Loophole

Ok, so I have my camera to upload pictures, but I grabbed the wrong stupid cable....

I couldn't believe this:
Last Sunday, I was over at some friends' house having dinner and one of them said: "Hey, do you want some beer?" I said sure, but remembered it was Sunday. I conveyed this along with the fact that you can't buy alcohol on Sundays to my thirsty friend. She looked at me with a devious grin on her face and said "I know a place."
As it turns out, there was a liquor store in Fells Point (an area of downtown Baltimore) whose owners decided to combine the idea of a bar (where, in fact, you can purchase alcohol on Sundays...you just can't get it to go) with a liquor store. Keep in mind, this was not a high-class place; the store itself had dirty linoleum floors, postered-up windows and a chaotically "organized" selection (the cool part was the walk-in cooler with the beer). The pièce de résistance of the whole store was the bar. If I remember correctly, it looked like someone kludged together some scrap wood and stuck a few stools beside it. Somehow this dilapidated, poor-excuse-for-a seventh-grade-shop-project allows the residents of Baltimore to do something few others have ever been able to do: pickup some hooch on your way home from church.


-N

My Good Deed

I have a lot of things I could say about my vacation to MN/SD; I had a great time having lunch/dinner with friends, catching up with family, going to my brother-in-law's wedding...all of which I have pictures of. Hmmmm...where to start? I'll just pick a couple of things.

---Kahns. Nothing else needs to be said about this.
---Making Andalucian Gazpacho and Lentil salad for friends (I think they liked it...if not, at least they ate it).
---Spending an entire day working "with" my dad on "his" garden. I say "with" because over many hours, I don't think he managed to to do much of anything, other than talk about "Republican A-holes." I say "his" because if I hadn't started the seeds and moved them from where he planted them, there probably would only be dirt where there are now beautiful wildflowers.
---Dancing (sober, I might add) with my wife's younger cousins (11,14 and 17). The eldest, who I think is 17, does a pretty good "C-Walk". Nip Nip, wherever he is, would be proud.
---My parents putting a diaper on MacGyver, our 16 year-old Bichon Frise, because he would just pee wherever. Like he'd go outside, not pee, and then come back in the house and pee by the door. He's otherwise healthy, just incontinent. And in a diaper. Taped to him in order to cover his wee-wee. I'm sorry Gyvie...
---Last but not least, my good deed: On our way home from the wedding, Kristin, Monica (I'd link to her blog, but I don't have the address) and I stopped to eat at *DUN DUN DUN* McDonalds (by the by, is it McDonalds or McDonald's?). We were in a small town in western Minnesota...farmland-not lots of trees out there...very windy at times. It was mid afternoon, and there was about a 30 mph wind blowing. We pull up to the building and there stood this wee little old lady, hunched over and trying to walk to her car. The wind started gusting and this woman started wobbling...not like Weebles Wobble, mind you, more like "TIMMMMBBBEERRR!!!," wobble...I jump out of the car (after changing into my superman outfit), and ask the lady if she needs help. She mumbled something and I offered her my arm and walked her to her car. She said something about me being a gentleman and got into her car. It occurred to me as I was walking away that, if this woman could barely stand on her own, she probably shouldn't be driving (Kristin also pointed this out later). I guess all you need to get a license is a strong pair of trifocals and a good metal hip.



I'll have pics of the wedding and other stuff if I ever remember to upload them.



-N

Vacation!

Most people leave Minnesota when they get the chance-I however, will be returning there for my vacation; I am looking forward to cooler temperatures, sleeping, mosquitoes and, of course, not working. On the 16th, my brother-in-law is getting married in South Dakota, so I'll get to see my in-laws for awhile as well.

I was looking at my ticket the other day, and I could not figure out what I was smoking when I decided to buy a ticket that left out of Dulles at 830 AM on a Sunday. As I think I've mentioned before, Dulles is in VA, about 1 hour and 15 min away from our home! Then it dawned on me that we were originally going to be living in DC, not Baltimore, by the end of the summer...I was glad to find out that I wasn't completely mental.

Anyway, if anyone is around and wants to have lunch/kick me in the crotch, give me a call.

-N

PS On second thought, don't call if you want to kick me in the crotch. That's what's called an abusive relationship. Seriously, what kind of friend are you?

Scombridae

Now it's not a secret to anyone who knows me that I, in MOST cases, cannot understand why anyone would want to homeschool their children. Yes, these kids are, at least judging by the ones who I have met, always VERY smart and/or very musically gifted (a huge plus), but let's face it: most of them can hardly handle even the most modest of social situations. I believe that the social situations that children are exposed to in public, or private, schools-even the really bad ones-help them develop skills that in turn give them the skills to become (relatively)healthy adults.

It seems to me that many homeschoolers tend to be exceptionally talented in music, especially classical music. Coming from a musical background, particularly my classical recording background, I've been exposed to many of these virtuosic homeschoolers (it seems only logical that a parent of one of these kids would want them to stay inside and practice an instrument 6-8 hours a day...after all, outside they may have a run-in with a mass murderer....or the sun...or someone of a different religion...). I can spot one of these kids a mile away; pale skin, do-it-yourself haircut, robed in garments 2 grade levels either too small or too large from ca 1983 rural Wyoming...most noticeably though, I have yet to see one that is able to interact socially with anyone on a level that greater than that of a 5th grader.

I met one girl about 2 years ago who was an AMAZING pianist. She won a fairly prestigious competition and was interviewed afterwards. She was very shy while answering the questions; she giggled a lot and barely made eye contact with the interviewer.

Now enter Evan M. O'Dorney, the winner of this past week's Scripps Spelling Bee. Being that I work for a news organization, I heard an interview with this kid, awkwardly conducted by CNN's Kerin Chetry. As you can see, Evan has NO idea how to interact with her, no idea how to carry a conversation. It's almost like watching an episode of "The Office." Bless you for trying Kiran!

I'm not saying homeschooling is always bad, nor that it is impossible for a homeschooler to turn out normal...I guess I look at it kinda like growing a giant tomato: Sure, you get a very unique, prize winning tomato, and maybe that tomato will someday feed many starving people, but mostly, you just wind up with a really odd tomato.

-N