could go up to the top of the tower. Jay would have gone, but she had a bad shoulder that prevented her from going. Instead, the three of us, sans Martyn, watched them through binoculars from the deck of the bridge.
My dad came home with us, so we all piled into the car and drove back home (my dad was driving, which was good because it was rush hour in the financial district). We stuck around for a while once we got home before the four of us decided to go out to dinner with Uncles Arnie and Benny and Doug. We went to Pasta Pomodoro and for those of you who read Uncle Benny's blog, you'll know what it's all about. If not, I invite you to go to his blog and see what all the fuss is over.
It was another late night that night and I came home exhausted.
Friday: I had to take Richard, Fiona and Martyn to the airport to get a rental car. Martyn was a co-signer to the agreement so that he could legally drive it if he needed to, so he had to go. After everything was signed and taken care of, Richard and Fiona left by themselves and Martyn went back to apartment with me and Matt. After a while there, Martyn and Jay decided they wanted to go into the city by themselves, so Matt and I took them to the BART station.
This afforded us the afternoon to ourselves, which was good, I think. I tried to nap, but couldn't. It was decided at some point during the day that we were all going to come back home for dinner, which was going to be pizza. On the way to the house, we picked up Martyn and Jay, who really couldn't have had more perfect timing.
Dinner was good. I had been jonesin' for pizza for a long time. Uncle Joel, Aunt Becca and Dan and Leisl (my dad's sister, brother-in-law and neice and nephew) were there as well. Aunt Becca had gone up to the tower with my dad, so it was a pretty full house. This, of course, didn't hold a candle to Saturday night...
Saturday: Matt, Martyn, Jay and I decided to go back to the city to bum around at the Exploratorium. We had lots of fun. It's a museum where every single exhibit is hands-on and sciency. Yeah. You can see my attraction to the place now, can't you? Anyway, we spent the greater part of the day there before going into Berkeley for some eats and what we thought would be a couple chairs.
It's a long story, okay? The point of it is that I misunderstood the gentleman on the phone. We're supposed to get them today instead. Meh.
This put us around the time of half past four in the afternoon before we started to head home. We got home close to 5ish, which is when we were supposed to be home. But why? Well, Uncle Joel, Aunt Becca and the kids were coming back. Along with my dad's sister Sharon, her three girls, my dad's parents, Matt's parents, etc. Marco and Nicole (he's marrying us and Nicole is his lovely wife) were there at some point too. I stopped counting after a while.
But why Saturday?
Well, Saturday was the day Matt and I were supposed to get married. I'd have been a Mrs. Someone by now if it hadn't been for the nightmare of Matt's visa.
I'm okay with it now. I'm still by no means happy about what's happened, but I have a strong sense that there is a purpose behind this misery, which I am convinced is temporary. I don't know the reason why, but I don't doubt there is one that God knows of. I'm sincerely hoping that will all be made clear at some point in my life.
All I know is that we need to get married soon. All this pussyfooting around sucks.
There was also something that happened on Saturday that sucked eggs, but since certain members of my family read my blog, I cannot say what it is. But it sucked. Majorly so.
Sunday: Matt and I went to church with his parents, went back to the apartment and cooked up some eats for lunch and spent the afternoon with his family. This prevented me from going to spend time with my own family, which, after Saturday night, I wasn't all too broken up about. There were just too many freakin' people in my house that night and it was nice to be with a manageable-sized group. Not to mention more docile.
Yesterday: I drove out to the apartment, collected Martyn, Jay and their luggage and brought them back to my area of town to meet up with Richard and Fiona. I saw the four of them into their rental car and said my goodbyes to Martyn and Jay. I won't be seeing them again this trip.
The four Turners went to Yosemite and I saw them all off before coming home and eating breakfast. I thought of sleep, but couldn't get settled enough to do so, so I ended up back at the apartment where I cleaned the entire place top to bottom and made it more the place that Matt and I hang out in. I like clean things, okay? When I was pleased with the results, I gathered up all the laundry I could find at the place and brought it home to wash.
And that's how I spent most of my day yesterday. Being domestic. Of course, we had chili beans and a buñelos last night for dinner and I was in heaven on so many levels. We have this meal very sparsely because the buñelos are fried and we don't do much fried food here at my house at all. In fact, I can only think of buñelos and won-ton being the only things we'll fry. And both of those meals don't happen very often at all!
