So.... I suck at blogging regularly... we've all come to know this about me....

Here's a two-and-a-half-month roundup.

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On Veteran's Day weekend, Chris and I flew out to Austin, Texas, to see Andy (Chris's best bud and former business partner) and Heather (Andy's other half). Immediately after we landed, they took us to the Alamo Drafthouse theater to eat fried pickles, drink beer and watch the Pancake Theatre treatment of the movie Roadhouse, starring Patrick Swayze. It was like a live version of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, the theater hiring professional comedians to bust on the movie from start to finish. With the time change and the fact that the theater was so comfortable, I can't say I was awake from the entire adventure -- after all, we arrived home around 4am Austin time -- but it was awesome and a fabulous introduction to the city.

We ate tacos for just about every meal, saw the bat bridge, hit the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco (and blew a lot of money in the gift store), did karaoke at an Asian-style karaoke bar where you rent private rooms (and Andy held the high score for the night while I secured the lowest score), gorged on cupcakes sold from an Airstream trailer, bought cowgirl boots, hit Waterloo Records, splurged at the flagship Whole Foods Market, enjoyed a meal at the Chuy's where Barbara & Jenna Bush were busted for underage drinking, and had so much more fun than could possibly be contained in a few measly paragraphs. If it weren't for the fact that Austin averages about ten billion degrees fahrenheit for months on end every single summer, I think Chris and I would both gladly move there in a heartbeat -- not just to be closer to Andy and Heather, who totally rock & we're totally in love with, but also because Austin is such a wonderful town. Charlotte... it has absolutely no edge... so sad. It's all the more obvious when you visit a city like that. Austin is now on my list of favorite cities in the world. And Andy and Heather have to be some of the greatest hosts on the planet.

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The following week, I hung out with a new girlfriend (Jocelyn); then had a girl's night dinner with Megan, Starla, Samantha and a gaggle of other gals. That Thursday, I traveled to Asheville solo to hit the Orange Peel, where I attended a benefit for the Moog Foundation. The benefit was well-attended. I didn't know a soul in there, but had a great time anyway -- attendees could get their hands on several Moog-made synthesizers, theremins and other electronic instruments. It was heaven... I slapped on a pair of headphones and spent about 30 minutes trying to push every single button on one of the keyboards, giddy with glee. The theremin was such a tremendous challenge. I definitely lack the natural grace required -- my spazzy movements create a spazzy sound. I suppose it was Pamelia Kurstin who I saw play theremin in the Moog documentary? Anyway, all the more power and respect to her than I gave even before I tried the instrument. It's friggin hard. And it's unbelievably cool that Asheville has this resource.

During the event, there was a great deejay who was able to mix electronica on the fly. He's been asked to do sets in several places around the Southeast. I tried to talk to him a bit after his show -- maybe get a freelance article out of it if I knew more? -- but one of his friends kept interfering. I was wearing one of my t-shirt from Taiwan under a velvet jacket. The shirt has images of cameras all over it and some crazy, mis-interpreted language. The friend wanted to point out that I was **wearing** cameras and he **had** a camera, and... wait wait wait... then wanted to show me lots and lots of poorly lit, blurry photos. So -- not a productive evening, but fun nevertheless.

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The following week was Thanksgiving, and it was hard to believe the holiday was already upon us. I talked Megan into going to an interfaith church service with me on the Tuesday before the holiday. There is a group in Charlotte that seeks to build religious tolerance and social action by bringing many, many faiths together -- there are dozens of Christian churches in membership to the group, of course, but there are also houses of faith who follow Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Ba'hai, Unitarianism, etc. Each faith contributed a segment of the service and the turnout was fantastic. Very inspirational. I've since attended a few more programs sponsored by this group and am a new person for it. I wish more cities had an effort like this, and were able to build understanding, love and positive actions across the pews, mats and aisles of very different houses of faith instead of trying to simply promote their own missions and evangelism.

At any rate, I ended up losing my keys that night. I was pretty sure I'd left them in the restaurant where Megan and I had dinner... but after stopping by the restaurant (in easy walking distance to the church, so we hadn't moved our cars), they swore they didn't have them. I KNEW the keys weren't at the restaurant where we'd grabbed dessert post-service -- that's where I'd discovered my keys were missing and it would have been easy to find them there.

Megan offered to drive me home. As we left, I called the church to see if anyone had turned in the keys. Of course, it was late on a Tuesday night -- no one was at the church anymore -- and all I could reach was the "emergency" line there... at this Catholic Church... the one you call when, like, a family member is about to die in the middle of the night and you need a priest to administer last rites. Having been raised Catholic, I have the same level of respect for this line as I have for calling 911 -- you just don't do it unless there's an emergency. My keys didn't really count. But I REALLY needed my keys. So I left a message: "Hi... I was at the Thanksgiving service tonight and seem to have lost my keys... so, while this isn't a crisis of faith or anything, it is kind of a crisis in terms of getting into my car and I'd appreciate if someone could get back to me...." I left my number. Megan was laughing so hard that her face was buried in the steering wheel, trying not to be loud enough to be overheard in the church's answering system. She did a u-turn and we headed back.

The church's security guard called me back within minutes. Now I suppose that, if you're a church security guard, you probably don't see a lot of serious action on a day-to-day basis. So by the time we got there, he had thrown open the doors to the church and tried to guess where I might have been sitting, then crawled around on his hands and knees looking around the entire sanctuary. He was ecstatic to see us, and led me all over the church and all of its related buildings -- where I had NEVER been -- trying to see if keys were lying around anywhere. They weren't. He walked me back to Megan's car and tried to remember who the patron saint of lost keys might be. I thanked him. Megan started driving me home again.

On the way home, I made one final call to the restaurant where we'd started the evening. This time, I spoke to the manager. He said he'd give the place one more look. Within five minutes, he called back. "So, you've got a Bush Countdown keychain on these keys, eh? THIS IS AWESOME." I thanked him profusely for finding them. Apparently, the hostess had picked the keys up from our table after Megan and I left, stashed them in her stand, and didn't mention it to anybody. Megan dropped me off and I got Chris to take me back, so I could pick up my car.

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Thanksgiving was enjoyed at Jocelyn's house. She decided it was not appropriate for Chris and I to go to Chen's Bistro, a local Chinese buffet that we typically enjoy on the holiday. But I admit, this was better -- a lot of couples our age, 22 people in all, and Jocelyn and I teamed up to totally win the family game of Cranium. I love that woman!

Right after Thanksgiving, my brother Russell and his fiance Emily came to spend the weekend with me and Chris. Emily and I spent hours walking around the indoor track at the downtown YMCA, and a few hundred bucks at the local Steve & Barry's. We went to the BodyWorlds exhibit (my third time - but it was especially interesting for Emily, as she's in a physical therapy graduate program and currently doing dissections), hit the Bobcats versus Celtics basketball game (the Bobcats lost by one point at literally the very last second and it was HEARTBREAKING) and attended the Panthers versus Saints football game (which was never even close at any second in the game.) Russ and I have only had a few years of our lives to get to know each other -- our family history is just crazy -- but I swear, I feel like I have known him my whole life. He's such a great guy, and I'm proud to be his sister. My dad may have done some controversial and hurtful things in his life, but every day I know I'm lucky to have ALL of my incredible siblings.

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Somewhere in all of this was perhaps my household's biggest accomplishment of 2007. I got pregnant. EEP!!! More on this in a few moments....

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The rest of November and early December saw lots and lots of "tying up loose ends before the year is over" on the job, some NIA classes; an alumnae reception for Agnes Scott College's new president; a Dinosaur Jr. concert in Asheville with Chris, Tim and Drew; a quick overnight visit to Johnson City and shopping in Asheville; a Christmas party at Samantha's; a haircut; a sleepover at Starla's. Lots of activity.

In the midst of all of this, I lost my keys one more time. Two times of misplacing my keys in one month, something I NEVER do. And I started thinking... what's wrong with me? I took a pregnancy test toward the end of November and the results were.... inconclusive. I bought a multi-test pack and kept trying. By Saturday, December 8, I took a more definitive one with Chris standing by. It was positive! I set a doctor's appointment for the very next week.

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At the doctor's office, I was all nerves. Chris seemed calm and collected. Their tests confirmed our suspicions. We were pregnant! But during the pelvic exam, the size of my uterus caused the doctor to do a double take. Was I just carrying big? Was he misreading things? Was I further along than they thought? Giving birth to Godzilla? Carrying twins? They bumped up the ultrasound to be sure. More on the ultrasound in a moment...

