Hey Baby, what's your sign?

What they used to say:
“Can I get your number?”

The new, more passive question:
“Hey, are you on Facebook?”

Which really means:
“I'm gonna stalk you later.”

I have a blog.
I'm on Facebook.
So, I'm not complaining.
Just observing.

Out of proportion.

Silly me. Brought in Mimosa's for Andrea's B-Day celebration.
Brought 2 bottles of the champagne and 3 bottles of orange juice.
Left with only 2 bottles of OJ. Champagne gone.

This was also the day a recently departed employee left a keg in an office as a "farewell" gift.

That's a lot of booze at work. For a Monday.

Dug a hole in the sand. Where's that mantle?

When I moved down to North Carolina, I had images of me on the NC beaches during the weekend with friends. And this weekend, that image was realized. The images are mostly in my head because sand and water and wind and my camera don't mix.

With the exception of spending three hours extracting a splinter from a very wriggly 6 year old (and even that is a good story) it was a nice weekend. Found gas as low as $3.64. Inadvertently drove through Historic Goldsboro.

Went to Lowe's (the food store - why there is a major hardware and food store with the same name, dunno) and was amused by the following on the wine display. The wine that we purchased was opened and emptied within about 10 minutes of splinter removal.


Returned to Durham on Sunday, went to work for a few hours, and then down, over? to Greensboro for dinner. What are the weekends for, if not exploration?

Pizza Night, the 10th time

Thanks to Heather Durham (what a convenient last name) for recommending Moonlight Pizza for Pizza Night #10. This one might be the very best so far, in part because of the ingredients selected.


Pizza was followed by dancing at Loafers, as is becoming the tradition (Loafers used to be on Wednesday).

I had been practicing, but wasn't quite prepared for some of the moves I was asked to follow that night.

"Which is true," he adds. "I started the rumor."

Saw Gonzo tonight. I think my favorite part of the film was how Hunter helped sink the Muskie campaign with a report (fictitious, it was found, after the damage had been done) that the Maine senator got regular drug fixes from a shady Brazilian doctor. He only wrote Muskie was rumored to be hooked on Ibogaine, Thompson tells a talk-show host in archival footage in the film. "Which is true," he adds. "I started the rumor."

This stuff is so delicious.

Batman versus Sex in the City. Standing in line.

Saw the 10:00 show of Batman. Imax. Waiting in line I noticed there kind of was a larger percentage of guys, on the geeky side.

Gave me just a touch of insight into what "Sex in the City" might have felt like for the one guy I saw at that movie.

Entertainment at its finest.

In a previous post, I mentioned that Moose (a dog) provided me with great entertainment during Fourth of July. Here are two videos of said entertainment.

Ride for the Land. Little River Roll.

Participated in an organized ride (see title of this post). The ride was in support of the Triangle Land Conservancy. I enjoyed the energy of other riders, I enjoyed the rest stops, I enjoyed my shoes , I enjoyed the signs that TLC had along the route with conservancy factoids, I enjoyed riding a faster bike that was not mine - I enjoyed the burrito at race end as well as the cheers at race end - to name a few of the things I enjoyed.

Most of the land we rode through is protected by TLC. That was noted in signs that were posted along the route.

What I found funny was that the last part of the ride went right through an uppity housing development. I couldn't help but think how funny it would be to have a sign along the lines of "Stop Development Like This."

Little Boxes on the Hillside, Little Boxes made of ticky tacky...

Me. Enjoying the rest stop.

It was a tiring ride and the rest of the day was not that productive. I had plans to go see music and movies at the North Carolina Museum of Art but guess what happened.

It rained. Sigh.

Ski boots. For biking.

I'm not that good at sports. Enthusiastic, yes. Skilled, no. But, I'm a pretty good skier. Probably because my parents taught me how to do it before I knew any better.

Most of my gear is old and kind of crappy. Especially the outerwear. I pride myself on the fact that my ski abilities, and not my ski equipment make me so damn awesome.

And when I see someone on the bunny slope in a high fashion outfit. Well, it tics me off.

So, when I've approached new activities, I'm always wary of outfitting up for it too quickly. I need to prove to myself that I've got some level of commitment to the sport and the equipment is necessary, and to a degree, modest.

Like biking. I've been avoiding bike shoes for years. I upgraded to toe cages (which are actually kind of dangerous) but I couldn't quite bring myself to commit to shoes just for biking.

Until I got the shoes as a gift.

One 30 mile ride (more on the ride later) and I was sold.

I love my shoes.

I especially love the top strap - it's just like a ski boot binding.

Dirty South Improv. Avenue Q Style.

Well, they brought muppets to Dirty South Improv. And improvisers from NYC. There was a sketch that took place in the back of a hot dog store. After the show I had to go to Elmo's to get a hotdog. The bun was a little stale. I think it's because hot dogs aren't ordered all that often.

Pizza Night Take Nine

So, through the power of Facebook, I've reunited with a pal from Greenwich High School. I think I might have seen her once or twice at a bar in New York City but for the most part, we hadn't really been in touch since 1995.

Said friend, Candace, has a 10% discount coupon for Pomodoro Italian Kitchen. So, that's where we went for Pizza Night Week Nine.