Anyway, the point is, dinner was fantastically yummy, if not on the less healthy side of the spectrum. It was so worth it, though. Man! Chili beans and buñelos for the win!
Right! So, all of that said, this week is going to be fairly quiet and normal. Matt's parents come back next week for a couple more days before they head back home, so we'll get to see them again and perhaps have them over for a meal one last time. All in all, the worst of it is over. I think the hives I broke out in Wednesday night were induced by levels of stress that I've never actually felt before in my life. Not even in college did I stress out this badly. Now that everything has happened, though, they're going away slowly, which pleases me beyond words. I looked like a leper and still kind of do.
The chairs I mentioned earlier in Berkeley are chairs that Matt and I bought over a week ago at a little indepently owned contemorary furniture store. They're armless chairs and if truth be told, they're sexy pieces of craftsmanship. Of course, there was a sexy little red leather sofa there that I lusted after, but Matt thought it was hideous. I was actually surprised with myself. I hate leather sofas, but this one was hot. H-O-T!
But I digress.
The chairs that we went to pick up on Saturday are actually supposed to be in today, so I'm calling the store in a couple hours to see if they are indeed in. If so, Matt and I will go later this afternoon to get them and arrange them in the apartment. If you can't tell, I'm excited.
Let's see...what else do I have to say?
OH!
A HUGE congratulations to Margo and Hobbs on their recent engagement! I'm so happy for you both! Really, I don't have words to tell you how happy I am.
Hobbs - you got yourself a gem of a woman. And you did really well on the ring! It's beautiful!
Margo - we all know he's a great guy, if not a sassy monkey. I wish you all the joy and happiness in the world as you begin to make all your preparations.
To you both - I'm glad to read that you've figured out exactly what you need to do concerning the visas you both seem to be preparing to get. My hope and prayer is that everything happens and goes through without a hitch. I wouldn't wish a snag like ours to happen to anyone.
And with that, dear readers, I think I'll sign off. DJ, don't even pretend to be displeased to see that I'm still around. We all know you're overjoyed.
Lots of love to you all!
Later Days,
Arty
11:32 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
10/22/2007
Waiting Room Requiem
Sue is nervous
She must not like doctors
She sits perpendicular to me
Rubbing her hands together
Rocking back and forth
Dreading the outcome she does not know
John sits
Stoic
Five seats down
Casually dressed, but with an air of dignity
Of charm long since forgotten
He, more than anyone else, makes me smile
Gail has trouble finding the box for her slip of paper
After finding it, she sits
She reaches into her bag
Withdraws yarn
And knits
The sound of needles is soothing
It reminds me of childhood
She knits one, perles two
Knits one, perles two
Every eleventh stitch she checks her watch
Mr. Santos leaves me
Goes to re-register
Goes to have an x-ray
Comes back to me and sits
I like his hat and the way he holds his umbrella
My father
He sits beside me
Busily working a sudoku puzzle
He isn't nervous
And if he is, he hides it well
He's here for minor surgery
And I sit with him
Until he is called away
For some reason I am reminded of a poem my father wrote for me when I was younger
I think of how circular life is for a believer
But how?
We know, we love and we sit with someone until they are called away
But I know that one day they will be restored...
My father will come back to me
My grandfather will embrace me
Bello will walk
And Nana with dance
All will one day be mine again
And I, theirs
A couple whose name I do not know have joined me now
He has trouble sleeping
She is sympathetic
I wonder if I will see them after we are all called away
I wonder if he will join me
If he will know what it is to sleep sweetly
Anthony has lost his wallet
And with it his identity
How often do people lose track of who they are?
Too often
And sadly, they never recover
Never find their way home
Never take the time to consider that they're lost
In need of redemption
And then, just like that, Anthony is gone
Another nameless gentleman has come
I want so badly to name him
To give him the identity Anthony lacks
I am able to see the child in him
The playfulness that remains amidst the responsibilities of adulthood
His name is Phillip
And I like him
And now it's just me and Mike, the receptionist
You can tell he's amazingly competent
The glue that hold this office together
The one who takes care of everyone
Makes sure they get where they need to go
But I wonder
Who takes care of him?
Who takes care of any of us, really?
And more importantly, whom do we allow to do so?
