Happy Halloween! The candy is ready, now I am just waiting to see if any of the kiddies show up before I eat it all! Reese's, Butterfingers and Whoppers are here for the taking...
This past weekend was packed with a bunch of different things. We left last week and headed up to Oakland, CA where I attended the Oral History Association Annual meeting and gave a presentation about the Nevada Test Site project I have been working on. My husband stayed with a friend of ours and went fishing on the Russian River. On the last night of the conference, I took BART into San Francisco and met my husband and our good friend, Andrew for dinner. I got to check out Andrew's really cool SF house on one of the notorious hills with the fabulous view of the city and experience a tiny bit of the hipster lifestyle. Off the dinner, we had a bit of trouble finding a parking spot, but once the car was situated, we ate a yummy dinner and drank several refreshing Lagunitas beers at Park Chow in one of SF's many bustling neighborhoods. After dinner, we continued our adventure with a driving tour through the Castro neighborhood and a stop at the Bi Rite Creamery where I had the best sundae ever (coffee ice cream, toffee crumbles, hot fudge, almonds, and whipped cream)! Then I was dropped at the BART station and headed back to my hotel. After my presentation, we hit the road to Roseville, CA where we met up with family for the rest of the weekend.
When we arrived in town, we were just in time for our niece and nephew's school Halloween carnival. Once the kids were in costume, we went up to the carnival, where we ate candy, walked around and checked out all the costumes and the kids won goldfish at the carnival games. After the carnival, we all went home and ate pizza (with wine for the grown-ups) and called it a night. Saturday was my official birthday and we spent it watching the kids' soccer games, hiking in the Auburn State Recreation Area along the American River, and catching up on news together before dinner. My relatives decided to take me to Folsom, CA (of Johnny Cash Folsom Prison fame) for my birthday dinner. The town is really cute and done up like an old western town with shops and stuff for tourists. After some browsing, we made a beeline to My Brother Vinny's for eggplant parmesan, zinfindel, and a fabulous view from the outdoor patio. It was a wonderful dinner, and afterwards we couldn't resist going over to Snooks just to make sure we all had plenty of sugar in our systems! Back at home, I opened my birthday presents (thanks guys!!!), ate some yummy apple/blackberry/sour cream pie and watched home videos on DVD (has it really been five years since our wedding???) On Sunday, we had a chill-out day and hung out by the pool, ran over to the mall, and cooked a tri-tip on the grill.
It was a great visit, but all too soon we needed to head back to Nevada. We said our goodbyes, loaded Pocky into the truck and headed out through Tahoe. On the way through northern Nevada, we stopped in Virginia City to walk around and look at the historic townsite. From there it was a long, drive through the Silver State. We got home and relaxed a bit before it was back to work.
Well, I just got my first trick-or-treater (a pirate)...so I guess I better get ready for the onslaught! It has been an awesome October!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Goodbye October! It's been fun!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Birthday Weekend in Vegas
My birthday and my sister's both fall in the month of October and since she just moved to L.A., we decided to celebrate this weekend and go out for a night in Vegas. They left after work and got in in late on Friday night after a somewhat hellish drive on the I-15. When they arrived, we cracked a couple beers, opened our presents, played dice, and ate the devil's food cake I made until about 1:30 in the morning.
We woke up on Saturday and decided to hit the road to Valley of Fire so that my sister could see some of the beautiful scenery that makes living here bearable. Aside from the usual road rage I exhibit when driving through the Spaghetti Bowl to get out of town, the drive to the park was uneventful. Aaron and Andy discussed politics the entire way, so I had to enforce a smackdown on all political topics, at least until we got out of Valley of Fire. We went to the visitor's center and drove the scenic drive, and then did a little bit of hiking, although we were limited by Pocky's bum knee and couldn't really make our guests truly suffer on anything epic-length. Next we drove down along the Lake Mead shore and into Boulder City for lunch at MIlo's and some beer. Erin set the pace by ordering two beers for herself in the first round! (She got an Pyramid Apricot and a Guinness to make her variation on a black and tan).
