The other day I went to this fancy candy store and asked for half a pound of Gumi Bears. The clerk asked me if I was German. Then she told me that unlike almost eveyone, I pronounced "Gumi" the correct German way (as the Germans prefected Gumi technology first).

The supposedly correct way to pronounce it is "GOO-me." Most people pronounce it "gummy."

When I was in Guatemala, if you bought soda at the carts in the street ,instead of giving you the bottle, they would open the bottle, pour it into a little sandwich baggie, and hand that to you with a straw.

actually, I think it was the biteing of the bag that may have appalled her - I can't go to a reastrant where they don't give me a straw - unless it is a formal restaurant. there is something about straws here. so if you had to poke the bag with a straw it might have been ok.

I just caught up. Some impressions:

Happy Wedding! Happy Birthdays!

The balance beam is not all that bad, as far as gymnastics goes, if what you're doing is relatively simple, and not upside down. You instinctively fall away from it, though I have fallen on it a number of times. It's not really as bad as you'd think. The bars are inherently painful, even if you're doing them perfectly. The floor is quite often painful, since it is so easy to slam into. The vault? Terrifying. You should not have to run at anything. So, basically, I'm with Kristen.

I saw bits of the R. Kelly video on "Best Week Ever." So incredibly weird. And funny.

Mayonnaise is gross.

And some questions:

Also, why on earth is it so hard for Kelly Monaco and Alec Mazo to do publicity? Why?? Don't they understand that I am desperate for something to feed my DwtS obsession?

And finally, I submitted my resume to a job that I really, really, really, really want, and I want them to call me right this very second. Why are they taking their time about it? Why??

Nilly, I will come as soon as is feasible, and, unless my children are the subjects of dangerous psychological experiments in the meantime (other than the ones I perform routinely, that is), I can nearly guarantee they'll drink chocolate milk from most containers, possibly even shoes.

In Malaysia, the coffee came in baggies like that also, but as it was a little warm, there would be a plastic clamp with a loop around the top of the bag, so you could hold that. Or hang it on something nearby. Like a chain-link fence, while you waited for the bus. I only got it once, as they put butter in the coffee, which I really didn't ...

What is up with the butter in coffee? My evil exboyfriend's grandmother put Margarine (oleo, maybe, to some here) in her coffee. I never got that. She was not Malaysian, by the by. She was some mix of British Isles ancestry--white American Protestant. I almost lost my lunch when I saw her do it.

Much job-ma Alibelle

Thanks, Gud! How are you? I haven't chatted with you in a while.

I can't decide why butter in coffee sounds so nast, because whipped cream in coffee is excellent, and if you just keep beating, it would turn into butter eventually.

I can't decide why butter in coffee sounds so nast

Because butter usually has salt in it?

Whipped cream is sweet, though, and butter is not so much.

Also, I now desperately want some chocolate milk. Thanks a lot, Nilly.