How often do we purposely distance ourselves from others to protect ourselves from anticipated hurt?
Miss Ernestine smiled at me
She's lovely
Well put together
Well mannered
She looks as though she has seen the cares of the world pass her
Involve her
Engage her
Strengthen her
Gladly, I recognize a kindred spirit in her
And I know what strengthens her
What sustains her
What enables her in all things
For it is the same thing that strengthens me
Sustains me
Enables me
But most importantly
It is what carries me
21:17 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
10/17/2007
The Question Of
There comes a time in everyone's life when there's a question that's asked that makes you stop conversation, stare at the person who asked it and laugh hysterically at/with (more at) them. Here are some of my favorites given in context.
Scenario 1:
Party at the apartment with friends. Three of the five people are out of town friends. Everyone has just arrived and gotten their first glimpse of our swingin' pad.
Julie - This place is awesome, Arty! Thanks so much for inviting us.
Me - I wouldn't dream of not having you over when you're in town.
Craig - (seeing Matt's big, bad ass speakers) What are those?
Me - Those are Matt's hi-fi speakers that he just got.
Craig - Niiiiiice.
Matt - I'm glad someone thinks so.
Me - I'm working on getting used to them, okay? They mess us the feng shui of the room.
Matt - They do not.
Me - Look at my nice clean lines of furniture! Gone!
Diana - How long have you guys been here?
Uncle Benny - (knower of all random facts) A couple months.
Alf - Wow, this place is rockin', Arty.
Me - Thanks. We like it.
Alf - So I have to ask, are you living in sin?
The room went quiet. I was glad I wasn't the only one staring at him before everyone burst into hysterical laughter. Julia went on to say that she was wondering too, but would never ask such a question. And for my dear blogdom readers, I shall let you know my answer:
NO, I am not living in sin!
I merely go over most nights, whip something up in the kitchen, eat dinner, hang out with Matt for an hour or so and then make my way back to the mainland (the apartment is on an island) and spend the rest of my nights very much away from sin.
Scenario 2:
Jeff and I are at Disneyland (for you newer readers like Tobiwan, Jeff is one of my brothers). It's late at night and the rest of the people we're with, a group numbering around ten, wants to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. Jeff, being the big girl he is when it comes to rides, decided to 'sit this one out' and I decide to join him so he's not alone. I know, I know...I'm too good.
We find refuge in Frontierland near the shooting gallery and park ourselves on a bench with Big Murder Mountain (Thunder Mountain, really, we just call it Big Murder Mountain because of all the accidents that have happened on it) in front of us.
Jeff - What did you do this afternoon when everyone decided to do their own thing?
Me - I went with Eddie to one of the secret nooks over at the Grand Californian.
Jeff - Third floor balcony?
Me - (shakes head) Seventh floor terrace.
Jeff - The one overlooking DCA and Grizzly Rapids?
Me - Yeah.
Jeff - Why'd you go there?
Me - We didn't feel like going on any rides. Besides, my blood sugar was low and I needed a break to replenish it. What did you do?
Jeff - I spent the afternoon pontificating with Doug.
Me - Oh? What about? (the reader must understand that I was thoroughly astonished that my brother would use the word pontificate, let alone use it correctly).
Jeff - Disney in general.
Me - Walt or just the company?
Jeff - All of it, actually.
Me - Any conclusions?
Jeff - (noting a screaming child that is demanding ice cream that passes us) Nasty children are allowed to enter unhindered to make our lives miserable.
Me - So true.
Jeff - Same with the terrace-cites.
Me - (noting a pod of disgruntled youth pass us) That's true as well.
Jeff - We were never able to come to the conclusion of one question, though.
Me - What's that?
Jeff - How did Walt Disney manage to charge us all tons of money for the priviledge of standing around all day in lines?!
Me - (pondering a moment and then sitting back as if defeated) Black magic.
Scenario 3:
Jeremy (another brother) and I are waiting to be seated at a restaurant. I'm off in a corner people-watching and he comes to join me.
Jeremy - Stop being grumpy.
Me - I'm not.
Jeremy - Grumpy.
Me - I'm not grumpy.
Jeremy - Grumpy Mc'Grumps-alot!
Me - I'm not grumpy!!
Jeremy - What are you doing then?
Me - Watching people.