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That week, I had lunch with Jocelyn, who put some things in perspective for me.

That weekend, I flew to New York City to see Beth. Typically, those visits are a literal marathon of walking from one end of Manhattan to the other. A veritable orgy of shopping. This time was no exception, but I definitely tired more quickly. In part, this is likely because it was very cold outside -- I wore three layers of shirts under my thick coat, tights under my corduroys, thick socks with boots, a hat, gloves. I'm not used to that kind of weather. But I have no doubt that hormones and preggo energy levels were at play too. At one point in the day I looked at her and said something I've never said before -- "We need to sit down and not move for about 2 hours." We enjoyed a hot chocolate at a nearby Starbucks while dozens of other patrons circled like vultures at the table we fortuitously stumbled upon when we entered... prime real estate on that block. At dinner, I saw Ritwik and met his super-charming and adorable wife, Neha. Beth was a sport and took me to see the Christmas lights at Rockefeller Center as the snow started falling on us. By Sunday, we scaled back our plans to include more sitting inside the house. The previous day had been lovely and sunny -- the next wet and sleeting. We shopped a bit in Newark, near her home; caught a movie; and I watched her make cookies for her Christmas trip to Germany. No matter how physically exhausting our visits might be sometimes, she always has emotionally and mentally restorative powers over me. And I'm so glad we were able to close out the year together.

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As Christmas closed in, Chris and I had a last-night-in-Charlotte dinner with Starla and saw the dogs off to their kennel. We headed back to Johnson City, as is customary, and stayed with friends Amy and Nick. With the holiday falling on Tuesday, we were able to start the weekend off at a slower pace. Amy and I spent an entire day at Carnegie Hotel's Spa, getting facials, massage (which I had to get a doctor's note for, BTW, because they didn't want to touch me until I was at least 12 weeks along in my pregnancy), manicures and pedicures. That night, we enjoyed dinner reservations for 10 at Cafe Lola, surrounded by some of our closest and oldest/longest-running friends. As the days passed, we spent time with Chris's dad, my stepmother, Chris's stepmother and my mom. We'd kept the pregnancy a secret, but began sharing the news a bit during the holiday visits. Everyone was wonderfully supportive.

On Christmas Eve, I saw my youngest sister for the first time in a long time. She is also pregnant -- about 5 months or so along. I had not yet met her ~baby daddy~ and wasn't really looking forward to it... I don't know that she's **ever** dated someone that I like or approve of, because they usually have deeply troubled souls. This guy was no exception -- he's got a minor record and they've both had to get the police involved in a few of their fights together. I won't go into detail -- it's her life and her choices -- but I would have gladly gone through my entire life without meeting this guy. I've sort of been referring to him as my "thug in law", because they aren't married but spend an awful lot of time together and I'm not sure what else to call him. Unfortunately, I did not get my wish and had to meet him on Christmas Eve.

As he sat with my sister on the couch, I got comfortable on the chair beside them and looked him in eye. "I know about your history and I hear about your fights," I said. "I don't like what I hear. I'll do my best to put aside what I know and give you a chance. But if you ever seriously hurt my sister or this child, I will F&#@ you up."

I had to laugh as a I said the last part, so the delivery either sounded extremely evil or extremely ridiculous. Most likely the latter. But I couldn't help myself -- I imagined taking out part of my 401k to finance an ass-kicking for him. Something awesomely "white collar gangsta" likethat. And it made me laugh.

Immediately after this, we all got in the car -- along with my mom -- and went to midnight mass.
Yes, blatant threats, family and church can make for a rather surreal Christmas Eve.
Welcome to a Very Sikora Christmas.

Amy was with me, and mom rode in my car. My sister and thug-in-law drove separately. We met Guinn at the church, and he sat with us. As Amy, mom and I walked to the church, mom asked me if my sister and TIL had acted strangely. "I warned him that you wanted to have a talk with him," mom said. Great, I thought... my mom totally pre-empted my most gangsta-tastic moment of the year. "Yeah," I muttered, "Well, he needs to know that I'm her big sister and I'm not going to put up with his crap."

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We arrived back in Charlotte later that week. On New Year's Eve day, Chris and I returned to the doctor for the ultrasound. The ultrasound tech made a joke about having twins before I hopped up on the table. But there was only one little person growing in there. Projected due date is August 13, so we're a little over 8 weeks along as of the day of this writing. We saw the baby's heartbeat -- this super-rapid thing that would put hummingbirds to shame. We won't be able to tell the gender until another ultrasound later in February. But it was so cool to see this confirmation of what was going on, and be able to make out the head and a few other parts. Our doctor's visits until February will be incredibly boring by comparions -- genetic questionnaires, etc. I'm going to have a very hard time waiting.

New Year's Eve was spent having dinner with some friends at Nakato's, which after a few years has become a bit of a tradition. We then headed to a house party at Jocelyn's -- again, lots of young couples, and I think we're starting to fit in with the group a bit, which is a relief. It's so hard to make good friends as an adult, and it makes me even more appreciative of the enduring friendships with people like Beth and Danny, our friends in Johnson City who have kept in touch, and others.

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I've been INCREDIBLY lucky not to have to deal with much morning sickness. I had one bad day, followed by a single barftastic morning, since returning from our Christmas travels. But not really any more problems before or since. I've found the Vitamin B6 is my friend -- so I'm concentrating on getting just under 100mg into me daily, and I'm fine. Chris found B-Natal lozenges for me, and they are a godsend. I suck on one in the morning as I get out of bed, and take a low-dosage B6 supplement at night with dinner, in addition to my prenatal vitamins, additional folic acid tab, and fatty acids/omegas supplement. Seems to work beautifully!

But I have noticed I now have super-hero-worthy sense of smell. Elevators are a bad thing, as they trap the scents of 10,000 years within their walls. And the day after New Years, when I worked from the office instead of remotely so I could water my plants and tell my boss of my ~condition~, I was a VERY, VERY SAD WOMAN during the lunch hour. Apparently, it was "Take Your Lunch to Work and Eat It At Your Cubicle" day on my floor. Let me tell you -- the smells of tuna fish salad, lasagna, curry, microwave popcorn and a half dozen other foods were NEVER meant to go together. Oh my God. That should have seriously been ruled a crime against nature or something.

I've also had a few cravings and anti-cravings already too. Mostly for healthy foods. Some foods I've enjoyed before have definitely tasted too sweet for me lately, and I have to steer clear of them. But I also really want a Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit every single morning. So maybe that's not so good.

I've also had some pretty emotional swings. Not often, but often enough. There was this one day where EVERYTHING made me feel like crying.... and then I wanted to cry about feeling like crying because that was upsetting.

I was extremely nervous about telling my boss about being pregnant, but I know I need not have worried. She was happy for me. In addition to the minimal morning sickness blessing I've been given, I'm also INCREDIBLY lucky to work in a pretty family-friendly environment, and my boss is especially supportive -- she's a mom herself, and she knows me well enough to understand that I'm thrilled but that this is also pretty weird territory for me.

So... the secret's out. There are still friends we haven't told who I'll probably wait to email directly until I'm fully out of the first trimester and/or done with the second ultrasound. There are people who I suppose will find out after reading here. But I figure I've stayed quiet long enough.

Now I'm going nuts, buying things like one version of the BeBe Sounds prenatal heart listener, not really for the listener part but because the equipment gives you little ~belly speakers~ on a belt and an adapter so you can play CDs and cassettes for your unborn child & listen along. I know that this little one won't have ears for a little while, and I'll have to be careful to limit play time and volume so as not to disturb him/her, but it's still a pretty cool thought.

And Chris has been the hands down, no contest, best husband ever -- doing lots of research, being very sweet and supportive and patient with me. This kind of thing can't be easy for any man.

Hell, it's definitely not easy on this side either, even though I've been -- as I've said before -- INCREDIBLY lucky.

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This weekend? I forced Chris to run out in the freezing cold to buy a humidifier, because I felt like I was getting a head cold. I had to buy a new hairdryer because my other one sounded more like a drill. We are watching Netflix movies, and I'm cursing the television companies' inability to end the writer's strike so we can get some more interesting stuff on our Tivo.

Tonight, Chris and I watched most of the Democrats' debate in New Hampshire. I swear, if I wasn't pregnant, I would start a drinking game based on how many times Bill Richardson mentions he's negotiated with foreign governments for hostages and/or was the Secretary for Energy. But that amount of alcohol would be truly tragic for any fetus. Damn, I used to think he'd be great... before he proved he's only willing to talk about his resume, and not spend time truly connecting with audiences. I'm still not sure what to think of the Iowa causes.... an Obama vs. Huckabee election could be really interesting.... but....

