Where Ya Been Saturday?

Oh how I've missed you Random Saturday...

* I hosted  my first trivia game at my local bar and had a blast! I was super nervous as this was the 2nd time I've hosted, but the 1st time I wrote the questions myself. Were they too hard? Too easy? Did they make sense? Would people have fun? In the end, I was surprised by how well some people did with certain questions and how poorly at others. Examples:

From the Texas round: "Not just a theme park, what 6 flags flew over Texas?"

From the Sesame Street round sponsored by the letter "S" and the number "3": "Popular in Indonesian cuisine, tempeh is made from fermented what?"

"The cuddly Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru represent what popular adage based in Taoism? To bad your Grandma's tchochke's aren't here to help you."

From the final double or nothing round: "Who killed Tybalt in Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet?"

From the media round: Identify the movie from the still.

(Answers at the bottom)

* The State Fair of Texas opened last weekend and we had a blast! I definitely recommend going on opening day. There are no lines for rides and the fryers are clean and filled with new oil! As soon as we got there, I was filmed eating fried green beans (my fav snack at the fair!) and snippets of it were shown on the local news. Unfortunately, I cannot find the film but I do have a picture! Birth place of the Corney Dog, the Texas State Fair also boosts an innovative fried food contest every year. Past winners include fried butter, fried coke, fried PBB&J (Hola Elvis!), and fried snickers. This year, the winner for most inventive was fried beer- the grossest thing on earth! Best flavor went to the fried Frito pie (which I hear was amazing but of which I of course did not eat). A full summary of our culinary tour of the fair can be found on my foodie blog.

* "I think I finally caught anorexia. It's probably the depression, stress, and exhaustion but still, I haven't been hungry for 3 days." pumps fists in the air.
-"It's nice to get it without actually getting it."
"Yea. The depressions been a real bummer though."
(Only myself and word-of-the-day Jennie can make anorexia hilarious. PS- I don't want your letters unless it's snail mail. I love snail mail. It's like a holiday in my mail box!)

* The weirdest text I just found on my phone: "I promise I'm not trying to put my dick on you". What the heck does that mean? Why is it in my phone?

* As you all know, I'm a serious movie fan. So, it was heartbreaking and shocking to read of Sally Menke's death on 9/28. Menke was the genius behind all of Quentine Tarantino's films and a damned fine editor. It is always a shock when someone you admire dies, but when it is under such strange circumstances it seems so much worse. Movieline complied a neat tribute to her and the unique and powerful relationship she shared with QT. There are also several "Hi Sally" clips where the cast and crew would throw her a shout out. I think I posted the one from "Inglourious Basterds" before, so here is one from "Death Proof".

* Jennie's word of the day: Snacks. (She must be hungry)



ANSWERS: 1- Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederacy, USA (Not only have I been to Six Flags Over Texas several times, but as a Texas native I also have 2 years of Texas history under my belt. So, the question remains: How do you get this question wrong?

2- Tempeh is made from soy (Almost everyone got this right. Way to go!)

3- "See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil" (I think all but one team got this. I was so impressed!)

4- Romeo (We all read this in school right? Maybe even twice depending on your school? Maybe you were a slacker with a thing agains Shakespeare, but did you not see the movie(s)? No lady dragged you to stare at Leo DiCaprio? Ladies, you weren't smitten with this story? How did so few teams get this right?)

5- Movies are: "Velvet Goldmine" (1 or 2 teams got it which was expected), "Memento" (I think everyone got it which was a surprise), and "(500) Days of Summer" (only 1 team got, though I did enjoy the many "Star Wars" answers)

Random Saturday to the Rescue

* I just posted an amazing Lavender Pound Cake recipe on my foodie blog here. I know using lavender in anything outside of the shower or a closet sachet is a bit out there for many of us, but fresh lavender has a very different scent than the dried blossoms. It's almost citrusy. This cake is SO good I had to give half away for fear I'd gorge myself with it over the weekend.

