popularity and the animal kingdom

i've been using friendster for a couple of years, thought it was an interesting way to figure out that i might have friends in common with other friends of mine. granted, it's mostly lost its appeal and i hardly ever sign in, but the fact remains the same: i've been using friendster for 2 years, and claim 8 friends. cleo has been on dogster for 2 days and has 13 'pup pals' :)

downsize me?

so some woman watched super-size me and apparently was not impressed. she ate mcdonald's for a month as well, and instead of gaining twenty pounds? she lost ten. her cholesterol also dropped 40 points. isn't that crazy?

not just friendster,but dogster?

http://www.dogster.com/?161757

:)

friday friday friday friday!

let's take a vote....tomorrow is saturday. i've asked 4 people to work 6 hours and have a few more coming in to make up time. should i, or should i not come in to work? background info: i worked last saturday, and next weekend (the 4th of july) i have to be there ALL weekend. i'm thinking not so much for tomorrow...

time to re-register my car...

i was sorting through old e-mails and re-discovered the following list of "cool words for your license plate." don't say i never gave you anything ;)

fizgig (fiz'-gig) n. 1: a fishgig. 2: a giddy, flirting girl. 3: a kind of firework, made of damp powder, which gives a hissing or fizzing noise when ignited
swaly (sway'-lee) adj. shady.
hoyden (hoy'-den) n. a girl or woman of saucy, boisterous or carefree behavior.
twee (twee) adj. affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute or quaint
daedal (deed'ul) adj. 1a: intricate. 1b: skillful, artistic. 2: adorned with many things.
stygian (stij'-ee-an) adj. 1: of or relating to the river Styx. 2: extremely dark, gloomy or forbidding.
duende (doo-en'-day) n. the power to attract through personal magnetism and charm [from Spanish dialect for "charm", from Spanish "ghost, goblin" from duen de casa].
inveigh (in-vay') v. to protest vehemently; rail.
lambent (lam'-bent) adj. 1: playing lightly on or over a surface: flickering. 2: softly bright or radiant. 3: marked by lightness or brilliance (esp. of an expression).
oneiric (oh-nai'-rik) adj. of or relating to dreams. {see also: oneiromancy n. divination by means of dreams}.

"i'm a salmon! i'm swimming upstream to spawn"

so the play was highly entertaining- definitely inappropriate and very funny. the line above however, does not come from the script, it comes from the man heading back to his seat as everyone was leaving for intermission ;) mill mountain theatre didn't appear to be the young, hip and trendy activity however, the average age (even with us as outliers) was probably still ~70ish. my plan for next time is to buy tickets the day of, because if the show isn't sold out at $38 per ticket, you can buy them at $16!
i also had a tasty tasty dinner at corned beef and co., which i fully intend to replicate in my own kitchen :)

ps from your friendly neighborhood version of ebert and roper

look at me was very good - 2 thumbs up from the monteverdes!

bibbidy bobbidy boo!

exciting notes from the past 24 hours:
-lastnight at the lyric, they interviewed us for The Current (NRV's section of the Roanoke Times) -- will be in print in the Sunday, July 3rd edition. the only shame about it is that nate missed it, as he has been volunteering longer than any of us (in fact, i'm really only a volunteer sidekick!) :)
-outlook 2003 has now been installed on my computer! woo-hoo! now i can sort and flag my e-mail with the best of them!
-a group of us are headed to roanoke tonight to see "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" which I mentioned yesterday, but am becoming increasing excited about - dinner at Corned Beef and Co. to start, then off to the play which is described as "sex and the city meets the history channel." good times ;)

can i go home yet?

the weekend was just not long enough...hopefully the workday will pass by quickly and i can head back home :) tonight cassie and i are volunteering at the lyric, so stop by and see us serving up popcorn and pop for the 9:15 show ;) the movie showing is look at me.
tomorrow night we're off to see they play "A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Forum" - should be fun!

happy father's day dad and marty!

can't believe it's already sunday -- probably because i was at work yesterday morning ;) but not too bad, instead of going in at 7 like the normal work week, i wandered in around 8:15 so i could feel better about being in there on a saturday. i also am now completely prepared for monday and then some.
afterwards, i was being very lazy and just playing on my computer at home, so cleo and i headed to henderson lawn to read in the sun and enjoy the beautiful day.
today is errand day! of to target, except i can't remember what it is that i needed...hmmmm.
nate's now at a villa near florence for those of you keeping up with him :) he's also updating here whenever he can!