Jeremy - Why?
Me - Why not?
Jeremy - Don't use reverse psychology on me!
Me - Who says it's reverse psychology?
Jeremy - You di...stop that!
Me - (giggles)
Jeremy - I read signs on the walls in places like this.
Me - What's your favorite one?
Jeremy - Well, there's one that's always made me wonder.
Me - Yeah?
Jeremy - Yeah. You know the sign that says 'no shirt, no shoes, no service?'
Me - (nods)
Jeremy - What would happen if someone came in with no pants on? Would they have to be served?
Me - One can only hope that the manager would see the brilliance in that scheme.
Scenario 4:
Me and Betsy in a deserted classroom on campus. It's raining outside and it's been wet and dreary for a week. Being California girls, we're both a little stir-crazy with so much rain. We resort to the following:
Me - Betsy, are you actually reading your Chretien de Troyes?
Betsy - No. I've just been sitting here staring at the same words for the last five minutes.
Me - Really?
Betsy - (sighing some, but not moving) Yup.
Me - Me too.
Betsy - Quite frankly, I don't give a damn whether or not the lion changes into something or not.
Me - It'll turn into something, but it won't make figuring it out any easier. If anything it'll just turn into a more complex allegory to make us hate life even more than we do right now.
Betsy - I'm wishing for death first.
Me - Do you think the French excuse their cursing in English?
Besty - Come again?
Me - Well, Chretien de Troyes is a French writer. It got me to thinking...we always say 'pardon my French' when we swear.
Besty - Yeah...
Me - Well, do the French say 'pardon my English' when they swear?
Besty - (after a moment of thought) Wow...you really aren't reading, are you?
Me - (closing my book and flopping my arms and head onto the table so I can stare blankly out the window) Nope.
*sighs* I miss Betsy.
Scenario 5:
Mom and me in the living room some random night doing whatever it is we do in the evenings. Jeff is with us and pestering my mother about his favorite things as a child.
Jeff - What was my favorite show?
Mom - Thomas the Tank Engine.
Jeff - What about my favorite baby food.
Mom - Peaches.
Jeff - What was Arty's favorite baby food?
Me - Carrots.
Jeff - What was my favorite song?
Mom - I don't remember.
Jeff - How can you not remember?! I'm your eldest son! Great! Just great! Way to make me feel loved, mom!
Mom - I liked singing 'Rock-a-Bye Baby' to you when you were little.
Jeff - No! Don't try and make up for it now!
Me - Why that song?
Mom - What other song is there that you get to sing about placing your child in a tree and letting the wind take care of making it plummet to its destruction and silence?
Jeff and Me - (looking at each other as if to say 'is she serious?' or 'did that really just happen?')
Scenario 6:
Me in the kitchen with my grandmother making some lunch. I'm reading the label on the peanut butter jar.
Me - Why the heck bother?!
Grandmother - What's wrong?
Me - This label says 'may contain traces of peanuts or other nuts.' It's peanut butter. Have we really become so stupid that we need a label to tell us that peanut butter has peanuts in it?
23:52 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this
10/16/2007
Lists
The following things need to be done:
- Change out all the plug plates in the house to accommodate three prongs. Ask dad for help this weekend.
- Get stuff to tidy the wires for the hi-fi speakers behind the bookshelf.
- Buy matches.
- Get ficus a strand of fifty lights to dress him up.
- Get a lamp for the top of the bookshelf. It must be able to produce enough light so that one can sit comfortably in the living room and read without having the dining room halogens on.
- Get a small rug for just inside the front door.
- Look into getting a small table for the other side of the sofa and a small table lamp for that.
- Buy paper towels.
- Buy black olives.
- Buy pine nuts to toast and throw into some pasta.
- Buy vanilla ice cream. It should be a staple in any freezer because it goes with so many yummy things.
- Use 'Pledge' on kitchen cabinets.
- Choose someplace for Matt to take me out for dinner on a hot date.
- 'Steal' a pair of spring-loaded tongs from Grandma to cook with.
- Get some cups and saucers before the British invasion arrives.
- Get some soy milk in the pantry for Fiona.
- Cause mischief and mayhem.
- Cause Matt some minor misery.
- Hide the speakers Matt just bought and leave him a ransom note for their safe return.
- Do the same with the marmite.