* If anyone can tell me why I saved "327 Holliston St" in my phone I would much appreciate it. Where does this address take me? What city is it in? I gotta tell you, Googlemaps was no help.

* This is the scariest place I've been all week:

* My mind has gone completely blank. A great idea popped into my head while I was cruising Googlemaps and now I've completely forgotten it. Frak!

* Said in a bar last week: "I have an active sex life in other people's minds".

* If someone can explain this to me (and doesn't make me vomit in the process), I'll give you a dollar:
* Word of the day Jennie has been promoted to another office, so now I have to come up with witty random words all on my own. Tear. Today's word is: Morose.

* Can I get this on a poster?

* Thanks to thedailywh.at.com I am now obsessed with this, and this, and these.

*NSFW: Marilyn Manson's mock-trailer for "Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll". This film is not yet in production (from what I hear, it's still looking for funding), but man, does it look interesting. At the very least you know Manson will show you something visually interesting and probably deeply disturbing. Sign me up!
*

Dear Saturday:

* "Why is this show all about something that's dumb?" -Trent, age 6, in response to the SyFy original series "Stargate Universe".

* So, Thursday I discovered it is possible to have a bad second date even when the first one was great. I thought of another new/old rule for dating: Don't talk too much and learn to listen. Being nervous myself (our first date was drinks, so it was easier to loosen up and relax), excess talking doesn't really bother me. What does get my goat is someone who ignores your attempts to join the dialog or steer things your way. Shouldn't you want to know about me? On a related note, not asking questions and listening to answers can lead you to assume certain falsehoods and annoy your date. Case in point: I recently began a more plant based diet (I kill my body enough as it is with cigarettes and beer, might as well do something nice for it as well) which I told my date. He didn't really ask much more about it except to say he could never give up steak. When he picked me up for our dinner date, he said he picked seafood since he knew he couldn't take me to a steak house. Uh... I would have loved to go to a steak house! I so rarely if ever get to go to one seeing as how they are usually above my meager budget. Why couldn't we get steak? Instead, we had the most laughably bad service at a Cajun seafood restaurant. Date Rule #6b- If you make fun of the bad service and your date doesn't reciprocate, say nothing else!

* "If I were some sort of bad ass I'd ride a Harley Davidson, but I ride a bicycle." -Gentleman on the patio of Lakewood Landing. He was hilarious all night.

* Someone asked my what my favorite move was and I almost threw up- that's too hard! Can we break it down by genre? So, I tried to think of what movies I would take with me on a desert island that just happened to have a TV and DVD player not to mention electricity. That premise threw me off balance so I adjusted it slightly: If you're house were on fire, what movies would you grab? The list basically proved I would die a fiery death. In no particular order, they are:

* Jennie's Word of the Day: melon ball -I think she's losing it ;)

* It's Derby Day! AKA The Kentucky Derby, aka the horse race, aka the ponies. I've been playing the ponies since I was a little girl- one of the positives of having your Granddad in Louisville. Every year we'd watch the race on TV and hope our horse placed. A couple weeks later, my sister and I would receive a letter from our Granddad with a full run down of the race. If we were lucky, a couple dollars would be inside as well. I had the privilege of visiting Churchill Downs once when I was a child and always dreamed of attending The Derby proper. Now that I no longer have relatives there it seems a bit less likely, but a girl can dream right? So, where ever you are today at 6:24 PM EDT, drink a Mint Julep for me!

My Picks:

Discreetly Mine (38-1)- a long shot and he's still young and inexperienced, but certainly one to watch

Dublin (17-1)- truthfully, I just like the name but he has a good chance to place

Sidney's Candy (10-1)- your best bet, undefeated

Hello Saturday My Old Friend

Hello Saturday, How you doing? I missed you.