One thing's for sure: They'll be lots of change ahead in '08!

It's been a busy three weeks, and my body doesn't know when to sleep or wake anymore.
That's okay.
I've had a lot of fun!

MID OCTOBER WEEK
After Nick & Amy returned to Johnson City, I:

• did some freelance interviews
  
• attended an all-day educational event on networking technology
  
• traveled to Jacksonville to help run an all-day event
  
• attended a theatrical event presented in the living room of an urban condo with gal pals
  
• rewrote and refilmed a few scripts for a short series I wrote
  
• attended a Novello lecture by Kevin Clash (the voice of Elmo) with Chris

In Jacksonville, I got to have dinner with a former co-worker after the event rehearsal. He took me to a happy, beachy, laid-back restaurant directly on the Intracoastal Waterway where I could feast on fresh seafood. After dinner, we saw the moon reflected in clear water and watched a boat pass. We talked politics from very different sides of the fence and found some interesting points of agreement... especially a mutual admiration for former Virginia Governor and current U.S. Senatorial candidate Mark Warner. And on the way home, he took the long way so we could swing by the beach and I could get my toes in the sand. Heaven! It's wonderful when friends create a nice experience for you, and assume the role of host so gracefully.

The Kevin Clash lecture was also wonderful. Here's a bulky, muscular, black man... and out of him comes the squeaky charm of Elmo?!? Gotta love it. Clash brought an Elmo, of course, and there were a few kids in the audience, even though the invite made clear this event was for adults (to be followed the next day by an event for kids.) My eyes uncontrollably welled with tears as he talked to the kids through Elmo -- about favorite foods, favorite people, and more -- and helped Elmo hug them. Each child told Elmo they loved him in their own innocent but intense way. Again... I think it's so beautiful when human beings go to such great lengths to identify an individual's more subtle, unexpressed, very human needs... many of them perhaps psychological... emotional... and respond to them.

The week wasn't all teary-eyed moments, of course. The play was funny, quirky. It's interesting to have actors performing a 90 minute work directly in front of your knees. Megan said it was like being a fly on the wall, and that's about right. One key to making the audience feel comfortable: the actors made eye contact with each other, but not the attendees. No small feat, in such a tiny room. I'd never really thought about such things before.


LAST FULL WEEK OF OCTOBER
It was a week on the go:

• hit the U.S. National Whitewater Park with Megan and Starla on Sunday... and was the first of only two people in our 7-person raft to fall in... but was the only one to fall out outside of an actual rapid
  
• stayed up all night Sunday writing two freelance articles
  
• took a shower and hopped a plane to Las Vegas (my first time there!) with Chris first thing Monday morning, immediately after finishing the aforementioned articles
  
• worked remotely two days of the week (including one 12-hour day), but otherwise spent most of the week drunk and/or eating
  
• gambled away $100 of someone else's money
  
• spent a day walking around the strip with a new friend
  
• enjoyed a day in the sun at Mandalay Bay's wave pool, sprawled across a lounge chair directly facing the breaking "surf"
  
• enjoyed the view from our hotel room at Mandalay Bay
  
• enjoyed long baths in the ginormous tub in our hotel room at Mandalay Bay, all while watching the hotel's "Shark Vision" TV channel, which broadcasts a stream from inside their aquarium/reef
  
• got propositioned as a casino call girl -- but Chris overheard this one... I didn't, and apparently kept on walking... and clearly he needs to get to big pimpin' and stuff
  
• overheard portions of a conversation involving 2 guys in the adjoining hotel room, who argued about the cost of their own call girls and how to get sufficient funds from their ATM cards to procure aforementioned call girls
  
• rode all the rides atop Stratosphere with my brother, Adam
  
• fell in love with Viva Vision at Fremont Street
  
• saw clouds of smoke rolling in over the mountains -- from the California fires, according to our cab driver -- on the day we left Vegas
  
• traveled to Asheville to celebrate Chris's birthday, including 2 concerts at The Orange Peel (the They Might be Giants and New Pornographers shows); shopping at Malaprops, Tops for Shoes and other places; watching the new Wes Anderson flick, The Darjeeling Limited, at the Fine Arts Theatre (which I HIGHLY recommend... both the movie **and** the theatre); and eating fabulous, mouth-mesmerizing meals at Tupelo Honey Cafe, Bistro 1896 and other perennial hot spots (where Chris and I would usually unwittingly plan to order exactly the same menu item... hilarious... great minds...)

On our last morning at the Haywood Park Hotel, we received a call from the front desk. Someone had called in a bomb threat, they said. Not a particularly credible one, mind you... they didn't intend to evacuate the building... but the police were inspecting hotel rooms just in case.

I decided it was a good time to put on some clothes.

As I opened the door to remove the "Do Not Disturb" sign, I saw a few police officers and -- presumably -- the property manager walking the floor.

Chris has decided we probably shouldn't stay in hotels over his birthday anymore. The last time we did, someone pulled a fire alarm at 3am, and the hotel couldn't reset it properly, so the alarm kept going off through the rest of the early morning.... which might not have even been so bad except that the alarm system was attached to VERY BRIGHT STROBE LIGHTS in each and every room to get the occupant's attention. It was a bit like a supernova on the wall.


HERE AND NOW
It's a work-intensive week:

• a day of filming some scripts I wrote for a work project
  
• two days supporting script and teleprompter at all-day events in a series
  
• working on other stuff by evening and morning, as I'm able, with a good full day at my desk coming up
  
• possibly heading to Atlanta on Friday night to visit Danny, perhaps see my friends Karen & Tanna's new baby(?) and definitely to attend a networking conference at Agnes Scott College, my alma mater

Somewhere in all of this, I need to get the Prius examined by a professional. It's developed the interesting flaw of blacking out the speed and fuel gauges whenever I turn my headlights on... only to reappear in easy view the moment I turn the headlights off again.

Finally -- throughout these months I've come to realize that I'm hardwired to like audio/visual support staff members who work on events/concerts/shows, much the same as I seem to be genetically pre-disposed to adore other members of the working media, like journalists, magazine writers, art designers who work on periodicals, television and video crew members and talent, etc., etc. I've had to work with three different sets of people on events since August.... all of the individuals unique in personality, work habits and quirks, but with a common undefinable ~something~ nevertheless... and I have ABSOLUTELY loved each and every one of them. Some have been more dear than others. Some have also, say, taught me more about music than others. But they've all been a blast to hang out with. Supporting events can be scary and stressful, but these new acquaintances and friends have made the work fun. Hurrah!

At the moment, I am sitting here, in a "fairy godmother" costume, waiting for Trick-or-Treaters to show up. It's nearly 9pm, and we've only had one visitor this evening... a 3-year-old boy in a Spiderman costume. EVERY year, I buy a ton of candy. This year, I also bought lights, made signs, drew pumpkins in chalk on the sidewalk. "If it looks like we're 'open for business,' we'll get more visitors this year," I reasoned.

Yeah.
Not so much.

Last year was WONDERFUL. Chris and I went to help manage the flood of trick-or-treaters at Richard & Jenn's house just off Main Street in Concord. We drank, partied, handed out candy. Trick-or-treater bliss. But this year, Rich and Jenn live in Colorado. As I sit here, feeling sorry for myself, I am sure they are having a wonderful time and I am sure that future Halloweens will improve, as we plan to move to a house within an as-yet-undefined span of time.

I also can't feel too sorry for myself.
Evelyn -- my basset hound -- has a little cyst removed from his eyelid while we traveled last week. Now, to improve his healing, he's wearing a cone on his head.

For anyone who's forgotten what, exactly, that looks like, see the conehead dog pics from long ago. Bottom line: head cones are not made for basset hounds. My poor puppy... he is drowning in his own ears.... again....

I can't go into detail, but I've got some sharply renewed anger about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military. It isn't right for employers to allow some people to be honest and fully themselves on the job, and yet require that others hide a huge part of their lives, under threat of losing their job. There will always be reasons to hate and discriminate against people. But this is ridiculous.

