Bus Stories

Holy bus rides. This morning, on my way to work, a crazy lady got on the bus and started talking to everyone like it was gospel brunch. "Can I get a Amen? Praise Jesus! Hallelujah! Good Friday. The land of milk and Honey! Atheists are going to hell." and on and on. And there was this other guy who was talking to himself when he got on the bus and then he instantly fell asleep and then one stop later he got off. Then on my way home, the bus driver was driving all crazy. He was honking non-stop the whole way. Then he saw his friend across the street and stopped the bus in the middle of the road to tell him how their other mutual friend had recently overdosed on drugs. Then he tried to make a right turn and this white SUV cut him off and he started yelling at the driver. But then the SUV driver started yelling back at the guy and then they agreed to meet at the bar later. huh? Apparently they were friends. I have a feeling it's just the beginning...

Work has been really busy the last couple of days. I'm super tired.

i'm a flower buncher

I started my new job today. I made flower arrangements. It's a lot harder than it looks. Shannon is training me. She gave me all the old flowers to take home and practice making bouquets. So now there are 10 arrangements in our living room. Last night, Derek and I won free tickets to Tokyo Police Club at the Ram's Head (Baltimore's House of Blues minus the asshole bouncers). It was a good start to our Baltimore show career.

Remember Palm Trees?

We went to this new place called Woodberry. It's a little part of town that used to be only mills and factories and now it's a pool and art studios and offices and a restaurant called Woodberry Kitchen. We ate there. It was really yummy. They're also building LEED homes in that area. It's one of the only new housing developments that I've seen that are all LEED for Homes certified. Pretty neat.

Caterpillar Lunch

I went to Harbor East to this shoe store and discovered my new favorite shoe company : Fly London. They're comfortable lady shoes but really cute and since I have to walk everywhere I want some cute comfortable lady shoes. I love them so much I want every pair. On the way home I saw this caterpillar. Then, since the entire town smells like bread, I got hungry and went for lunch at the only vegetarian restaurant in town. My food was really good and the waiter looked like Lenny Kravitz. I start my new job tomorrow. I'm going to be a florist.

Horse Balls

On Friday, some people and I went to get drinks at Little Havana. It's this bar right on the water down the street from the Visionary Arts Museum. It has a big outdoor patio that kind of reminds me of a cross between The Waterfront Cafe in Venice and The Frying Pan in Chelsea. On Saturday, Derek and Katy and I went to the MVA (not DMV) to get our new drivers licenses. Maryland licenses look like my El Segundo Middle School ID except it has a crab on it instead of a bulldog. Then D and I went wandering through town towards The Laughing Pint, a cool bar I've been wanting to check out in Highlandtown. (Not really a neighborhood I want to walk through at night by myself) We got there right when it opened and talked to Shannon, the owner, and her dog Olive. She told us about the farmers market in the area and the Italian deli across the street that had been featured on The Food Network. (fancy) It's a lot like Bay Cities and we bought some stuff for dinner. Then we walked through Brewers Hill and back home to watch It Might Get Loud. Sunday we hung out on the back porch and Matt came over so we played some 'How's It Hanging' in the street. Our neighbor came out of her house and said her friends call it 'Horse Balls'.

Side Note: I've gotten 2 voicemails from the Los Angeles County Correctional Facility asking if I want to accept the charges... I thought it was a mistake at first but now I'm hoping it's no one I know...

Teeniest Tiniest Freakiest Thing Ever.

Derek and I have been looking for a Boston Terrier puppy to bring home. We've wanted a Boston for a few years now and are excited to have a dog around. They are so cute. I am going to name him Louis. All week we had our eye on this really really cute puppy in Ohio. He was rescued from an Amish puppy mill - Amish people are weird. We filled out our application and before we got 'final approval' the people that adopted his brother decided they wanted both puppies - selfish. The rescue place tries to keep the puppies together so they got first priority. I was a little sad but at least they found a good home. Then Derek found a listing in the local paper for Boston puppies and we called the guy. He had three little boys left; they were 8 weeks old. We had to go to the Towson Mall to Men's Warehouse so Derek could try on a suit he has to wear in a wedding this summer, so the guy said he would meet us at the mall and bring the puppies for us to see. When we got to the mall, right before we were about to meet the guy, I started to get really nervous and anxious and I started to second guess whether we should get a puppy. So, we go out in the parking lot to meet the dude (it was so awkward, it felt like we were part of a shady deal going down), it was pouring rain and cold and windy, and the guy opens the back of his SUV and shoves a teeny tiny puppy in my hand. I was trying not to drop him since he was squirming and shivering and I was trying to hold my umbrella and not get wet. I was so freaked out I couldn't talk. The puppy was so tiny and he was shivering and I just wanted to give him back. He was so little and he had one blue eye and one brown eye. I couldn't think. All I said was 'I wish it wasn't raining' and I asked him to take the dog back and I walked back into the mall. It was the freakiest thing ever. Apparently Derek was having a conversation with the guy while all this was happening but I don't remember any of it. Back in the mall, Derek laughed at me and we decided that today was not a good day to get a puppy.