- Take a brown Sharpie to the nicks in the coffee table.
- Fix the broken dining room chair so death will not be a side-effect of sitting in it.
- Write to friends in England.
- Possibly find, purchase and hang pretty glass and/or paper lanterns in the Japanese maple tree outside our living room window.
- Consider getting some photos that Matt has taken printed and put up.
- Consider getting some art up on the walls in our place.
- Get some jeans on and go to the store.
- Blog.
- Lust after a pumpkin for the apartment.
- Take a photo of the color-changing trees in the neighborhood.
- Plan, implement and put together a photo blog so that people can see my life through my eyes and not just my words.
- End this blog.
Later Days,
Arty
20:06 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
10/15/2007
Storytime
So I'm sitting here listening to my grandmother recount her weekend in Southern California and from the snippets of story she's been telling me and somewhere between talk of getting soaked on Pirates and running into Bobby, I have been able to come to this one conclusion:
People with the personality of wallpaper paste should not procreate under any circumstance. They will only go on to create wallpaper paste personality children who will somehow seek out and find other children who have been spawned with the same social disorder and perpetuate the crime against humanity. Likewise, people with the personality of wallpaper paste should not be allowed to have infatuations, hobbies or obessesions that will bring them into close contact with others.
Why, you ask?
When wallpaper paste meets firecracker personality, combustion is bound to happen. Third degree burns will be received and smoldering will ensue. And that's not in a good way.
So please, if you have the personality (or rather the lack thereof) disorder mentioned above do us all a favor and don't have children. By all means, date like-minded people, get married, live full, rich lives of finding a change in ice cream flavors too racey, but for the love of mankind, don't breed.
That is all.
Later Days,
Arty
00:20 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this
10/10/2007
Humble Requests
To Ant, who wanted an RSS feed:
I have decided to honor your humble request by reaching a happy compromise with you. I shall not syndicate the full text of my blog. Instead, you shall get the first seven words or so each time to entice you to come visit my blog. I mean, why should I be bothered to accommodate you if you're not willing to meet me half way. You know it makes sense.
Now, I shall also take your humble request as a sign of deepest adoration towards me, an irreparable geuniflection towards my greatness. It means so much to me to know that you cannot live without a glimpse into the brightly lit corridors of my mind and that you cannot bear to live, without knowing the moment it's posted, of my latest writings, musings and rants. I know how much you treasure those times of sheer bliss when you can sit in a corner of your room, laptop in hand and feast upon my knowledge and live vicariously through my experiences.
It's the greatest compliment you can pay me, really.
And to those of you who don't know me well, the above was said totally tongue in cheek. And if you don't know what that means, I forbid you from reading my blog until you learn what it means!
That is all.
Later Days,
Arty
17:43 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this
10/06/2007
Fleet Week Doth Approacheth!
Oh yes, blogdom, it has arrived! Fleet Week is here and despite the lingering nastiness of my cold, I'm excited. But what is Fleet Week, some of you ask? Oh, dear reader, it's exprimentation time. Yup! The time in which I perform experiments.
Well, that's not entirely true. While I do use this time of year to experiment, it's also a time when the piers of San Francisco are filled to the brim with ships ranging from the 19th century Balclutha to modern day air craft carriers to the WWII carrier, the USS Hornet. Actually, the Hornet has quite an interesting history as it's gone through several re-incarnations. And for those of you hoping to escape a little history lesson from me, I delight to tell you that all hope of that is lost. I do, after all, have a degree in history. Oh yeah!
The first Hornet was a sloop commissioned in 1775 to fight in the Revolutionary War (or, for you Royalist Brits among my readership, that 'New World Spat') alongside the Wasp, another ship that was commissioned to kick some English ass. Together, they were the first two ships to grace the then newly-formed Continental Navy.
The second Hornet was also a sloop, but took part in the Barbary Coast War. Now, for those of you who aren't history buffs, the Barbary Coast War was the first of two wars that the states fought against the north-African states that were, at the time, collectively known as the Barbary States. These states included Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, all of which were technically part and parcel of the Ottoman Empire, but we semi-independent and acted as such. An interesting factoid of this era is that the Marine Corps Hymn, the theme song, if you will, of the United States Marine Corps has a line that says 'from the halls of Montezuma (an Aztec king in Mexico way back in the day) to the shores of Tripoli (from the Barbary Coast War!).'