* Last weekend I was MIA from the blogosphere due to my internment in College Station, TX. I was visiting my delightful sister and auditing classes. Unfortunately, my twitchy eye has been replaced by a random cough. Do not listen to nurse practitioners/doctors who tell you Sudafed PE is less drowsy- it is not! I missed the second half of classes to sleep off the meds. After that, I just gave up. It's a lot better now (so glad I went to the minute clinic only to be prescribed drugs I already owned- We'll get to that next). So, she had a wonderful birthday, we ate delicious food (you can read all about it and see pictures here). Doesn't she look lovely?:

(I on the other hand am covered in beer. Damned drunken college kids!)

One of the highlights of the trip was our impromptu stop at Blockbuster. All of their stores are closing in College Station, so they set up an outlet store where all DVDs go to die. It was glorious! Everything was $.99! We could not stop laughing and running into each other while pawing through boxes and boxes of movies. I think I was very modest and controlled in my purchases:

* So, back to the drugs thing. It is imperative, I've come to realize, to write the function of your prescription drugs on the label. Otherwise, you have no idea what you're sitting on and will get another bottle of something you already own- I'm looking at you cough medicine! How annoying. Worse yet, is when you have no idea what something does so you look it up and then can't remember why you would have ever been prescribed it. Case in point: Meloxicam. I have half a bottle in my medicine basket. What the heck is it? I looked it up on wikipedia but they were uncommonly unhelpful. I finally came across another website that told me what it's prescribed for- osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. What? Why do I have this? I have neither of these conditions to the best of my knowledge. Would it help the charlie horse I developed yesterday morning, because I need something for that now? There are at least two other bottles of unknown origin and substance in there and I'll be damned if I look those up as well!

* Jennie's word of the day: Turtle

* Over heard: "I've got nuts to chew!"

* When I get an idea, or offer to do something for someone else; I usually repeat said idea/offer at least twice more. Example: I am making a couple CDs for my friend Lauren (who has graced this screen several times). It usually takes me a while to get around to this type of thing as I rarely use my own computer. You see, I don't have Internet at home so I have to pirate if off who ever lives in my building with an unsecured WiFi. About a week after I promised her two CDs, I promised another friend I'd make him a mix tape (my favorite kind). I respect his stance on pirated music much like he respects mine on pirated movies, so a mix tape was a natural compromise. Then on Thursday, I promised another two CDs to my date. Now I have to make 5 Cd's in as few days. Crap.

* This week, I have become obsessed with these sites:
Hyperbole and a Half
The Daily Wh.at

* According to Business Week, The Donner Party did not resort to cannibalism. I don't know why that bums me out, but it does. It also reminds me of a trivia night a couple weeks ago when they were the answer to a bonus question (word of the day Jennie got it right!).

* Dear makers of falafel's: I appreciate that you want to show me the beauty and greatness of your ingredients, however; some things can be too crunchy. You are supposed to be creamy and smooth in the center while crunchy on the outside, like a nutritious hush puppy. I am not interested in being able to pick out grains you may have added to yourself to feel more important. Please refrain from this in the future. Thank you.

Saturday Blah

* Ugh, I woke up yesterday morning and my throat felt like I'd been screaming all night. It only made matters worse that I didn't have a fever. You see, fever signifies that I'm sick and my bodies working diligently to correct the problem. No fever, no illness (that or my body's trying to kill me). One of thoughts is that I some how inhaled a piece of popcorn, literally. I've been coughing ever since a piece went down the wrong way Thursday night. Is that even possible? My other thought is that I'm in detox and my body is purging it's toxins thereby causing me to feel sick while not actually being sick. (No, not alcohol detox, food detox). Either way, I'm so high on Robitussin and Sudafed I don't really care.

* Thursday, word of the day Jennie and I went to an advanced screening of "Kick Ass". I was so excited. Unfortunately, I had to work and we didn't get there in time to secure a good place in line- I hate that! We waited and waited, enjoying our Jamba Juice (not the meal replacement I was hoping for). When we finally got to the front of the line, the theatre was full. Ugh. I always try to get to screenings at least 1.5 hours in advance, especially if it's a big movie or theatre. If I can't make it, I try to send someone ahead to grab our place in line. Jen got to learn first hand why I am a crazy person when it comes to getting to the theatre early- Everyone laughs, but if I don't do it we never get in or have horrible seats. So, instead of splitting up and sitting next to possible crazy/stinky people; we went to dinner and then watched a bunch of Netflix.

