Thursday, June 5, 2008

In Other Less-Grouchy News...

After my post about all things currently wrong with the world I thought I'd be all Feng Shui-y and write about some happier news to balance out my chi. Gert is very zen.

Plus, work has given me one mother of a headache - probably caused by staying here until an ungodly hour last night instead of being able to work from home because - have I mentioned? - George Bush killed my laptop...

Oh that's right. I'm being zen. And nice. Moving on...

1. Never let it be said that I don't take my time getting things done OR that I have a big mouth. I finally got my upper-left thirteen-year molar. Yes, you read that correctly. Back in the day, my orthodontist thought that when the braces finally put everything in order it would just decide to show up. But no. My oral surgeon thought that when he removed my wisdom teeth it would be jarred loose and then come in. Wrong again. Maybe instead of a thirteen-year molar it's a thirty-year molar. What? Oh. I'm not thirty anymore either? Well, hell. OK, so my other theory is that either it has more room now because a couple of my teeth have shifted slightly back to their original, more-crooked position (retainer? what retainer?) OR it has been shaken loose by the new electric toothbrush my dentist suggested I get ("if you'd like to go ahead and admit to yourself that you're really not going to floss as much as you say you're going to and just purchase an electric toothbrush, I think we'd both be much happier in the long run.") So, I'm hoping this starts a new trend and by August I expect to have finished my 7th grade summer reading list and finally found that long-lost Cyndi Lauper cassette...

2. Huntsville didn't totally suck. Totally being the operative word. The first half of my trip was spent at a business/enterprise-related conference that was basically a Republican parallel universe where I was literally the only person not in a suit and where global warming does indeed exist but will actually be good for the US economy because third world countries will become dependent upon us for their food. Who knew!?! But more about that later... How is this happy, good chi news you ask? Well, because I got to see one of UT's former punters, got a magnet and a stress ball (that I've already lost), had HBO in my hotel room, AND met a real live astronaut. Not too shabby. I do wish that instead of pens, one of the booths had been giving away medically-induced amnesia so that I could forget most of the presentations I had to sit through. Maybe next year...

3. Better late than never. I finally got my date night. Monday. I went with my friend Alan to dinner and to see Sex and the City. Dinner was delicious and the movie was too. Not absolutely everything that I was hoping for but enough fabulous clothes and funny lines and inside jokes to keep me happy. There will be more about this later too, but I will say that there was even a third thing as equally delicious as dinner and the movie. It was the preview for the movie version of Mama Mia. I am counting down the days as of this moment.

4. Anyone listen to NPR last Sunday? You knew a list of random crap from me wouldn't be complete without some mention of public television and/or radio... Last Sunday was the anniversary of when Tennessee became a state or some such historical whatnot. Anyway... in honor of that (and because the substitute host for that Sunday is stationed in Nashville) the broadcast included an interview with Nashville's mayor about our lovely Cumberland river (and not so lovely sewer pipes that are from, I kid you not, before the Civil War); an article about the Bluebird Cafe; a musical transition thingy by Victor Krauss (Allison's brother); an interview with local punk band Be Your Own Pet; a feature on the Nashville phenomenon lovingly known as "Hot Chicken" (Splendid Table actually did a better article on Prince's Hot Chicken a month or so ago); AND the guy who played the puzzle with Will Shortz was the cutest little elderly retired professor from UT. He not only totally kicked ass on what I thought was a really hard puzzle, but when asked at the end what his local station was said "WUOT - radio station of the University of Tennessee and the Lady Vols Basketball Champions!" Delightful. I've linked them all so you can hear them online if you'd like :)

5. Last time I was too disgusted to continue with my list. This time I don't know what else I could top it with. Good chi indeed.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You might not tell readers how to use Feng Shui, but you do have a great energy in this post that's very chi happy. This is light and lovely - and it made me laugh more than once. And that's a great way to start the weekend. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love good news posts:) How fun. I heard the Puzzle Master and I enjoyed the guest, too!

Unknown said...

You saw the movie? Damn you. I was trying to CALL YOU TO SEE THE MOVIE WITH ME SOON AS I AM COMING TO NASHVILLE TOMORROW because Dad is getting married...FINE.

If you would get a voice mail, I will be your friend again. If you don't, I am going to find someone from back in like the FIRST grade and be THEIR friend.