See how fun history can be?!
The third Hornet incarnation was, you guessed it, another sloop! It was launched in 1805 in Baltimore, Maryland, but sank off the coast of Mexico in 1829 in a storm. The entire crew was lost in the fray.
The fourth Hornet was upgraded to a schooner and used between the years of 1813 and 1820.
The fifth Hornet was was an iron-sided ship and the first American vessel to be propelled by steam. It had a side wheel that the steam moved, much like a Mississippi steamboat wheel works for river runs.
The sixth Hornet was a yacht that was converted to fight in the Spanish-American War. It was a dispatch vessel.
The seventh Hornet was a CV-8 launched as part of the Doolittle Raid along with the Enterprise at the Battle of Midway in the Pacific Theater. It was hit and sank in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (another battle in the Pacific Theater) in 1942, shortly after the Battle of Midway (six months or so, give or take a few days).
The eighth Hornet is what the world has now and is the most recent incarnation. Funnily enough, it wasn't named the Hornet at first. It was originally called Kearsarge, but was renamed the Hornet in honor of the ship's seventh incarnation that sank in '42. The eighth incarnation actively served throughout the remainder of WWII and then went on to recover Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 crews after splashdown in the 60s (1969, I think, for both crews).
The ship is now a floating museum, garnering monetary gifts from visitors for the preservation and upkeep of the vessel. Another interesting factoid is that an F/A-18 fighter jet carries on the name of the Hornet in the US Navy.
Now...aren't you glad there was no escape from history? Like I said...fun! Now, where were we? Oh yes! Fleet Week!
Experimentation during Fleet Week has been a tradition that's taken root only recently. That is to say within the last four years. While I've always been aware of Fleet Week all my life, only since I've known Matt have I made an effort to go every year. The experimentation is only three years old. The first year, the experiment was how many times I could dodge past my brother and his friends who were 'protecting' me from the visiting hordes of sailors. They did this by surrounding me in a walking, moving circle.
I can tell you it wasn't easy to get away, but I managed a few times to evade their watch and sneak into all the various shops along the piers for sweets and other edible treasures.
Experiment number two consisted of just how much I could wind Matt up about going to the city and being surrounded by visiting sailors who hadn't seen a woman in months. I know, I know...so very bad. But so very fun!
I succeeded at first, but once he cottoned on to what I was doing, he was hard to get going.
This year is something not pertaining to dodging or finding boys. Instead I've straightened my hair. I'll be documenting my day through photos, so tomorrow morning I'll take a picture of my straight hair and then at the end of the day I'm going to see how much curl has come back. Not terribly exciting, I know, but remember...I'm still ill and not feeling up to too much excitement.
As it is, the Blue Angels are flying tomorrow and I'll be on a ferry in the middle of the bay with all my family. Oh yeah. Bay, Blue Angels, family. The only thing that could possibly make it any better would be Matt, but alas he has gone home for a week. So, all that said and your little history lesson given, I think I'll go away to bed now and sleep.
Later Days,
Arty
00:13 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
10/03/2007
Remedies and Cure-Alls
Okay, so I have a nasty cold. I'd blame Matt for giving it to me, but I promised him I wouldn't. Since I have a cold, I thought it'd be nice to list some of the remedies and cure-alls I've been using and then give a percentage of their effectiveness. Of course, this is purely for your viewing pleasure, so without further ado, I give you...the list.
1) Benadryl - A delightful pink pill, small in size, but fairly big in effectiveness. I give this drug a rating of about 80%. Drawbacks include it's sleep inducing habits, but man, if you have a runny nose, this stuff is great. Only good for four hours of psuedo relief.
2) Won-Ton Soup - a cure-all that works only when you eat it at the first signs of ickiness. Big on flavor and yummy green leafy goodness, this soup is fantastic whether you're ill or not. Effectiveness, when used at the get go is around 80%, but if you wait as long as I have this time, effectiveness is only about 30%, a drastic diminishment from it's possible help.
I'm eating some now, but it's doing little except making me feel all warm inside. I can just about taste it as well.
