Hide and Seek

Zach bought us the 5th "Music from the O.C." CD. We really liked the first one, so he thought this would be a good purchase. So far I like it, although the Kaiser Chiefs' song they put on there is not one of their best--it's one I habitually skip over when I listen to that album. My favorite song from this OC album has to be Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek"! It's a haunting electronica ballad that sounds nearly a cappella; I guess the best word to describe it is "bittersweet". It makes me think of happy memories that were at the time just happy, but when you look back you can't see the happy memories without them being slightly tarnished by the sad things that happened later....Like remembering fun times with people whom I've lost touch with, or my lovable, charismatic friend Kerry who killed himself. As with all new songs I become obsessed with, I've listened to it at least 5 times in a row now. And now I'm so depressed! But I highly recommend "Hide and Seek"-induced depression.

P.S.--The pasta was found (tupperware still intact) upside-down under the entertainment center. Apparently there was some dog involvement. Never assume those crafty little buggers are innocent.

Early Onset Senility

This post is actually not about me, but about Zach (although we've accepted that I will probably be senile by 55--due to unfortunate genetics and flipcup-induced brain damage). He misplaced a tupperware container of leftover pasta this morning. According to him, he set it down on his bag, ran upstairs to brush his teeth, and when he came downstairs the pasta was gone. We checked both dogs for evidence of malfeasance (a quick process, really, what with white dogs and marinara sauce). We found none. It has been 14 hours, and still no sign of the wayward pasta. How do you lose a bowl of pasta? I guess we'll find it when it starts to smell. Zach made me promise not to give him too hard a time when we finally figure out the pasta's whereabouts. This post totally doesn't count, though, right? Because we haven't found it yet? That's my thinking anyway.

More Upcoming Travels!

I still need to post my pictures from Stacey's wedding, don't I? Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow. I also never wrote anything about Nuremburg and Berchtesgaden. I'll have to find time to do that. Anyway, right now I'm gearing up for a two week trip in mid-September--to Liberia and Senegal! Exciting! I'm particularly interested in Senegal, because for the last few months I've been appreciating the music of Daara J, a Senegalese hip-hop group. My favorite songs of theirs are "Boomerang" and "Esperanza" ("Le Cycle", "Paris Dakar", and "Si la Vie n'est pas Belle" are also worth a listen). At least I'm current on my vaccinations, because I needed a lot of shots before my first African trip (MMR, Polio, Tetanus-Diptheria, Hepatitis A & B, Meningoccocal, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever). All I need is some Malarone and some Ambien, and I'm good to go!

Stephanie Jo

If you're the praying sort: please keep my sister-in-law, Stephanie, in your prayers as she serves our country and puts herself in harm's way. Pray for her to have the courage she needs to do her job, the wisdom to make the right decisions, and the strength to deal with what she sees.

Metro Section

The joys of public transportation! This week I've been subjected to:

1. Man sleeping on bench outside the Metro station...with his hand down his pants. Good Monday Morning! Seriously, how do you sleep in until 6:40 on a public bench anyway?

2. A little girl who looked to be 8 years old (with her mother) wearing a bright blue wig and a laminated sign around her neck that said, in part, "Lil' Kim Fan!". Lil' Kim just got out of prison and has a song called "Can't F**k With Queen Bee". When I was 8, I liked the Beach Boys and Huey Lewis and the News.

3. I got on the train home today and the car I was on was stiflingly (is that a word? If so, did I spell it right?) hot. So I waited until the next stop and got onto the adjacent car, which was really crowded (because of the exodus from the other car). So now I'm all sweaty AND standing for 3 more stops until I change trains. No big deal, but I'm not in the best mood. Oh, and the train stations are really hot this time of year, because they can't air condition enough to make up for the 102 F heat. I read an article earlier this week that the target temperature in the DC Metro stations this time of year is 85. Lovely! So, I change trains and manage to find a seat...ah, now I get to curl up with my Barron's French Book/MP3s and learn to say "I have a room on the 4th floor!" ("J'ai un chambre sur le quatrieme etage." Why is this one of the first phrases my book teaches? Do they expect that my priorities are such that I have a more urgent need to invite people up to my room than say, ask for the check in a restaurant? Because I still don't know how to say that, and it gets uncomfortable when you and the waiter just sit there waiting for the other to do something). But right after I sit down in an aisle seat and before I retreat into my happy place, the woman in the inside seat looks over her shoulder and says "oh, that little boy". I look where she's looking and see a perfectly healthy looking 6(ish)-year old tourist. She then (almost insistently) offers the boy's mother her seat so the boy can sit...which means she's basically volunteering my aisle seat to them too. The boy doesn't look like he's been wearing heels and listening to my pointy-haired boss all day, so I'm not feeling too charitable. Besides, most small children seem to adore standing on the Metro and swinging around the poles like little pole dancers. Maybe the mother saw my sad face, because she declined the offer. Then, super-generous-seatmate tries to engage me in a conversation about the goofy-looking dude on the cover of the Style section of her paper. I try to be good natured, saying something like "Yeah, he's not very stylish is he? Yeah, that tie really sucks." (please, please stop talking to me)

But you know what? It still beats an hour and a half on the Beltway!