Oh, Look, I remembered I have a Blog!

It's been really hot here in Washington. Really hot and really humid. And it's gotten me homesick. Not just homesick, but timesick. Is that a word? I'm homesick for a specific place and a specific time.

I miss my grandparents' old house on Lucy Court, in River Ridge, right outside of New Orleans, in the late 1980s. My sisters and I would fly down (without our parents!) every summer, and spend our time hanging out with our cousins and our aunts, who we did not see for most of the year. My grandparents had a pool, and every afternoon, unless disrupted by a thunderstorm, we would swim. (The thunderstorm thing was a fairly frequent problem, though.)

This was when the cousins could still be divided into older and younger sets. I was the oldest of them all, and me, my sisters, and our cousins Katie and Lee spent our time making up crazy jumps off the diving board. Anne Yvette was the oldest of the younger cousins. She didn't like to swim, so she would sit on the steps of the shallow end, water wings and sunglasses on.

I guess I can't go back in time, and my family no longer owns the house on Lucy Court, but I am going to book a weekend home for August. Because it's not summer without a snowball from Plum Street.

Escape from the Blizzard(s)

Despite two blizzards, or maybe because of them, my friends and I were determined to get to Mardi Gras. A cancelled flight on Thursday? No problem! We'll fly to Birmingham, rent a minivan, and drive 6 and a half hours overnight to get to New Orleans. Snow in Birmingham? Well, we'll just pretend that's not going to happen. A train an hour late leaving the station to get to the airport? We'll take a taxi!

We got to my parents' around 3:30 on Saturday morning, crashed for a few hours, and then spent the next 4 days at various parties which included bartenders, fried turkey, and of course, Mardi Gras beads.

So fun! I honestly had forgotten how much I love Mardi Gras, and I am now planning to make an annual pilgrimage.

First Post in 2010!

Lately I have been the world's worst blogger. I sort of got out of the habit last year, when I was swamped at work (and working until 11 pm most nights, and working on Saturdays and Sundays too) and when things calmed down, I just never picked it back up. Facebook also has kind of replaced blogging, not just for me but for a lot of people, I think. But Facebook only lets you write quick blurbs. Sometimes it's more fun (and more cathartic!) to write longer essays.

So, I'm not going to promise daily posts, but I will promise to try to keep this blog updated more.

Seriously?

Last week, my yoga teacher suggested we all stop wearing deodorant, because he said we need to sweat and release the toxins in our body.

I've got yoga class tonight. I really hope no one took this suggestion to heart.

Fall Into Reading Update

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
3. Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin
4. An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon
5. Sammy's Hill, by Kristin Gore
6. The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory
7. Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris

So, as you can see, I added two more books to my list, which I've already read. I'm currently working on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If this were not a book club pick, I never would have chosen it. If this were not a book club pick, I would not have gotten past the prologue. But it is, and although I'm not opposed to giving up on book club picks, I'm about 200 pages in and getting somewhat interested in the story. I'm just not much of a mystery reader in general.

As for the others, well, I loved An Echo in the Bone, but I expected to. I wouldn't recommend it if you haven't read the other 6 Outlander books, though. I even got to go to a book signing with Diana Gabaldon! I got my copy signed, and one for my sister.

Sammy's Hill was cute. I chose this one because I found it on the bookshelf in my communal laundry room, and I like books that take place in Washington. I liked it enough to get the second one, Sammy's House, from the library.

The White Queen was not my favorite Philippa Gregory book. By far. It just didn't seem as well written, and the story did not draw me in in the same way that others of hers have.

And Dead and Gone, well, I love Sookie Stackhouse! One more unread to go in the series.

U2

Monday afternoon, my friend Jayne called and said her friends Amy and Heath were going to the U2 concert on Tuesday, and they had two extra tickets, so did I want to go too?

Well, Tuesday nights I go to yoga, but it did not take me long to decide I could skip it this week. So off we went.

The seats were on the club level of the stadium, pretty much dead on view of the front of the stage, as you can see. The concert was great! I'm not the world's biggest U2 fan by any stretch of the imagination, but they played a lot of songs I knew, so that was fun.

That spaceship looking thing around the stage was, um, a spaceship, according to Bono. It changed colors and had lights on it that were pretty cool after dark.

Thanks, Jayne and Amy and Heath for inviting me!

Adventures on the Bus, #23536

Dear Man Sitting Across from Me on the Bus,

It is called personal hygiene, not public, because you do it in private. Therefore, I must politely ask that you refrain from clipping your fingernails on the bus.

Love,
Genevieve

PS - yes, that was me who said, out loud, "that's disgusting."

PPS - I was never so excited to see my colleague Ann on public transport. Gave me a good reason to move seats! (I run into Ann quite a bit on public transport. We live pretty close to each other.)

Fall into Reading

My friend Amy always participates in Callapidder Days's reading challenges, and I decided to do Fall into Reading myself this year! Here's a list of 5 books (to start) that I plan to read this fall:

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
3. Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin
4. An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon
5. Sammy's Hill, by Kristin Gore

I'll update as I read these, and add more, as this will not be enough to get me through the fall!

Flight Home

I went to New Orleans this weekend to see my family. It was a great trip - we went to the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sunday with my aunt, uncle, and cousin Rick, because I wanted to try this barbecue place, The Shed, that I had seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Luckily it was good, otherwise I would have felt terrible making 5 other people drive 2 hours for me!

Anyway, I flew back to Washington this morning at 6 am. I was trying to sleep, but the guy across the aisle from me kept snoring.

Maybe I should start traveling with earplugs, but in case that doesn't work, any other suggestions?

Well Alright Then

Last night my home phone rang. I didn't recognize the name on the caller ID, but since it looked like a real person, not "unavailable," I answered.

Me: Hello?
Voice: Hello?
Me: um, hello?
Voice: Hello?
Me, getting irritated: Can I help you?
Voice: No, you can't help me.

And then she hung up.

I guess it was a wrong number, but how weird is that? She called ME. Couldn't she have just said, "sorry, wrong number!"