'Safe'
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Damn, Trudy, you shared an elevator with Belafonte? And managed to speak in comprehensible words? That is so much more than I ever could have done.
ION, a commentary on Al-Qaeda's endorsement of John McCain that is so very lovely (and thoroughly Buffistaesque) that I just want to read it over and over and over. Preferably out loud.
I think when I go into the bookstore tonight, I'm going to see if I can get someone to cover my Saturday shift. We've got a few new hires who could probably use some more practice on the register, and we've had a good week for membership card sales, so they really don't need me there to get our quota of cards. I'll see who I can rustle up to fill in.
But as I've gotten older, I've needed a whole lot more Down Time in general.
This is me. I had five years of working only one job which I got really spoiled by, so when I started at B&N 15 months ago, it took a bit to adjust.
Picking up the third job at the law firm was a mistake, I now think, and one I probably should take care of ASAP. I think I'll talk to the lawyer on Sunday about having him start looking for a replacement for me. I hate doing this after only one month, but best to do it now and give him as long as he needs to get someone else.
As promised, the details of my trip, or "How I Spent My October Vacation":
Day 1. Las Vegas: Crazy ass suite at Mandalay Bay overlooking the Strip. Confirmation #1 that, while very nice, money spent on accommodations that one spends so little time in are so not worth it to me. Decide to blow a whole $20 playing roulette. Win $70 bucks on the first spin of the wheel. Play for awhile and manage to walk away still up $30.
Days 2-3. Zion: Favorite park. Lots of variety. Great places to eat in Springdale. Confirmation #1 that I am, indeed, afraid of heights. At least when stability is an issue. I learn this when I make the mistake of looking down on the way up to Angel’s Landing.
Day 4. Bryce Canyon: Its beauty is somewhat marred by the fact that it is f*cking freezing. Wake up to take pictures at sunrise and almost 1 hour later can no longer operate my camera due to my fingers being about to fall off. Also, confirmation #2 that I am, indeed, afraid of heights, as the gusty winds force me to sit down in the middle of a viewpoint thinking that I may be blown over the precipice at any moment. Craxy.
Days 5-6. Boulder: The surprise of the trip. I wish we had factored in more time for both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Capitol Reef. Must go back. If you are anywhere nearby, run, don’t walk, to the Boulder Mountain Lodge and its restaurant, Hell’s Backbone Grill.
Goblin Valley: Another pleasant surprise. Crazy, random, mushroom-like stone shapes in a valley between Capital Reef and Moab. Like wandering onto the cheap set of an early Star Trek episode. The kids there are clearly delighted, running around all these bizarre shapes.
Days 7-8. Arches: Beautiful, but hiking fatigue has set in. Too many tourists. Too many kids that are clearly bored out of their minds with all the walking. I can’t imagine what this is like in the summer. Also, confirmation #2 that, while very nice, money spent on accommodations that one spends so little time in are not worth it. Despite superior lodgings at the ultra swanky Sorrel River Ranch and Spa (Sparky, I thought of you), this is the least favorite spot of all three of us.
Day 9. Monument Valley: After leaving my friends in Moab to drive the car back to Vegas, I make this stop alone in homage to my late father, a big fan of Westerns. I thank my lucky stars that I decide not to drive myself, as the road (and dust) is probably worse than that on the worst African safari ever. Run out of film at the end of the tour just at sunset. Decide to wait to buy more until I’m on the road. Kick myself when I realize that the view of the Valley from my room at sunrise is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
Day 10. Grand Canyon: A bit of a disappointment after all I’ve seen. The scale is amazing, but it’s not nearly as pretty. I again wake up to hike down into the canyon and get sunrise shots. Not cold, but I am so intent on setting up a shot that I don’t notice that a Bighorn sheep has come up behind me and is about to knock my tripod over the cliff. Incredible.
Last Meal: Pine Country Restaurant, Williams, AZ. What can I say but: Try. The. Pie.
Oh, have I just skipped right to where I can post yet again about how I was totally and completely in love with the muppets? Ever since I was not much more than a baby, not understanding a word of the English, not able to read the subtitles, obviously missing pretty much each and every single joke that didn't involve stuff exploding or miss Piggy hitting stuff, and yet - utterly and completely in love.
It got to the point where my mom had to take a picture of me watching and being all in love. They showed "The Muppets" then on an early afternoon hour on Fridays, which is a pretty busy hour, what with shabbat starting on sunset on Fridays, and my mom also had my one-year-younger-than-me brother to take care of, but she stopped all of it one week just in order to take that picture, because I was so full of Kermit-love delight.
My current roommates tell me I don't look *that* much different when I get to watch "The Muppets" nowadays. My hair is a bit different, and I hope I understand more of the jokes, but I just can't turn off the being-completely-in-love-with-it-all, from the very first wave of Kermit's hand to the last saxophone sound.
Sounds marvellous, megan.
You have a lovely glow in that picture, Nilly. I didn't know it was Muppet-related.
Just found out that the nearby job I liked is on hold until November. Why take vacation now, silly man?
Which reminds me--McGill wants me to write my life story in six words (http://sixwords.mcgill.ca/homepage.html). I must ponder.
M: Grace Kelly, F: Katherine Hepburn, C: Claudette Colbert
F: Taye Diggs, C: Patrick Dempsey (his hair will protect him from harm), M: David Tennant
F: Taye Diggs, M: David Tennant, C: Patrick Dempsey
Hee--Matt and I think alike!