Hey, mister... can I have a ride?

One of my co-workers interviewed a German steel magnate at his Gates Mills home (for example) today. He came back talking about how impressive it was -- the driveway til forever, the giant house, all the trees. The carved wooden table. The fact that everything in the house looked like it was an antique. The organ that the house had been built around, that played through the vents.

And this magnate, after the interview, invited my co-worker to lunch with him at the country club. But my co-worker declined, deciding he had to get back to the office instead.

Just one problem.

The magnate had just flown in from Germany. His wife had the corvette. Could he get a ride to the country club anyway?

I don't remember what kind of car my co-worker said he had, but it was a 1990 something with CDs all over the seat. And that's how the magnate got to the country club.

But no one knows how he got home...

Don't forget your sheath

From the Web site of the Ohio Renaissance Festival: (It's in caps lock, so you know it's important!)

PLEASE OBSERVE THE VILLAGE POLICIES: NO PETS. NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGE MAY BE BROUGHT INTO FESTIVAL.
ALL WEAPONS MUST BE TIED IN A SHEATH AT ALL TIMES.

Mr. Golden Sun

Drove past a car on the way home that had a giant sun, branches and a ladybug painted on the side. It was lovely and creative and fun. And way better than the original wood paneling, too!

Board game mania

I played a lot of board games this weekend, which I love.

But I need to give a special bit of glee to games of Scrabble that net words like xenon (mine) and quinoa (not).

Also, the "xenon" game had only two words that were more than one syllable (ova was the other). I thought that was pretty amusing. Especially since the words were still good ones -- like jeered and thrall.

And it feels just as hot, too.

As I was driving to Peoples State Forest this evening (which is a story that most definitely does NOT make me smile...... at all), I passed the most awesomest thing ever: Satan's Kingdom Road. And then, as if things couldn't get better, I passed Satan's Kingdom Recreation Area!! And you can go tubing there as well!
I squealed gleefully in my car. Multiple times. I think Connecticut just clawed its way into the top 5 of the "Best States Ever" list.

Busting makes me feel good

As if Ghost Busters on the big screen wasn't enough... the half-dozen guys (and a girl) who sat in front of us totally came in costume.

And one even had a light-up pack!

Banana banana

I make a mean banana bread. But today, I made these with my overripe bananas instead.

The frosting has yet to be done, but the cake part is delish.

Wilbur

I went to the fair today (technically, yesterday) and had a fantastic time walking the Midway, riding a Ferris wheel and getting my fair-food fix -- lemonade, french fries, fried cheese, fried pickles and, of course, an elephant ear.

But it was the animals at the fair that particularly made me smile. To be precise, it was the piglets.

Let me back up and tell you that we saw the horses and cows, sheep and rabbits, guinea pigs and chicken. We pet quite a few goats (and one of them nibbled at my purse). We oohed and ahhed at llamas and alpacas (which looked exactly like walking stuffed animals) and giggled at turkeys and ducks.

But in the back of one of the barns were two sows, each with a number of piglets -- maybe 10 for one and six for another. They were pink and soft and tiny with big eyes. Both sows were sleeping; one was surrounded by sleeping piglets (and the poor piglet that found itself under her neck when she went to roll over! -- my, what a squeal) while the other had piglets clambering all over her in search of food.

Nursing piglets are way too cute.

The nursing piglets had a definite runt of the litter, a pig that was half the size of the others. It made me think of Wilbur, which wasn't much of a leap since county fairs already conjure up Charlotte's Web images.

A fair is a veritable smorgasbord, orgasbord, orgasbord...

My sister's awesome

She just is.

(She told me to say that. But it remains fact.)

Tampico

This is why I love love love the Big Band station.

It played a version of this song, which I was merrily humming along to, when all of a sudden the (redundant) lyrics changed... to "we're getting sick of this song" and "it's repetitious and long." All in a very cheery, Big Band-y sort of way. I chuckled. And tried to find the same version at home, but couldn't.

How 'bout that?

I drove home super-psyched after bowling with a friend tonight because not only did I break 100 in all three games -- 112, 116, 102 -- but I bowled a turkey, a definite first. But then, 116 is also my high score.

So there I was, thrilled with my bowling victories, about to pull into the driveway, when I was blinded by a bright light right on the curb. We're talking bright lights. Like, the kind they use to make it look like daylight during road construction. And there was another one on the neighbor's lawn, and what looked like a giant projection screen, too.

I decided to go explore.

It turns out that my neighbor works for an ad agency and that the lights (and plastic forks stuck in the lawn) were part of a campaign they're filming for Hot Pockets. It has something to do with senior citizens who are mad that people are eating without utensils and stick forks in the lawn (Oh, the beauty of Google) to protest. If you see it (I think they said it's for the Web, not TV), you should watch. And send me a link, so I can see how it came out.

I talked to one of the senior citizen (his words) actors, who's a civil engineer by day and has done seven commercials and roles as extras, this year, by night. It's a little random for a Wednesday night, but certainly cool.

Although I'm still proud of my turkey.

I think I can

It wasn't The Little Engine That Could, but I think the transportation story can be extended to boats.

While having lunch at the river today, I saw a tugboat pushing a barge (we'll pretend that I know the different names of water-faring vessels and that I got that one right -- which, if Wikipedia is to be believed, is a possibility). The barge (for lack of better knowledge) was rust-colored, low and long, while the tugboat was bright red and looked just like a bathtub toy.

It was groovy. And it was totally this boat. Which, for the record, is also the one shown above.

Come fly the friendly skies

In case any of you want to come visit (hint, hint), the Akron-Canton airport and AirTran are offering $25 off your next ticket to or from our lovely metropolis. And there's even an AirTran sale for the next few weeks! Get it while the getting's good.

You just have to travel by the end of January.

Aaaaand we're back

Getting let out of work early on Friday afternoons.

Strange farmers' market finds -- such as the husk cherry, a fruit a friend said tastes like buttered toast. I'm still not sure that I see it.

Tea at the Ritz, followed by a (touring) Broadway show.

Interesting books. Beach. Cooking. Conversation. Company.

Meaningful moments with friends. Random moments with friends. Being butted off of Twister boards by friends.

Knowing that friends care enough to show up, even with little notice.

Good news. Good food.

Tourists trying to tip a trolley driver because he chatted with them about Asheville (where they're from) and gave them some suggestions about what to do and where to go.

Air conditioning. I contemplated driving around this afternoon, just so I could have it. In the end, the book I was reading won out.