Dates

Today is 8/9/10 and this makes me immensely happy.

Summer Colds

No, it is not Summer Colds that bring me joy. They, in fact, tend to bring me the opposite of joy, and this particular cold is no exception to that rule.

What HAS brought me joy via this cold, however, is my fiance. Throughout this weekend, as I have been a mouthbreathing snotty mess, he keeps starting to ask if I am okay, as I am often a mouthbreathing snotty mess after running away to cry without him knowing.

The fact that he notices and the fact that he told me several times that he keeps worrying because he keeps thinking I am upset brings joy to my heart. Yes folks, the crazy and capricious Chrys has found a keeper.

Of food trucks and other joys

The sun is shining, the grass is green and Cleveland now has food trucks.

We've had hot dog stands on many downtown corners for quite some time, but this is different. Not only is it something I can eat (street food + vegetarian friendly hadn't previously been the case), but there's a bit of mystery in where the truck will be on what day, and whether it can be found.

Earlier this week, I tracked down the first truck, an Asian-inspired one (though my menu won't convince you that's the case) where I had delicious gazpacho, tater tots, a veggie taco and a sushi push-pop. Yum.

There was bright, beautiful graffiti near where it was parked, and a gentleman with a long gray braid down his back on the trolley I took over. Another word about the braid: it petered out so slowly, and at the end, was simply several strands that must have wanted to stay together.

Canadian radio

This isn't the first time I've extolled the virtues of the music from our neighbors to the north. But it has been a while. And two things about CBC radio made me smile the other day.

First, there was the commercial that -- instead of telling me something was on at 8/7 Central -- told me the programme they were discussing was on at 8/8:30 Newfoundland.

There's also the matter of temperature. Driving home with my windows down and the sun beating the temperature well into the 80s, I hardly expected to hear the forecast tell me tomorrow's high would be 28 degrees.

How apropos

I promise I haven't disappeared entirely, and will reappear with more frequency in the not-too-too-distant future. In the meantime, I give you this job announcement. I love the correlation of names to job titles (and in my head, yes, it becomes undertaker -- which is more appropriate, true, but go with me here).

National Underwriter Life and Health: Bill Coffin has been appointed Editor in Chief of National Underwriter Life and Health, he was previously Director of Publications at the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Man, do I rock!

Guys, check it: it wasn't a fluke! I got another award, though I don't know what yet.

Also, my editor told me a story I turned in today -- that I've been working on, off and on, since February (let's be honest -- mostly off) was "wonderful." And that makes me even happier.

It's a pretty fun story. You should totally read it.

Public Service Announcement

I'd like to take a moment to tell you how much I love the Internet, and the wealth of information available therein.

You can now go back to your regularly scheduled programs.

I searched on the Internet

For April Fool's, Google replaced its name with Topeka's. This image from the press release amused me to no end -- proper uses of the new company name. I particularly like the last one.

The Census

One of the best parts about my last job was the fact that I got to write about Census data as it came out -- how much the county was growing, whether there were more minorities in a particular city, etc. And although that's something I find interesting, the true reason it was exciting was the hold music.

You heard me right -- the hold music. As noted here, the Census Bureau records facts and figures about Americana and plays then in lieu of tunes when you call their answer line.

Fascinating and funny, it always made me happy to be put on hold.

Icelandic humor

Certainly, the volcanic eruption and subsequent ash cloud that stopped airline travel across Europe this month wasn't funny. But some of what came out of it was.

For example: This story about Iceland's reaction to the eruption (after all, it is their volcano) has a couple jokes in it that made me chuckle.

My ability to post them has been somehow compromised by uncooperative technology, but it's certainly worth a read.

Of April

I certainly didn't mean to neglect the spreading of joy in April; it was certainly a very joyful month. In brief, some things that made me smile:

I went to the wonderful wedding of a wonderful friend, had a mini-college reunion and met several of the bride's friends, all of whom are fantastic. I ate a lot of delicious Austin food, snagged a Nancy Drew Mad Libs and found a pretty snazzy gift for my sister and a good friend. Eventually, they'll go in the mail.