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On an entirely different note -- the weekend was awesome. I just wish it had been longer. Nick and Amy came in from Johnson City on Friday night, and much drinking ensued. On Saturday morning, Amy and I got up early... had breakfast at Eddie's Place... bought pet supplies... had a pedicure... had a fabulous sushi lunch at RuSans... had pumpkin spice lattes at from the best Starbucks in the city... did some unintentional shopping at The Body Shop/Banana Republic/Forever 21. We picked up the guys, then saw the BodyWorlds exhibit at Discovery Place/made disgusting jokes about beef jerky/laughed at the little kid who repeatedly asked his parents "can we please leave NOW!??!?" The four of us ate dinner at Harry & Jean's, where they gave us an extremely private corner booth that made us feel like mafiosos. Nick looked at Amy and I disapprovingly as we flicked a peppermint patty back and forth trying to score "goals" between forks and glasses toward the end of the meal. On the walk home, a few musicians were playing on the street. We went home to play Wii games Nick and Chris bought earlier in the day while we were gone.

But the bestbestBEST part was from 10am to 11am. During that time, I got the living hell beat out of me by a masseuse at my request. It was worth every single penny.

I've had several massages over the last six months -- the last one, in Sevierville, was so lame that it was more like my therapist was petting fragile forest fairies instead of trying to relieve stress and muscle aches. I've had NOTHING as great as Urbana CitySpa & Tea Bar.

It's clear now that I need/want deep tissue massages & not just simple wussy Swedish gigs. My gal helped me discover the musculature in my calves is different, probably due to how I compensated and healed after the stupid break in my right foot a few years back. I also have a knot from hell in my left forearm, probably because I use it to drive more than my right. Anyway, she helped me discover all kinds of things I wouldn't have known about myself without her. And she's the best reason I've encountered to build an ongoing client relationship with one masseusse yet. I plan to go back in November to get beaten some more. WOOT!

The spa has a bar that sells tea, wine and elixirs. Yum! Most of their products for purchase kick serious ass. I'm loving the CD of 1960s cover songs by French women on the the Femmes de Paris CD that I bought there. Paint It Black, These Boots are Made for Walking... let's face it, just about everything is better in French. Don't question it. It's science and stuff.

Sunday was brunch at Zink. Starla joined us. I let the restaurant know Amy's birthday was Tuesday, and they printed a birthday greeting on all of our menus.

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I've been in Uptown each day for the last three days. All of the fountains are off and have been for quite some time. Charlotte is having one of the worst droughts ever on record. The weather has been very wacked out. This time last week, the high was more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperatures are improving. The rainfall is not.

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Ugh. My brain. Within a few weeks, I'm facing some deadlines -- one real, one fairly artificial -- and decisions associated with those deadlines that have serious and binding consequences. I know exactly what I **should** do about one of the situations. I just need to get my act together. The other one... ugh. Soon, I'll have to chose between two different "me"s. I could try to live my life as a VERY boring, wanna-be verison of a William Gibson heroine. Or I could try something really new that makes me very uncomfortable to even think about right now. It's time to put up or shut up. Ugh.

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This evening, Starla and Megan took me to a new exercise class: Nia. There really aren't words to describe this class. New age dance therapy? Awesomely, tremendously crazy?

Anyway, all of us are romping around the room to music... you can't do this "wrong" according to the coach... and so we're hopping around, waving our arms in the air, and this girl and I keep just about wrecking into other. We both laugh. I do a little tiger "grrrr" at her as we're waving our arms around and we keep moving around other people as we all end up on different sides of the room and then in a circle. Hilarious.

At the end, we're all laying on the ground and the coach is talking about visualizing how you have a white, fuzzy blanket over you that you can share with the whole world. The girl beside me starts coughing. Afterwards, Starla confesses that she imagined that the coughing girl imagined she was accidentally being suffocated by her blanket. Then, she imagined she was sharing her blanket with the world but it was far too crowded.

I may go again sometime.

---------------------------------------------------------

Question: Is there any more poorly written commercial on TV than the Hayden Panettiere "washing your face is so fun!" commercial for Neutrogena?

In other pop culture news:

• The fight scene in Eastern Promises rocks
  
• The fashion shots in the September issue of L Officiel are fabulous
  
• I have a ton of things to read, but couldn't resist picking up I Am America (And So Can You!) ; an "eyewitness travel" book on Las Vegas for the trip next week ; and two graphic novels, Aya and Beg the Question.

Hey there!

You know what smells REALLY BAD and was in my refrigerator up until about 10 minutes ago?

Very moldy grapefruit.

Yeah.

For this and **sooooooooo** many other reasons, I'm going to win the "Worst Wife in the World" award this year.

It's mine.
You can't touch this.
Beeyotch.

Ever since returning from the beach in July -- you know, the blog entry I've had up for months now? -- I've been working a lot. Many, many, many hours. Many. Hours. Personal and assorted family crap in the off time. Ridiculous.

I'm ready for October and November to be different. I've got a good feeling.

Last weekend marked the end of some big projects, and Chris and I met most of our best buds at a rental cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. Pictures from this adventure are now live.

Toward the end/right as we got back -- I ended up with a nasty head cold. I clearly let myself get too run down over the weeks.

Again, I'm ready for October and November to be different.

Addendum 8/15: Chris gave me the rest of his pics, so I posted more on my Flickr site.

Addendum 8/13: Some of Chris's pics from the beach and our crazy photo shoot are now live.

-------------------------------------------------

Lots of pictures of summer fun are now live on my Flickr page.

I just returned from an incredible 10-day stint at Edisto Island. This year I was one of 11 people, hailing from 3 states and 4 major metropolitan areas. Each year seems to top the year before. It's a week I look forward to all year. And these friends are "lifers" -- they are the kind of people who speak directly to your heart and soul, even if no one is saying anything.

Some highlights:

• The night before leaving, I logged off work, packed, cleaned, picked Romilly up at the airport (she flew in from Memphis to ride down with me) and wrote an article I had to finish before leaving. I worked until after 3am, got roughly four hours of sleep, then got back to the article to wrap up loose ends. Packing up the car would have gone much faster if I'd engaged some prison labor. We left later than planned, but made it out the door shortly after 11am.
  
  
• On the drive down, my car's nav system decided the interstate system did not exist. We took America's byways for about 5 hours. During the drive, we passed an astonishing number of corn fields in the center of South Carolina (who knew?); a driveway decorated with dozens of cow skulls hung from trees, the mailbox and lining the road; a life-sized, painted wooden Jesus statue next to a life-sized, painted wooden woman reclining in a bikini; and... well... other stuff.
  
  
• Pretty much every night, we all drank like we were still in college. The beach house was pretty crowded this year, so Amy, Romilly and I decided to bunk up in one room to save space, creating the "Dick Free Party Room."
  
  
• On Saturday, Chris and I drove in to Charleston to meet James, Allison and Allie Battle for lunch at Poogan's Porch. They served brunch, and it was a tasty meal all the way around, kicked off with fried green tomatoes and fried alligator bites with honey and jalepeno dipping sauce. The Battles needed to hit the road and Chris and I needed to do some shopping on King Street. All the members of the beach house were supposed to meet us in Charleston later, to celebrate Nick's birthday with a big seafood dinner, but Nick decided they'd stay at the house. We headed back to Edisto around 3pm and got to drinkin'.
  
  
• On Sunday, Romilly, Amy and I went in to Charleston early. We had brunch at a little grill on Market Street near the Charleston Place Hotel. We shopped our hearts out. We grazed at Ben & Jerry's. We met the rest of our housemates at Wet Willie's and then went to dinner at A. W. Shucks (our "usual.") Afterwards, several of us walked over to Club Habana for cigars, sour apple martinis and a cheese plate. Then, an even smaller group of us went to see 1408 at a movie theatre with more neon signage than I've ever seen on anything in my whole life. The girls screamed loudly and repeatedly throughout the film. One of the guys slept. On the way home, everyone piled into my car and, about halfway home, someone threw up and ended up in my front seat in their underwear because all of their clothes had been barfed on. (Names held to protect the vulnerable.) The other passengers helped me clean the car. We got home around 3am.
  
  
• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday were fun-in-the-sun days. Lounging on a beach chair. Reading fashion magazines. Bobbing in the waves with my peeps and some fun noodles. Watching Dave and Seth build a moat and multi-layered wall of sand. Wrapping Miranda July's No One Belongs Here More Than You, which Chris bought for me last month. Frances and I played a game of Scrabble. Nick and Frances let me teach them Othello. There were plenty of other games, and lots of time standing around on the porch late at night. Heaven!
  