Scrabble

I pick seven letters and make the word chance:
twenty-two points, not bad for a start.
You’re not quite as a lucky, and counter with fate:
worth a mere twelve with your Double Word Score.
Fortune’s not bad, using all but my “y,”
and now we’re deep into it, as the board widens out.
Nights not of passion but of deep tendresse,
as you make the word gentle for just seven points.
Our son’s fast asleep, and I make the word heal,
a mere six points, plus a Triple Word Score.
And so, four years from fantasy, we move on this way,
lifting square letters from darkness to light.
Quietly, nastily, we’ve learned how to play,
as you wind up with family and I end with above
on this old, fated gameboard of luck and love.

*

by Michael Blumenthal

view from the virginia creeper

outside of virginia looking in...

inside of virginia looking out...

when in rome...

nate arrives in rome today. i'm jealous! but i'm living vicariously through him: i have a little paper route of his trip, i have several coffee table books of italy to page through, and my windows desktop is a lovely picture of venice. it's as if i'm there instead of in blacksburg watering his plants! :)
not that there's anything wrong with that, especially lately! it's been warm and beautiful here in southwest virginia. yesterday evening as i was driving home on main street, the sun was setting and banners for the lyric touting 75 years were waving, i thought what a wonderful oasis blacksburg is :) this surprising burst of music, organics, education, etc. lastnight i got the grand tour of a friend's new beautiful house and had a glass of wine at boudreaux's with cassie and a friend of hers. then cassie and i headed off to the grocery store. i like grocery shopping fairly late at night. not sure why, especially since by then, the bakery, deli, meat counter, etc. are all closed. may have something to do with a danielle steel novel i read once where the couple of interest meets in the grocery store ;)
tuesday night i sat on the couch to watch a movie with cassie and i don't think i even made it 10 minutes. i finally drug myself off the couch at 10 pm, stumbled into the kitchen to eat 1/2 a cold leftover enchilada, and went straight to bed! which brings me to my next subject: i am yet again on a diet. stay tuned to see if i make it this time. you know what they say, if it first you do not fricassee, fry fry again!

want to buy a house? too bad!

so i've been pre-occupied with real estate lately - seems like everyone around me is buying a house, doing the smart thing, no longer throwing their money away on rent. but oh my goodness the housing prices are ridiculous! so i have a new plan: wait until the housing market tanks, and THEN buy. good plan, eh? okay, maybe not :) but it's a nice thought for me as a lowly renter!
today, it is finally friday. it's been a long time coming. 5-day weeks are a little rough after a leisurely 4-day week like last week. the new river network dealy turned out to be a great time- glorified keg party really (with better food!). great turn out, met some fun and interesting people that actually live in blacksburg, as opposed to just passing through our lovely mountains for a bit of education.

new river network

event today for the new river network-- it's a new organization aimed at young professionals in the area. sounds like fun, $3 to get in, and then it's all the free draft beer you can drink!
in other news...i have no other news! more later.

i wish winnie the pooh was my co-worker!

for an explanation of that statement. so how are you? i always talk about my own goings-on on this blog, which makes sense, because, well, it's my blog, but just thought i'd ask :) work is busy busy today, lots of things going wrong and no time to solve everything all at once. but i'll get there ;) it's also only 45 minutes until lunchtime, always a bonus. we ate taco salad lastnight- mmmm. tonight i think nately is cooking up something on the grill after cassie and i play some tennis. and then maybe to the mall or something - who knows what the evening may hold? :)

hello from the river i can't spell!

i pride myself on spelling but yackuhganey (actually spelled Youghiogeny River) is a little too much for me! but anyway, off for a canoe ride (complete with beer cooler) this afternoon, with a pizza pot of gold at the end of our canoe-rainbow ;)
enjoy the weekend!

i want to go search for treasure!

modern day treasure! and all you have to do is read a children's book?

happy birthday mom!