I learned my parking attendant's name. It's Ray.

I went to the Cleveland Orchestra with friends. The orchestra is amazing. Severance Hall is beautiful. And jaunts to see Avenue Q and August: Osage County were similarly (if separately) fantastic.

I used the word tintinnabulation in a story. I scooped the competition in another (big) story, and the big bosses noticed. I managed to start a running joke, of sorts, that's made it into the paper three times now. It has also garnered me many pens and left me amused.

I reconnected with an old friend. I spent some quality time with an older friend. I had super, if all-too-brief, moments with more recent friends who went out of their way to say hello.

I hope your Aprils were as sunny.

Floating flag

I ventured to beautiful Avon, Ohio this morning. You may know it as the home of Duck brand duct tape (they have an awesome duct tape festival each year; I learned how to make purses and wallets and spread duct tape joy when I went a couple years ago), but that has nothing to do with why I was there.

Why I was there isn't important. What is important is that on the way home, I saw an American flag blowing gently in the wind. Alone, this is not an unusual thing to see. What made this flag different -- dare I say special? -- is that instead of standing tall on a pole, it was suspended from a construction crane that was holding it high above the earth.

I kept looking for the pole. It was pretty cool.

At the movies

Last week, the Cleveland International Film Festival came to town. It was a pretty intense affair with some fantastic movies that I saw and many I did not.

I got to go to the opening film and a series of shorts, in addition to a normal evening movie after work. And although it wasn't the best movie that I saw, the best part of the festival was the chance to go see an hour-long film at lunchtime. There's just something wonderful about going to a midday movie that makes you feel like you're playing hooky in a wonderful sort of way.

Next year, you should follow suit.

Again with the fog

No pictures for you today, but I will tell you that the fog this afternoon was subtle. It was as if you woke up bleary-eyed, without your glasses, and rubbed your eyes against the blur. It made bridges fade into nothing, as if they were Photoshopped away. It gave the air a certain brightness.

It also felt as if you were walking into an industrial freezer upon stepping outside: that cold blast, sustained, the air unmoving, an eye-opening chill but not an unpleasant one.

Family

So, Today, I had visits from extended family. The family of Arielle. That is all.

A foggy day in Clevelandtown

Perhaps I have already mentioned my love of fog. Yesterday was a magnificent day -- because it started out foggy and ended up sunny and beautiful.

This foggy image arrived in my e-mail box this afternoon. It's Progressive Field, where the Indians play, as coated in clouds. Apparently this guy took it. You can also see a fogless shot on his page, but what's the fun in that?

Not like the goat

I got called a "good kid" today. While perhaps I should have been less than thrilled, instead it caused me to giggle.

The seven deadly

I used the phrase "cardinal sin" in a story I wrote today, and wanted to check to make sure I was using it properly. A Google search led me here on Wikipedia. Which made me very happy.

Ookk

I got to use the word "bookkeeper" in a story last week. Bookkeeper is one of my favorite words since some Encyclopedia Brown story (or something) that involved a discussion of words that had consecutive repeating letters. See: roommate, balloon. But few have three.

Using bookkeeper led me to peruse this Wikipedia page. Careful: may be addicting.

Hello, sunshine!

The best part about winter is that it begets spring. And this past week, spring arrived -- at least for a little while.

This means bright sunlight, melting snow and people wearing shorts and short sleeves. Broad smiles. Windswept hair. Drinks on patios. It's awesome.

I ate lunch outside the past few days, sitting on the stoop of my building with a book. This evening, I managed to spare a few minutes for an art walk -- something much harder to convince yourself to do if it's an art trudge. Yesterday's warm weather inspired a trip to Coventry and some super conversation.

You Southerners -- with your 70-degree Marches -- may think we're crazy. But I'll leave you with the weather report from the college radio station this morning:

"Exceptionally warm... 63 degrees... unbelievable!"

And that pretty much sums it up.