  
• On Wednesday, I took all five females in to Charleston to try on fancy, cast away prom/wedding/cotillion dresses at various and sundry thrift stores. We ate sushi at Sushi Hiro, had classic low tea at the Charleston Place Hotel's Thoroughbred Club and split up for a short shopping excursion on King Street. Romilly and I fetched the car to pick up Amy, Abbi and Frances. As we pulled up to them on the sidewalk, Romilly leaned over me and yelled "CAR SERVICE!" out the window to them, scaring the living crap out of blond guy standing right next to my car window. We stopped at Target briefly on the return trip, and Romilly and I got distracted by shiny things and colorful makeup. Our last stop: A Piggly Wiggly in Hollywood, S.C., to pick up fried chicken & fixings so we could feed the boys when we returned to the beach house. At 6:45pm, almost all the chicken in the deli was sold out, and four counter workers looked anxious to leave. We needed 20 pieces of chicken. I asked if they had any more. They poked at a few scraggly pieces, noting that's what was prepared. "If we all just sort of ~hang out~, would there be more," I asked? Apparently, I'm annoying enough to inspire them to go back to the fryer. 20 minutes later, we had our 20 pieces. And Romilly had time to find a lone pint of Ben & Jerry's Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream ice cream in the deep freeze.
  
  
• Also on Wednesday: Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s arrived at the beach house via overnight UPS delivery and Amazon.com. Justin, Chris and Nick spent most of the day unlocking songs, even though Nick was mental over the fact that he and Romilly had ordered the new Harry Potter book from Amazon with overnight shipping and it not only didn't arrive on Saturday as they'd planned, but still hadn't arrived on Wednesday when my package arrived. (Nor did it EVER arrive at the beach house, for that matter.) Dave fixed the water heater and a hose. Romilly and I played a few songs together later that evening. We've got the beat!
  
  
• Later on Wednesday night, Romilly, Amy and I comandeered Chris's bed and forced him to set up a DVD player so we could watch Dead Silence in the dark and eat ice cream in bed. We screamed. A LOT. at one point, I thought I saw something freaky fly past the window. About 5 minutes before the end of the movie, Nick opened the door and yelled the equivalent of "BOO!" I screamed at him at the top of my lungs and hurtled a half-full bottle of water all the way across the room and directly through the crack he opened in the door, hitting him in the torso. He and I were both awed by that move.
  
  
• On Thursday morning, we woke everyone up early. All the girls donned the fancy dresses purchased on Wednesday, and we walked down to the beach with a CD soundtrack I created. We did a photo shoot in the sand and surf, with all of us girls trashing our dresses. Because we could. We were Victoria's Secret models. We were some of the most decadent pages of Vogue. We were young and hot and worthy of pixels. But let me tell you: Satin weighs a LOT when it's wet. Frances can attest: you don't want to get chiffon in the sand... it's really, really hard to get the sand out after. Nick, Dave, Seth and Chris took pictures -- will link to some when they go live. The thumbnails on cameras looked GORGEOUS.
  
  
• On Saturday, Amy, Romilly and I got up early and ate breakfast at the Sea Cow Eatery on Edisto. We shopped a bit in the same block. Then we went back so Romilly could pack and I could take her to the airport. Extremely dark storm clouds -- the first we'd really seen all week, aside from some scattered showers on Wedsnesday morning before we left for Charleston -- were gathering in the sky. We departed a little earlier than planned, but had a pretty easy ride to the airport. When I returned, only Nick, Amy, Justin and I were left -- Guinn left on Monday; Dave, Abbi and Chris had left on Friday; Seth, Frances and Romilly were headed back to Memphis. So the four remaining musketeers set about eating all the leftovers in the refrigerator, and sucking up remaining beverages. It was a valiant effort. We also found a way to combine Uno Spin with Uno Attack, doubling the evil and vengenance among the players.
  
  
• Sunday morning I got up early, finished packing, loaded the car, cleaned up a small grill I'd purchased, cleaned the beach house's two bathrooms in an effort to contribute to the last-minute prep for the next family, and departed, dropping Justin at the airport early for his flight back to D.C. It took about two hours to get to Columbia, S.C., and there I met my brother Adam's recent bride, Megan. We celebrated her birthday a bit belatedly by going to the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, and eating tons of food at the Blue Marlin. She's AWESOME, and I've enjoyed every chance I've gotten to get to know her better.

Now, I'm home but feeling restless and disconnected. I could have used another full week of doing nothing, communing with friends and hearing the waves pound against the shore. Times like these... they slip by too quickly. There is no way to appreciate them enough. We are too human.

Seen today....

-- In a semi-abandoned strip mall: The only two stores open? An ice cream shop and a coffin store. Directly next to each other.

-- Just outside the neighborhood where I hope we buy a house or condo: A drive-through, fast-food place that sells pigs feet. No more waiting! WOO HOO!

-- On the cover of a women's magazine geared to a specific geographical, urbanized area: A picture of a very attractive woman from the waist up, in profile, with ginormous boobs barely contained by a white tank top.... gently cradling the muzzle of the horse standing next to her with one hand.... and a subhead that reads -

EXTREME ANIMAL LOVERS

in large type right next to that. The issue is supposed to contain your basic, generic article about pets. But - um - it doesn't really come across that way. Need a professional editor, anybody?

I just returned from a week of travel with one of my sisters, Emily, who turned 30 on June 20th. As I think Paris is the **perfect** place for milestone birthdays, birthdays and days in general, and really any occasion big or small, I took her there. And it ROCKED. Pics from the trip are now live -- and with a super-surprise ending!

We arrived back in Charlotte on Friday night. On Saturday, my friend Starla and I traveled to Asheville, NC. Got to stay in a wonderful mountain inn, and see a dance show by Terpsicorps before it ended. (I HIGHLY recommend both!) I don't usually like live dance, but Terpsicorps is always so innovative and sexy, and they are one of the many cultural assets in Asheville that make the emerging city so satisfying. Pics from that trip are live too.

Now, I'm back at home with a raging sinus infection. Never had one before. I thought my head was going to absolutely EXPLODE as we landed from the France-to-Philadelphia leg of our return flight. Tears streaming out of eyes uncontrollably even though I wasn't crying kind of pain. I haven't really been able to bend or move quickly because this, too, makes my head explode. Thankfully, my doctor allowed me to slip by this afternoon. Good antibiotics and sinus drugs. Now instead of being dizzy because of my sinuses, I'm doped up/dizzy/happy.

Life is good.

Wow -- Chris and I recently returned from a trip to Tokyo and Taipei, where we celebrated my birthday, our anniversary and the recent birth of our new niece, who lives in Taipei with her mom and dad (aka Chris's brother, Mike). I ended up without too much jet lag, thankfully. But I need to catch up on several things - so not much time to blog the trip.

Some personal firsts accomplished during this trip:
-- longest plane flight
-- first time in Asia
-- first time seeing sumo wrestling
-- first time inside a Buddhist temple
-- listened to several Japanese bands in the J-centric section of the Shibuya Tower Records
-- realized how extensive and sophisticated the Japanese publishing industry is
-- first time shopping thrift/vintage in a foreign country (there was a store in Harajuku that was great for this!)
-- first time hiking in a foreign country
-- first time eating whale (whale bacon), the hunting of which is a violation of international law
-- first time eating chicken feet
-- first time eating pig tongue
-- first time eating stinky tofu
-- first time eating something the name of which I cannot recall - it's like a little pie with shredded meat, bamboo, carrot and other veggies, finely chopped and baked into a sweet fluffy bread in such a way that it is a hand-held meal.... much like a direct cross between the pasties my mother used to make and a donut
-- first time chewing a betel nut
-- first time using a squat toilet
-- first time atop the world's tallest building (Taipei 101)
-- first time seeing someone wearing the "Gothic Lolita" look in real life (Harajuku)
-- first time hard bargaining during a consumer transaction (with Mike at the Holiday Jade Market in Taipei -- the negotiations weren't even as tough and drawn out in Mexico)

There are probably several other "firsts" I'm forgetting at the moment. Certainly lots of first times seeing certain sights like Buddhist cemetaries (they are way more colorful than ours, with lots of elaborate little shrines) and people wearing face masks (sometimes decorative or "hip" ones) to protect the respiratory system from air pollution and disease (I picked up a few of the designer ones for friends.)

Not sure it's a first for Chris or Mike, but it was very interesting to walk through a night market in Taipei and be followed - then surrounded - by a group of giggling Chinese schoolgirls who wanted to have their picture taken with the two men. That was.... interesting.