We decided that we'd try again in 6 months...

Friday

I spent the whole day listening to Hip-Hop while hand-stiching pillows and thinking about puppies.

mema

I picked up mema at the train stop on Thursday night. We met up with Derek and walked over to Mezze for dinner. On the way home we stopped at Cat's Eye and mema danced with all the kooks. Friday we walked all over town, went to One Eyed Mikes for early lunch, The Visionary Museum to look at a giant poodle bicycle and have a late lunch, then met up with the kids at The Waterfront for a beer and some great live music, then on to Red Star for dinner with a stop at Bartenders for a night cap before heading home. Saturday we slept in and caught the afternoon 3D IMAX of Alice and Wonderland, where we got motion sickness, then we walked up Charles Street to Brewers Art for dinner, discovered the Owl Bar (an old prohibition club) and the bar at the 13th floor of the Belvedere, then stopped at Mamas on the Half Shell for a classic Baltimore Crush. Sunday we went up to Hampden to Cafe Hon for breakfast and shopped around for a bit before we went back to The Waterfront to meet up with the kids and stopped to get a pizza on the way home to watch the Oscars. Monday we had a Bloody Mary at Montford Bar and lunch at Sams Kid before making our way over to Edgar Allen Poe's grave and back to the train stop. So fun!

Polio Noise

I was bored today so I made a giant Polio Doll then I took glamour shots of him around the house. I made him out of an old towel and one of the cloth napkins Derek bought and some scraps of felt left over from the Hot Dog Flag. Isn't he cute?

Weekend in Sarasota

Me and Dad having a Bloody Mary at the Tiki Hut

Aunt Nancy made me take a photo next to the stuffed deer. Good times.

Closing Ceremonies

Here's some of Derek's photos from Vancouver. Good times. Vegetarian Poutine - ooooh yeahhh

Vancouver 2010

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village

BC Place, Canada Hockey Place, Provincial Houses, Downtown Vancouver

The kids with the Quebec House in the background

Derek in front of the Molson Canadian Leaf

Canadian Hockey House

Everyone started building these rock people on the False Creek shoreline in front of the Provincial Houses. There were hundreds of them and they were really cool. I tried to make one but it kept falling over. Jordan made a mini one.

Hurricane Potato = Deep fried potato on a stick.

Are those PEI potatoes?

Gretzky was here.

Everyone had Maple Leafs on. So much red and white everywhere.

We went to Granville Island. There's all these art galleries and studios, jewelry stores, a Boqueria style Market Place, and seagulls that try to dive bomb your head.

Here is a lady carving a Totem Pole with a chainsaw.

Average morning in Vancouver.

View of the mountains from UBC campus.

Real life Totem Poles.

Big Totem Pole.

Museum of Anthropology.

We had a great time in Vancouver. The city is so beautiful; it has mountains, and harbors, and the Pacific Ocean, and Killer Whales, and tall buildings, and fun bars and restaurants, and sweet public transit. We had hockey tickets to the Germany v Finland game. It was really fun listening to the German fans clap and sing and chant Deutschland!! even though Finland won 5-0. But the really great part was when USA beat Canada 5-3 on Sunday night!!! We were at a friend's house and everyone was pissed at the guys who brought the American chicks.

It was even fun just to walk through the streets and see the THOUSANDS of people dressed up in their country's colors. Everyone was singing and dancing and cheering and drunk. I think the City of Vancouver did a really great job helping people get around. They had volunteers giving out directions and extra trains and buses running all day. Everyone was really nice. We definitely lucked out with the weather. It didn't rain once all weekend. It felt like Spring Break for us - it was a toasty 50 degrees instead of Baltimore's freezing high of 30.