3) Nyquil - It comes in two colors. Red and green. Red is for day-time, non-drowsy and green is for night-time, knock-me-out-so-I-won't-wake-up-in-an-emergency, drowsy formula. It's the only thing on the planet that tastes just like its color, red and green. This stuff has an effective factor of about 95% whether taken at the get go or in the thick of illness. Of course, it inhibits you to the point where you can't operate that farm equiptment on the highway, but still, I think the pay-off is pretty good. You get six hours of symptom-free bliss...if you're awake to realize that, of course.
4) Tea - Does very little except make me require the bathroom more often than not. Yeah, I know it's got good stuff in it, but seriously, it's just something warm to hold when you're ill. Effective factor is about 40%, but what it lacks in effectiveness, it makes up for in yumminess. I give it 95% on the yummy scale.
5) Garlic - Not raw, but in things...gosh! Surprisingly, garlic gets about a 75% on my scale because it really does actually work. The drawback is that you smell from here to high heaven of garlic. Personally, I don't mind, but even in sickness I'm aware that I must dwell with others and therefore spare them and grant them this small mercy.
6) Tequila Shots - Believe it or not, these guys get a 90% in my book. Sure your face feels like it's on fire for a few seconds after knocking back a shot of the liquid gold, but it's worth it. Two shots of this stuff seem to do the trick most of the time, working its way through your system and killing the germs that your white blood cells can't destroy. It's a beautiful thing, really. And you sleep well too!
Sadly, I finished off our bottle of tequila tonight and there was only one shot left, so I knocked that back and am now hoping it'll do some good without that second dose. Of course, if all else fails, there's a bottle of Puerto Rican amber rum sitting close by. I'm wary about mixing tequila with rum, though. I don't know why, but it seems better to ere on the side of caution. If the tequila fails me, it'll be consecutive shots of rum tomorrow with a pineapple juice chaser.
7) Bacon - I'm told bacon makes everything better. I disagree. Bacon gets a sad, pathetic 5% n the effectiveness scale...and even that percentage is for the yummy factor.
8) Hot Showers - These work wonders...until you get out and dry off. It lasts all of five minutes and then you're back to where you started.
9) Butter - Despite everything Paula Deen says, butter does not make everything better, nor does slathering something in mayonnaise. This gets no precentage at all.
10) Sleep - Works wonders for me, but then again sleeping is how my body seems to recovers from illness. I get sick, am miserable for a day or so before I decide to sleep for an entire day, which always seems to do the trick. Perhaps I shall try this in conjunction with the rum tomorrow. It gets 90% with the lacking ten percent being my bitterness at having to wake up again for something.
11) Veggies and Fruit - Surprisingly they do make you feel better. Maybe it's the colors, or the freshness of them. All's I know is that it sure is good eats.
12) Steam - There's a trick where you're supposed to lean over a pan of freshly boiled water, throw in a pinch of salt, cover your head and the pan with a towel and inhale the steam. This remedy gets a 50% from me because although it breaks stuff up in your chest and sinuses, at the end of the ordeal I'm just a five foot nine sick girl with a red face and runny nose. Hardly your E-ticket attraction.
13) Menthol Rub - I hate this stuff. It's cold when it goes on, like it's sucking away every inch of warmth from your body, but then, as if it hasn't tortured you enough, it gets hot. This stuff is generally spread on your chest at night and only gets a 30% from me because of the following reasons:
- it smells
- it makes a mess all over your bed
- it takes forever for that menthol smell to leave your bed
- it should be labeled as a torture device instead of a remedy
- it smells
14) Humidifiers - Lovely things! They get a 70% or so, but the draw back is that they make the bedroom feel like a tepid jungle by morning. Not good times, if you ask me. Still, they seems to do the trick.
15) Lastly, but not least, Chili Peppers - Not the band, but the actual edible, capsaicin-filled treats. Oh yeah. Take a bite out of a Thai chili or a roasted Serrano or Poblano and you've got yourselves a great fiesta going on inside. Yes, you'll cry like a little girl and probably permenantly damage several of your taste buds, but you'll be able to breathe again the next day! 85% for these bad boys, 95% if you're man enough to eat one raw.
While I'm sure there are many more remedies and cure-alls out there, I'm currently going to go employ #8 having already tried #6 and not getting much relief from that. I'll let you know how the latter portion of #6 goes tomorrow. Until then, here's to trying everything at least once in your life!
Later Days,
Arty
22:41 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this