I had the best sushi I've ever had in my life, though I'm sure there is probably even better sushi to be had in Japan. This was a the Palace Hotel, across the street from the Imperial Palace.

I can also say that my first night in Taipei is among the top five "most drunk" events in my life. Mike's father-in-law - who speaks only a little English, but speaks that with vigor and is a TOTAL cowboy in spirit - insisted on getting us all trashed, and I kept the pace with all of them. I was determined to make my country proud. We just sat around talking and laughing, and it was a really good time.

Other than these quick recollections, pictures and video will have to do for now!

my pictures of Tokyo

my pictures of Taipei

some other random pics from this spring’s travels to Atlanta and Johnson City


Chris has posted his pictures of Tokyo, but not pics of Taipei yet

----------------------
UPDATE 5/25/07 --
Chris's pictures of Taipei are now online too, and they ROCK.
Additionally, for friends and family on Flickr, there are pictures of our new niece.
----------------------

Other goodies I shot:

• my favorite short video of the awesome robot ride at Tokyo Tower (though video feed quality is poor)
  
  
• sumo wrestler entry ceremony
  
  
• sumo match preparation
  
  
• sumo at an impasse
  
  
• sumo win
  
  
• Longshan temple koi pond in Taiwan
  
  
• Taipei 101 tower elevator descent
  
  
• riding the Taipei Zoo metro line
  
  
• cute otter swimming at Georgia Aquarium (from Atlanta visit in late April)
  
  
• baby panda Mei Lan at Zoo Atlanta (from Atlanta visit in late April)
  
  
• baby gorillas at Zoo Atlanta (from Atlanta visit in late April)
  
  
• little monkey at Zoo Atlanta (from Atlanta visit in late April)
  
  
• Small World ride at EuroDisney (taken in Paris in October)
  
  
• sparkly Eiffel Tower by full moon (taken in Paris in October)

I've been traveling a lot lately, and it's going to continue through the summer. It's exhausting, yes, but this kind of stimulation really keeps me going. It is telling that one of my favorite and most life-changing books is Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel.

The weekend before last, Chris and I went to Atlanta for my 10-year college reunion at Agnes Scott. I am a total nerd for school. I admit it. But I completely nerd out over Agnes Scott. I ended up there after 4 years floundering a public colleges, and there was a huge difference in the curriculum, the classroom and my peers at Agnes Scott. I really, really, REALLY love that place. It's a smart, peaceful women's college with solid leadership. It rocks. I want to have a daughter just so I can tell her it's the only college on earth, and then send her there.

When I attended ASC, I lived off campus. I was married to my first husband and worked part-time and did an internship in addition to my full-time studies. I did my best to spend time in extracurricular campus activities so I could get to know the students better, and in many ways I succeeded in that goal given my off-campus status. While some of the students I knew best didn't make the reunion, it was nice to see familiar faces.

Almost every young woman at the reunion was pregnant or had children. I was one of maybe three people who hadn't experienced this state.

So -- let me explain how I quickly inserted my foot in my mouth at this long-awaited event....

The scene: Me and a couple hundred other attendees of alumnae weekend are seated for an awards luncheon. I'm sitting with others from my graduating class. A woman who graduated the year after me comes to sit with our class -- since it's a reunion year for us but not for her, there aren't many of her classmates around. She sits to my right.
The situation: There I am, sitting to the left of this woman, peering at the speaker's podium over her head. Since she's directly in my line of sight, I'm noticing things about her... her cool leopard tatoo, the way she put her jewelry together, etc. She's attractive and of about average size. I complement her on her tatoo, which winds around her wrist. We fall silent again as the speaker takes a break.

Then, I notice she's got a perfectly round ball of tummy sitting atop her lap, sitting low on her torso. It's firm and the exact shape of someone of average weight who's at about 5-6 months of pregnancy. Her arms, chin, etc. -- they are slender. Yes, yes -- I'm one of only about three people on this side of the room who hasn't had kids yet!

You can probably guess where this is headed....

Me: So, I can't help but notice -- when are you due?
Her: Uhhhhh.... yeah... I'm not pregnant.
SILENCE
Me, stunned and with a part of my brain telling me she has to be kidding: Oh. Really?
Her: Yeah. You know, I'm sorry I don't have a better story for you than that.
Me, with half of my brain now violently berating the other half for causing me such trouble and humiliating both my table-mate and my self: Sorry. That was a REALLY stupid question on my part.

The rest of the lunch was spent in silence. The rest of the reunion weekend -- which involved a lot of her hanging around my class -- was spent trying to be just warm enough to let her know I respected her and wasn't trying to avoid her, but not so warm that it looked like I was overcompensating.

Now, I must write on a blackboard:
I WILL NEVER, EVER ASK ANY WOMAN WHEN SHE'S DUE OR ASSUME SHE IS PREGNANT.
I WILL NEVER, EVER ASK ANY WOMAN WHEN SHE'S DUE OR ASSUME SHE IS PREGNANT.
I WILL NEVER, EVER ASK ANY WOMAN WHEN SHE'S DUE OR ASSUME SHE IS PREGNANT.

When Chris heard the full story, he didn't miss a beat. "You should have said, 'Really? Because **they** -- and here, you should have turned around and randomly pointed to someone you didn't like -- said that you were pregnant," he said.

The lesson here: I should never go out in public without Chris.

Another friend in Charlotte informed me this was probably equally as embarrasing as her experience, in which she asked a long-time colleague who was always morbidly obese why she was going out on medical leave. "Because I'm eight months pregnant!" she exclaimed, as if that fact should have been obvious. "Oh," said my friend.

Awkward!

In Atlanta, we stayed in the Glenn Hotel, which was extremely convenient in terms of location and had the most magnificant rooftop bar I've encountered in the Southeast. I did, however, quickly take to calling it the "Pornotel." European in design, the intimate rooms had soft lighting and lots of tactile extravagences, in spite of the generally contemporary furnishings. The most amusing feature, however, was the window pane that was located between the bed and the shower. It was covered only by a metal beaded curtain that was thin and completely see-through-- and nothing else. When someone took a shower, anyone on the bed was in for a really good show. 70s porn music played in my head as I shampooed each morning.

Chris and I met up with Danny and together we hunted down a container of Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream ice cream at Ben & Jerry's in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood. At first, the two female clerks were not going to sell it to me. Now, Frustrated Writer readers and friends are aware that I've been involved in a tortuous search for this ice cream for nearly two months. The clerks' reluctance was not acceptable.

"But a woman called and she's driving up all the way from Marietta to buy these two containers," they cried!

"Dude," I shot back. "I don't care if she's coming from Marietta. I'm from CHARLOTTE. NORTH. CAROLINA. I have been searching for this ice cream for weeks. Colbert keeps eating this on his show and driving me insane. It's not in our grocery stores. It's not in our scoop shops. You will sell me one container. And then you will give me three spoons and I will eat it on the premises with my husband and friend."

I got my way. And lo, it was good.

Chris and I went to the Georgia Aquarium and the Atlanta Zoo during our trip. His pictures are now online. I took some video at the zoo -- particularly of the baby panda and the baby gorilla -- but I need to edit it before putting it online. It was my first time seeing the whale shark at the aquarium, despite my visit last year with Danny. (That section was closed on the day we visited.) It was also a great opportunity to see the little girl panda, who apparently was only recently allowed outside. ADORABLE!

Later in the weekend, Chris and I met up with Karen and Tanna. They got married only a few days before we did, and Karen and I have had somewhat miraculous geographic proximity over the years we've known each other. We had brunch at Babette's, and I asked Karen when **she** was due -- because thankfully I know for a fact that she is, indeed, pregnant with a little girl, their first child. It was great to catch up with them.

Danny works at Trader Joe's these days, and introduced us to the chain before we departed the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area. In fact, he worked his hiney off over that weekend helping them open a new store. BLISS! I had no idea such a cool place existed! Danny picked out an insulated shopping bag for us and took me on a personalized tour of the store. We walked out with over $70 of cheese, candy, nuts, noodles, sauces, teas and bread. We snacked over the entire four-hour drive home.

We're supposed to be getting a Trader Joe's or two in Charlotte, and I cannot wait. Some of the red licorice we bought was so good, that I would consider driving down to Atlanta, buying some & driving directly back just to get another container. Our store better hurry up and open....

Also of note -- Harry's Farmers Market is officially deceased. We tried to stop there on our way out of Atlanta. The building is now vacant. I am still crying on the inside.

And that's all to recap re:Atlanta trip.

I visited Beth in NYC over the past weekend.