* This is what sounds like a good idea when you've been out drinking with friends:

* Overheard at the bar: "I want to stick my finger in it. Nice. Ridgey" (I think she was talking about a beer bottle, but it's still hilarious!)

* Jennie's word of the day is: mushroom head (Once again, I have no idea what is going on in her mind! Urban Dictionary defines this word as: 1. Another name for the male anatomy 2. One who is addicted to the hallucinogenic property of 'shrooms 3. Anyone who works in a car park, often with a bowl cut past age 7. #3's gotta be my fave)

* I can't even think straight right now... I love you 'tussin!

* Dear Rihanna: You look like a crazy person. Please fire your stylist.

* I spent a good hour going through the posts on Tweetbaggery.com. Now there's no reason to follow pointless celebs on Twitter- you can read they lamest posts right here!

Now, the countdown to napping: T-2.5 hours

Saturday Took a Holiday, Hello Tuesday

I took the weekend off but missed my Saturday ramblings so much, I'm making amends and doing it on Tuesday.

* Be careful when quoting a movie on your facebook, as it will inevitably be misunderstood. We all know that sarcasm does not translate, but neither does ignorance of the movie you're quoting. Case in point: I said, "I have a bit of a drinking problem", to which I was met with support for admitting it (it is the first step after all), fellow "drinkers" offering me a cheers, and a sincere attempt at rehab. Problem: I love "Airplane" but apparently, none of my friends have seen it. I didn't mean I had a "drinking problem", just that it was 9:30 AM and I'd already spilt coffee down the front of my sweater. Hence, drinking problem. In closing, when quoting a movie line that may be misinterpreted, always site the movie.

[side note: My favorite line from "Airplane" is: "So?" "Sew buttons!"]

* Sometimes you find the most interesting writing in a bathroom stall at a bar. The other day I picked up this gem: "Sometimes I get so bored with the people I'm with, I guess thats how the [say goey, hih]. I have no idea what they thought they were writing at the end, probably "saying goes, huh", but that is not what was written. Delicious!

* I keep a notebook with me at all times to record the hilarious things I hear or witness. At the present moment, I have 3 of them in my purse. The biggest problem is I don't always write a date or I forget to cross off the ones I've already used. Also, they are sometimes not accompanied by an explanation. How am I supposed to remember what "ow, my urethra" was in reference to? It's hilarious, but could certainly be more funny. The last entry in my favorite notebook is: "'I'm just being me" is no excuse to be an asshole. Maybe he's too nice. maybe you're a bitch". I think this was about some girls I overheard (eavesdropped on) talking. Whatever it was, it sounds like solid advice.

* In preparation for the new year, I am starting my resolution off with a bang- I want to do something that is out of context for me at least once a month. This seems pretty open to interpretation, and therefore may actually happen. Hopefully, it will lead to hilarious stories and not jail time.

* This weekend, I saw "An Education" with my folks. It was a lovely movie, truly one of my favorites of the year. The story is as old as time: young, naive girl falls for charming older man and chaos ensues. What is wonderful and different about this film, is the thoughtful direction, clever writing, and genius acting. Oscar buzz is already generating for Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard- it is well deserved. My favorite character though is played by Rosamind Pike- the ditsy blonde girlfriend who means well but is thick as a board. The look on her face when taken to a classical music concert is priceless! I laughed, giggled, and was embarassed for the characters several times. Fun for all ages!

* Related note: When is "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" opening? I saw a great trailer in front of the movie and could not be more excited. Then, no release date. Can this come out before I retire? Hopefully, this will be a success for the genius (and birthday buddy) that is Terry Gilliam.

[side note: If I say "Monty Python" and you say "huh?", keep walking]

* My Yahoo! home page wants me to know about a couple in New York who live with their two cats in 175 sqft. I don't know why this is news, except to say that apartment probably really smells like scat.