And we forgot to use the coupon.

Pizza wasn't great, but the company was.


Went dancing down at Loafers in Raleigh after Pizza Night. Attendance was slim but the visit got me back into the groove.

Round The World by Frankie. And Jamie.

By Frankie
@ ~ 1:22 into this clip Frankie starts.
@ ~ 1:25 Frankie does what he calls the Around the back (Around the World)
By Jamie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTy73a_rScg

Goin' On Down to South Park Gonna Meet Some Friends of Mine

South Park is actually a mall in Charlotte.
I planned on going to that mall to shop at Anthropologie while in the greater Charlotte area this weekend.
Ended up going to a different mall outside of Charlotte that also had my beloved store.
Why Charlotte has 2 of these stores and RDU NONE, well, that's beyond me.
And here's the dress

A decent deli in Greensboro.

A whole new demographic.

Opened mailbox. Saw the following envelope from Fidelity.

Thought to myself - hmmm - I'm on the wrong list. Why, college, that was ages ago.
Then realized they were talking about me sending my (as of yet unborn) children.
Oh boy. Or girl, if you think about it.

The wrong demographic.

Went to Lincoln to see the brother of a pal in a band.
Didn't realize it was a teen heart throb band (see teens).

Ended up sitting in the lobby for most of the show (along with some parents).

Being a friend of the band got me a VIP backstage pass that for no known reason said "Man Whore VIP." The pass proved quite useful not for going to the backstage to meet the band but for going THROUGH the backstage to get out of the theater and avoid the crowd and bottle-necking teen crowd.

I briefly considered trying to sell my backstage pass to a teeny bopper.

Pizza Night, take 8. And we have a winner.

Joined some pals for Pizza Night Take Eight (yes, that's in caps cuz it's an official event).
We went to Vics in Raleigh.
Now, Vic's is an Italian restaurant that serves pizza.
So, I guess we're opening it up a bit and go outside of pizza parlors.
Which means I can go to Bella Monica, my favorite Italian restaurant in the Triangle. Except I would have to order pizza - and that might be difficult to do because I love love love that Bella Monica Chicken Parmesan.

Vics was fantastic. I think what I like the most was the Prosecco - a delightful sparkling wine. Perfect for hot weather.

Oh yeah, we were sitting outside and it rained. But that's such a regular occurrence not even worth it to mention. In fact, if I had to describe all my nights out down here I would say "I ran into someone I knew and then it rained."

Durham, Year One. Remembering It.

Took another shot at local theater on Wednesday and found something interesting - Goin' a Buffalo at Manbites Dog Theater.

I went with Kathryn. How do I know Kathryn? She worked with my college roommate and pal Naomi and I met her when I was in Chicago meeting up with Naomi. Then she moved to Durham. Then I moved to Durham. And then she graduated and moved away. And she was back in Durham visiting - en route to the mountains.

Hanging out with Kathryn reminded me of my first year in Durham, my first bike ride down here, especially.

I love cross-referencing things.

DEAR SIR OR MADAME YOUR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED

My sister and I are planning a trip to Africa. For those who are paying attention, this counts as yet another delivery on a 2008 New Year's Resolution.

We've made some bookings that require international wire transfer payment. Our resort in Zanzibar sent wire instructions that really feel like the spam DEAR SIR OR MADAME YOUR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED e-mails that show up in your junk box every now and again. Seriously, when I called my bank to initiate the transfer there was definitely a "Are you sure you're not being duped?" undertone.

Well, we'll see how duped I feel when I'm lying on this beach.

Overheard at the Lindy Hop 101 class

Do Lindy Hop and Charleston get along? Are they like gangs?

Hello and Goodbye. I've just unemployed You.

Now, I’m a fan of local theater. While in New Hampshire, decided to see a play at the local theater “The Barn.” I’ve seen several impressive productions at this venue so my expecations for “Evita” were fairly high.

And, wow, were my expectations, um, not met at all.

It was so bad it was funny. Really. The narrator, Che, very weak voice – missed half of what he sang. Good thing I’ve already seen Evita and it’s not too complicated of a story.

Evita, well, she was no Madonna. And the wigs she wore. They looked like wigs and they weren’t good hairdos. If you’re going to borrow hair, borrow cool hair.

When I returned to Durham on Sunday I had to rent the DVD just to get the atrocity out of my head.

I think my favorite line is when Evita/Madonna evicts Peron’s mistress.
“Hello and Goodbye, I've just unemployed you.”
So incredibly bitchy.

Rent a Dog New Hampshire

In New Hampshire for Fourth of July.

Hiked Mount Kearsarge.

The dog in the picture, Moose, provided much entertainment during the weekend. He isn't really my parent's dog. He's the next door neighbor's dog but we "borrowed" him every now and then. Rent a dog.

Evening was spent on the dock, playing with camera and watching the occasional fireworks.



I waterskied this day but there are no pictures. Alas, just imagine how awesome I am on the skiiiizzzz.

Kick Over

Did a kick-over at aerials practice tonight.
Tobias took a video.
Tobias is in Sweden for the next three weeks.
So, you'll have to check out the video on Facebook.
There's probably a way to get it from Facebook to here, but I can't do that.
Wheeeeee!