I went with a lovely list of things to do, and she suggested several attractions and events as well. A particular exhibit at the Met, for instance. The first weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. Many other little sites we've wanted to see. It was an ambitious and varied list, brimming with options.

Q: Did we do even a single one of the things on the list?
A: Not at all, thank you very much.

We spent the entire weekend shopping, talking, walking and eating. Occassionally, one or both of us would fall unconscious for a brief spell. But soon, we were back at it. Shopping, talking, walking and eating.

I was, unfortunately, VERY good to the New York economy.

We hit Century 21; two H&Ms (where I bought some ultimately troublesome pants from Madonna's collection -ugh! bad purchase!); Zara; the three-story Forever 21 (where I bought nothing -- they are having such an incredibly disappointing season!); two Ann Taylor Lofts; Banana Republic; Joyce Leslie (where I picked up an excellent dress on the cheap that strongly reminds me of one I was eyeing from J Crew); two Kate's Paperie storefronts; and the brand spankin' new Uniqlo "Global Flagship Store" that opened in Soho. I recently read in Nylon magazine that Uniqlo shoppers can drop off their used Uniqlo-purchased garments, which are then shipped to refugee camps or are reprocessed for industrial use. Awesome.

Anyway, that list doesn't even account for all of the little boutiques and housewares stores we stopped in. Seriously. The shopping -- it was big trouble.

We ate crap all weekend. Pizza. Beer. Burgers, fries and root beer floats followed by candy. An entire carton of Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Buns ice cream. Dumpling Man dumplings. Gigantic smoothies that could have provided enough calories for a small village. Pastries at a little corner bisto that reminder me of something straight out of Prague.

It was heaven.

On the last day, just before lunch, we were walking rapidly on the sidewalk. (Beth is, by both of our admissions, the official "Pace Car of Us" when we go anywhere.)

Beth changed direction in mid-step. I kept going straight. We hurtled into each other like mindless, pointy-edged meteorites in space. Ouch.

A man on the street, possibly homeless, observed this and laughed.

"You collided!" he yelled.

Our new direction took us into his path. He started to unwind a large rubber band from around the can of beer in his hand.

"Here," he said, trying to slow us down with one of his elbows. "Please take this rubber band. You two could be sisters!"

We were moving fast and he tried to unravel the stuck rubber band more quickly.

"Please don't be afraid," he called after us. "Take my rubber band!"

A block later, I was still thinking about it. "You know, we're going to get into some situation here in a few minutes," I said. "Some crazy situation where the ** only** thing that can save us is a rubber band. And then I will regret not having taken his rubber band. It'll be God's revenge for me not being nicer."

God did not take his revenge that afternoon.

Some quick notes/what's on my mind lately -

What I Love:

• Grindhouse. Starla, Chris and I went to see it this weekend. I cannot for the life of me understand why this movie hasn't done better in terms of ticket sales. It's got everything red-blooded Americans want in film: zombies, guns, sex, insane explosions for no reason, extreme car changes, cleavage. Seriously. Everything. It's funny and exciting and well-packaged. It doesn't take itself too seriously or demad a lot from the viewer. Yes, the first movie skips as the zombie tension builds because they are trying REALLY HARD to reinforce that the style they are throwing back to is from the 70s. A little sickening... you might need some dramamine. But they clear it up as the action really kicks in. There is some use of cell phones and Blackberries that pulls you out of the stylistic choices they made too. But, again, it's all just... fun.
  
  
• Lala.com and last.fm, both of which Chris turned me on to. First, lala.com. I'm certainly willing to part with my CDs so I can order up new ones for $1.75/each... and is there is nothing so fun as getting stuff in the mail? I think not. If you feel the same, please let me know and I will send you an official invite -- I REALLY want one of the free t's given to those who sign up new members! Second - last.fm rocks harder and harder. Now they have events. I can listen to people's private "radio stations" from my desk while I type away. Woot!
  
  
• Notes from the Underbelly, a new show on ABC and IT IS HILARIOUS. Perfect for Gen X'ers who are considering or are on the verge of starting a family, Chris and I were ROLLING.
  
  
• Asheville. In general. My sister Emily and I met up there Friday night to hear author Gary Shtenygart read from his book Absurdistan at the fabulous Malaprops bookstore. US Airways apparently screwed up Shtenygart's flight and he arrived about an hour late. But he was fun and good-humored. His delay allowed my sister and I to enjoy a meal at Bouchon (leek and gruyere quiche and a glass of Marc Bredif Chinon for me, please!), get some coffee at Malaprop's little cafe, browse the shelves and also run up the street to make sure our favorite chocolate shop would still be open after Shteyngart's appearance. While there, I picked up copies of The Best American Magazine Writing 2006 for both of us. Earlier in the evening, I also picked up a copy of Intent City's French Kiss CD and IT IS SO GOOD.
  
  
• Baby panda cam! I am hoping to visit the little gal during my trip to Atlanta in a few days.
  
  
• The number of headlines jammed together just above this VERY DISTURBING picture are bothersome and... yet... I cannot tear myself away. Also, the "...But for the vet, it wasn't quite a farewell to arm..." line is just awesome.
  
  
• This article on tax policy is very interesting. This affects everyone!
  
  
• My latest health freak obsession: pure, organic, outdoor grown, flash-frozen wheatgrass juice cubes by Evergreen. I'll put one or two of these cubes in the blender with other smoothie ingredients. It blends perfectly with the other fruit, with no crazy green color to the smoothie. Yeah for stealthy goodness!
  
  
• And just to balance my "happy list" out: I should mention that I am also currently loving Hostess 100-Calorie packs, especially the golden cupcakes with chocolate icing and creamy filling (there are three adorable little cakes in each pack! so cute and yummy!); ancient pleasures truffles (dark chocolate and cayenne!) and dark pecan frogs from The Chocolate Fetish in Asheville; and Banana & Creme Creme Savers hard candies, which taste a lot like a banana pop.

That was good. Nice to focus on the positive. But now -
What I DEFINITRELY Do Not Love:

• I think everyone is upset about the Virginia Tech shootings today. There really isn't anything that could be said that would be sad or passionate enough concerning this tragedy.
  
  
• Nothing could be on the same order as the first item on this list. But I do have to say - I'm disappointed in Bill Richardson lately. Since former Virginia governor Mark Warner said he would not run for President in 2008, I've rooted for Richardson a bit... talked about his resume and experience; worn buttons; sent a bit of money toward his campaign. However, I was sorely disappointed with his appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It was as if he tried so hard to demonstrate he was smart and qualified, that he forgot to be **human** -- he was not in the least charming or engaging or charismatic. Dude needs to realize that while this nation DEFINITELY could use someone with his brains and experience, you should let other people discover on their own that you're really smart -- and this is best accomplished when you have already captured their interest by being engaging. Make them love you, and they will notice how qualified you are! I'm not saying that the presidential race is a popularity contest. However, it is important that you connect with the people you're hoping to serve. If you can't build a connection, you cannot lead. And so, I've stepped back from Richardson a bit. He needs some space to get his act together. He still has time -- though, admittedly, not much time for missteps like this-- and I still think he's a more qualified candidate at his core than Barack or Hilary. I really hope he learns these lessons quickly and builds his base.
  
  
• Kurt Vonnegut's death has me sad and moping. His was a such a witty, insightful, provocative voice. Sad that there will be no new work in these ridiculous years ahead.
  
  
• Arm herpes. This is the self-diagnosis I've given after noticing an irritating, itchy, semi-rash on my forearm around the elbows. I think I've narrowed down the cause to allergies caused by a sudden change in lotion. Needless to say, I'm switching back. However, my acute arm herpes have been REALLY ANNOYING in the interim.
  
  
• Bad office neighbors. Last week, on a conference call of epic proportions, I and the other attendees listened while some random dufus opened the plastic wrapper on a bag of popcorn, put it in the microwave, microwaved it and ate the contents of the bag. Someone else I know recently was on a conference call with someone who used the bathroom and flushed. All of this happened without the person muting him/herself, all while the hosts of the call kept saying, "There's some noise on the line. If you're not speaking, could you PLEASE mute your phone?!?" repeatedly. In addition, there is someone near my cube who (loudly) cuts his fingernails in the office at random intervals during the week. I had no idea fingernails needed so much cutting, and it's really gross. Stuff like this is a problem in every office environment, and these instances are a near-constant reminder how many members of society have not yet joined the civilized world.
  