After returning home we relaxed a bit and then got ready to go down to the Strip. Don't ask me how we ended up at the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton...but somehow, my sister decided that it was a good idea and who am I to argue with someone on their birthday? We did the rides (which were pretty good and amusing) with live actors and lots of special effects. Then we hit the gift shop and the theme restaurant for some food and the featured cocktails. Our table started with a Borg Sphere, which included 10 oz. of liquor and came steaming in a massive fishbowl. We were all pretty loopy by the time we left. I even got harassed by one of the alien guys (Aaron says in was a Ferengi, but whatever)...
The city blocks in Vegas are very long and we ended up walking in a huge circle in a dust cloud looking for a place to gamble. One would not think it would be so hard to find such a place...but we walked through a construction site, past the closed (and soon-to-be-imploded Frontier) and past a strip mall with nothing but a very neon Denny's before we got to the Wynn. We walked around a bit, past the Maserati dealership, but once we were exhausted we went to the sports book to rest our feet and have some more cocktails. After a few drinks and a race that I really should have put some money on, since I kept predicting the winners, we went to the slots. Lady Luck smiled on Andy and he hit a nice hand on video poker, so that made everyone happy. Having accomplished our main objectives, we went home and played some Texas hold 'em before Erin made us go to bed.
This morning we got up and finished off the cake before heading over to the Peccole Ranch disc golf course. This gem is one of the only positive things we have found in Vegas, and makes our neighborhood somewhat more enjoyable. Little did I know, Andy is actually quite accomplished at disc golf and I ended up humiliating myself as I hit every single tree and light post on the course and kept calling the discs, "frisbees".
After a great Mexican food brunch, we said goodbye to my sister and sent them on their way. Unfortunately, they hit a major wind storm and had to drive through sand and overturned semis all along I-15 back to L.A. There is also a major fire in Malibu, near where they live, so they may not be making this commute again anytime soon. It was a great weekend and we spent a lot of time laughing ourselves silly, which I guess is basically the best part about having a sister.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
The French Revoution is really like...high school?
As a huge fan of Coppolla’s Lost in Translation, I had high hopes for this movie. And I liked it. As many have commented, it was highly visual and stylized and that didn’t bother me a bit. What was strange, was that the whole time I was watching this film I was wondering if Coppolla was making a movie about high school.
The similarities are there. The need to please parents (albeit in the form of a strategic alliance), the desire to fit in, the experience of being forced to do things, and the subsequent rebellion. The centerpiece of the film, for me, centered around this birthday party scene where M. Antoinette (played by Kirsten Dunst) stays up all night to watch the sun rise after a night of celebration. Flash back to those nights breaking curfew…
No, this film isn’t as great at Lost in Translation, but it has a different character. Perhaps this is a nostalgic meditation (that I relate to adolescence); Coppolla's fantastically costumed reverie, commenting on frivolity, youth, excess, and tragic self-absorption. A time period common in early adulthood, but one which, we (hopefully) overcome as we grow older and find balance and contentment.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Online Traffic School- the Fifth Circle of Hell?
So, here I am at the library (my home computer does not support the IE version I need for online traffic school) and traffic school does not support Mozilla. I have five hours of reading, quizzes and pop up boxes that say, "You must spend 17 minutes and 23 seconds in this section before proceeding". (Even though I got the questions right).
So, thank goodness I have a blog to post to as I fight to persevere in this very hellish form of boredom. Wish me luck.
P.S. I got a seventy-four, which is passing and I learned that there is a severe drunk walking problem in Vegas. If that doesn't surprise you, here is another terrifying fact- 25%, yes a quarter of Nevada drivers have been in a collision in the past year. Great.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Too Many Hours in the Airport
It was rather weird being a tourist in my hometown and frankly, I got pretty annoyed with the rampant sports-fanatisicm! The Rockies, Broncos, and god only knows how many other local sports teams were playing this weekend and last night there were loud commotions all night long in celebration of the Rockies win. (Perhaps, I am just jealous because I was preparing for a presentation and not wasted beyond sense.)
I didn't get to the mountains, so this trip doesn't count as a real trip to Colorado. Nerdy librarians, fancy conference hotels, and a brain full of technology is definitely more work than play...but at least I got a decent breakfast burrito, which more than I can say for Vegas....
More about the techie stuff over at my digitization blog...