  
• Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream ice cream by Ben & Jerry's. I mean, I'm sure that I **would** love it -- IF I COULD FREAKING FIND IT. Damn. Seriously, this is killing me. I am a religious observer of Colbert's show, and he is always talking about it. Eating it on air. Going on about how tasty and popular it is. And yet it is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND in Charlotte. I've been trolling all the area grocery stores for weeks. Yesterday, before seeing Grindhouse, I forced Chris to drive me to the Ben & Jerry's shop next to Davidson College after I called earlier that morning to confirm they had a few pints in stock. When I arrived, all the pints were gone... and this is not an ice cream they are offering by the scoop yet. I asked the guy at the counter to check his freezers and, when that got me nowhere, I asked him to call other local stores to see if they had any pints in stock. No dice. "Why don't you check the grocery stores," he asked helpfully? "BECAUSE IT'S NOT THERE," I growled back in response before buying a single scoop of consolation Creme Brulee ice cream.

That is all.

The cafeteria near my office features some different items on the menu each day. Today's lunch features include an ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL.

The very idea of an ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL pretty much cracks me up.

I'm picturing.... I don't know what?.... women in colorful, flouncy dresses dancing around, the air thick with streamers and confetti and the smoke from fireworks and sparklers...

And, at the center of all those who dance with abandon, a covered, stainless steel tray. A chef in a spotless white uniform and tall hat dramatically pulling aside the stainless steel dish cover and VOILA! Steamed asparagus. Perhaps topped with some shredded orange peel for effect.

VIVA ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL!

Spring seems to have run away for an island vacation. Winter is filling in, apparently hired by a heartless temp agency somewhere. It's been in the 20s every night for the last four or five nights.

Today, it is clear and cold. The view from my window is lovely, though you can tell every tree has braced itself against the weather.

Both of my younger brothers are engaged now -- it happened within the last three weeks -- and I am SO EXCITED. The young women they've chosen ROCK and I can't wait for officially expanded sister-in-law hood!

On view: a picture of our impromptu gathering the day after a dinner party celebrating Adam's engagement. Photo is courtesy of my sister Emily and her husband.

Raise your hand if you are supposed to be travelling to, from or through the Northeastern U.S. this weekend.

Please note: my hand is raised.

You may have heard that pretty much all flights in that direction were cancelled.

I was supposed to be visiting Beth. I haven't seen her in a zillion months. Today, we were supposed to be shopping at H&M and Zara, enjoying the Museum of the Moving Image's Fashion in Film festival, trying to squeeze in a walk through the MET's Barcelona and Modernity: Gaudí to Dalí exhibit, and avoiding various St. Patrick's Day parades. I was going to try to force her to try a raw foods restaurant because of a lecture I attended earlier this week, hearing speaker Paul Nison, and she was already making fun of me in "anticipation." I was going to eat risotto, made by her extremely tall roommate. We might have even played WordXchange, and she would have undoubtedly beat my ass.

Instead, she is surviving a raging ice storm. And I am in Charlotte, where it is frigid but sunny. Travelocity is trying to figure out what to do with me.

From a practical standpoint, it's probably best I'm not airborne. I have some very big deadlines ahead of me this week, and still much writing to do toward them.

BUT I AM STILL VERY SAD.

Addendum of unexpected happiness --
About 20 minutes after typing up this entry, there was a knock on the front door. The dogs did their requisite barking. I asked Chris if he was expecting someone. He was not. Nor was I. But the UPS guy delivered glad tidings anyway! Thudfactor sent me a gift from my Amazon wish list -- namely, Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose by Constance Hale! WOOT!!!! HAPPY DAY!!!!! I only hope I can be as thoughtful in selecting a baby gift for him and Elf as their own cool delivery approaches!

This evening, Chris, Starla, Johnny and I went to see 300.

It makes me kind of sad that some people are not being terribly charitable in reviews of this movie. (Read: "...it offers up a bombastic spectacle of honor and betrayal, rendered in images that might have been airbrushed onto a customized van sometime in the late 1970s...") But the movie is #1 at the box office this weekend anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Coming out of the theater, Starla said it was rather distracting to her that these actor-Spartans possessed such advanced hair removal technology, and wealth of body oils. Hurt the ole ~suspension of disbelief~, it appears.

At first I made fun of her for not being able to move past this. You know, what with all the history, circus freaks and blood going on on the screen.

In the car on the way home, I thought about this further. My conclusion: I'm REALLY DAMN GLAD the actor-Spartans were presented the way they were. Largely because:
(a) I would have definitely barfed if they were all a bunch of hairwads.
and
(b) The gleam on their skin could have been sweat. Men who are constantly fighting and hike for days to get to some remote mountain pass probably sweat.

I am okay with this.

Immediately after the movie, I felt like getting in a fight in the parking lot. But that would never be wise. If Leonidas and his army turned to me and roared, "WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?!", my squeeked-out response would have sounded like an even mousier version of Woody Allen when he's acting ultra-mousy: "I'm a corporate communications writer girl, Mr. big fighting guy, sir."

Thus, my epic military combat career grinds to a halt.

Bonus bedtime exchange:
Me, typing in laptop: Hey. Come here. If you ever want to get me something, please get me this. I saw it at the comic book store when we were there yesterday.
Chris: And you didn't get it? Well, I see you're adding it to your Amazon wish list. Along with the seven thousand other things in there. You've got a lot of crap in there.
Me: It's got less crap in it now. More relevant stuff. I weeded it down recently.
Chris: You have a lot of books in there.
Me: Um. Because that's a lot of what they sell.
Chris: They also sell milk.
Me: THEY DO NOT! Do they seriously sell milk?
Chris: I don't know. Probably.

And indeed they do. Several different kinds, actually.

Happy Valentine's Day!

On this day, I hope everyone appreciates that love knows no boundaries.

That's why I'm asking you to visit FreedomToMarry.com.

From the site:
America is engaged in a crucial conversation, a conversation about basic values of love, commitment, fairness, and freedom. In every state, in many families, good people are thinking and talking about how excluding same-sex couples from marriage harms them, their kids, and our country.

Please make sure you're part of this important Civil Rights battle.

Love, Nicole

If you need a new candle for your bath, desk or sunroom/porch, I strongly recommend these: Votivo candles from Candlebar. ANY scent will be wonderful. But I'm particularly a fan of the Votivo French Collection #728 St. Germain-En-Laye Lavender. These very candles were stocked at a little bed & breakfast in Tennessee where I stayed in with a friend in the late summer. I burned mine while enjoying wine on the porch with girlfriends at night and while enjoying the clawfoot tub the next morning. Nice memories, especially when it's so cold outside.

I watched a video segment on this girl's fashion photography - Elle Muliarchyk - shot in exclusive boutique dressing rooms, unbeknownst to the boutique workers. She's been arrested because people thought she was doing drugs in the dressing rooms, and she's been knocked unconscious by boutique workers who have opened doors suddenly to check on her. My favorite comment from the segment: "She embodies this fantasy that every one of us has when we go to the dressing room and try on the pieces that we can cannot possibly afford. This fantasy, when you stand by yourself in the beautiful gown by the mirror and think of the kind of a life you would have. It's a great fairytale story." Very cool.

Also cool - I'm not going to attend this (too lazy!), but I think this is a really neat idea: Oscar Night America.

ALSO also cool - I just had a fresh, take-out, spicy salmon handroll from a nearby restaurant. I'm always disappointed with their eel-and-avocado rolls... the meat is just not good quality. But this salmon roll was AWESOME. The spicy tuna and spicy California ones were also good. But spicy salmon was best. A great new taste sensation, if you will.

Last but not least - The Once and Future City series on Discovery HD. Let's face it: I'm a dork for travel. I'm a dork for big cities. I'm a dork for history. I'm a dork for economic development. This show is like porn for ALL my dorky parts. Very. Satisfying. I guess I should be embarrassed about that. Instead, I will be loud and proud about it.

Chris has been away for part of the week, and I've missed him like crazy. I've spent quality time with the dogs. I've spent quality time with two girlfriends I haven't seen in a while. And, to quell my pangs of lonliness, I've listened to Chris's last.fm personal radio station. I LOVE that site!

I'm excited to say that I now have a cubicle with a view! Through a series of events, I've sort of "inherited" a spot that overlooks a large, very lovely and very green cemetary. I can't believe the difference natural light makes. I was in such a great mood all day yesterday, and felt so relaxed.

This weekend, I'll be travelling in the North Carolina High Country. If I can pack up enough warm clothes, I may take on the Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain Park.