my brain = primordial goo

hello--

I promised rebecca I'd blog (hello there) but I have absolutely nothing to blog about (hence the title of my post).

however, it struck me earlier today that I really want to be one of those artsy people who don't do anything but sit in apartment flats and have parties/etc. That is officially my life-long dream. And you could dress all artsy and be really spur-of-the-moment-ish because all the people around you would think it was really deep to do stuff like that, when really you just thought it was fun--but they'd do it WITH you, so haha! see, when I get really tired, I sound like Holden Caulfield on crack.

but yeah, that really is the extent to which my brain has been goo-ified. sorry.

The Saga of the Blower and the Distressed Runner

My dad got the bad news a few weeks ago that he can't run, at least, not for a while. And, for anyone who has any inkling of my dad, this is pretty distressing for a guy whose always out running, even if its thirty degrees below zero and he's in Canada (which really does happen, every Christmas). So, he's pretty bummed out, and as kind of a rebound, he's taken up... you guessed it! leaf blowing! Which sounds pretty tame, right? I mean, get the leaves out of the driveway, make everything look nice, etc. Except, for a person who is used to going out every day and running... leaf blowing must be done every day. And pretty soon you start to notice that the driveway is entirely clear of leaves... but he still pops out of the backdoor to get the leaf blower and says something about 'just have to get a few more off' and then starts up again. And this particular leaf blower he has been using to stem his agony over not being able to run is one of those that perpetually sounds like its just about had it. It kind of purrs and mutters and then chugs and splutters if it gets too near the monkey grass. And the worst of it is, he simply won't cut the thing off, as someone whose used to spending a long time outdoors, say, running, I suppose he finds it his duty to walk up and down the driveway swinging the thing until dinner time. Now, I'm in my living room, outside of which directly is our front porch, and I have never known a front porch (especially one that is covered) to be in need of a leaf blower in the middle of January. But you can here the thing, kind of far off (Jaws music starts in the back ground) an ominous little *chug-chug-chug-chug* and then this huge *VOOM* and the leaves are off! and I don't know what's keeping him, but he's been standing on our front porch for about twenty minutes now with that horrible leaf blower, and if he doesn't get off soon I think I shall have to find it my unpleasant duty to insert a leaf blower in his left ear, which I think should just about keep him from the unnecessary practice, at least, until he can start running again.

The Portrait of a Lady Blog

Yet another intriguing blog has come to my attention--this time my mother's :P --a very talented foreign artist who plans to finish 6 masterpieces in the following year. The first one is going to be of a little three year old girl whose the daughter of a friend of a friend (I believe)--and she's quite cute, which is good because the last little girl she had to paint... She's doing some very artistic method too, involving gesso (so you know its fancy) and this board that apparently has been in our back porch for over three weeks, but today was the first day I actually got a good look at it. It looks very promising, as far as painting surfaces go, and so I think the author of such an exciting blog will get quite a lot done in this lovely new year! Not to mention that her blog has very intellectual literary references in it as well... :P And, as a multi-talented persona, this new blogger will also be running extraordinary amounts of miles this year, which I do not envy her for, just the muscles she will develop by doing so. All in all, a pretty good start to this 2010 :) and, seeing as we apparently only have two years to go before a giant black hole sucks us away or some Mayan god comes to get us; I should say she's being very upbeat about the whole end-of-the-world thing, wouldn't you? :P Now if only I could figure out how to post pictures on blogs, I could help her show everyone some fantastic work... unfortunately, I suck at computers, but... what can you do?

Cheers! (I think I will sign off like this more often...)

~Lucy :)

100 Blocks in a Year

I have found an awesome new blog! (purely by chance) about quilting! The ingenious author of this blog is a talented foreign quilter who is going to challenge herself by quilting 100 blocks in 2010! In case you blockheads (that was my mother's phraseology, she is sitting like a slug here beside me/reading intellectually, another of my mother's phraseologies... though still like a slug) don't know what a block is (you see, it was rather punny) a block is a part of a quilt--so in the end she'll have made 100 quilt parts, or the equivalent of 5 quilts, each unique, and then she'll give them to her quilting guild and they'll make quilts for charity. All very upright and honorable work here, you see. You all should definitely follow her, to catch up on her progress! (and bother her about her neice, who is me)

See you all in the New Year!
~Lucy :)

I really do cry!!!

The cheese guy is gone!!!!!

Tonight was his last night at Whole Foods. We'll probably never see him again. :(

Me and mommy went to pick up some kettle chips (the only bag of chips I have ever been able to eat in entirety, in one sitting) and while we were there Mommy went over to get some cheese, but there was only one left of the cranberry-brei variety, and another lady had almost gotten to it too, so of course they had to fight over which one of them wanted it the least. The other lady won, though, and so we had to take it. We felt very guilty.

But during that exchange we'd asked the cheese guy a question, but we were still trying to convince the lady that we really didn't want the cheese we had been reaching for at the same time as she had, so we were rather preoccupied--and I waved once, but Mommy didn't notice when he waved back, and it was rather saddening.

So we went away awkwardly figuring we'd get to say hi next time, as he looked rather busy with a cheese grater by the time we'd lost the fight and gained our cranberry cheese. But then, when we were checking out, he came over to say he was sorry if he'd sounded too brisk; he'd been busy at the moment, but wanted to say hi to us.

And then he said that it was actually his last thirty minutes there. And he looked rather sad--you know, that funny thing that happens where a person's eyes are just a little suspiciously red and wet (although he was the cheese man, so he did have naturally watery eyes). and I thought that he meant, before he got to go home for the weekend, and so I was like "Oh great!" because of course I must miss the point at the most crucial of junctures.

But he explained that actually it hadn't worked out ("oh no!" *ackward grimace at misinterpretation*) and this was his last thirty minutes in the store; but it had just been a little too big--and he either got there at five in the morning or left at midnight; which did sound HORRIBLE! So we asked him what he was going to do, and he said he didn't know, but he might crop up somewhere else randomly, you never know. We said he should take one of those round the world vacations, and he said he would love to, if only he could convince his wife to quit her job too--and we said we certainly were glad he'd come over to say hello (although really it was more to say goodbye), and then he had to duck back to close up his cheese counter, and we had to sign the grocery check. And that's the last I'm ever going to see of the cheese guy!!!!!

However, I do hope he can go on that world vacation. And I thought of a great job he could take up--he could be a cheese caitorer (Spelling???)!! (only I didn't know whether or not I should mention anything about cheese, as I know he's really into it, but I don't know if being into cheese is the kind of thing you point out about a person) to like weddings and things, and he could advise people on what kind of cheese went with what--and he'd easily get the market, because he'd know just how to arrange it and what it would go best with and stuff.

But still!!!!! Our cheese guy!!!!!!!!!!!! And there can never be a more perfect cheese guy! *how I cry*!!! Not even kidding!

Good luck cheese man!! (retire early and live in glorious cheese happiness!!!) 

The Magical Potato Man (yes, these exist)

The Great Potato Itself!!! (no, I'm not even kidding, this is really it)

Ok, so we've all been to Linux right? Yes? No? Never heard of it? Whatever, it's like twelve o'clock at night and I had too many sweet teas. Ok, so, all the restaurants in the food court at Linux have turned into ones that you see really often right? Like, they've got Sbarro's and Chick-fil-a, and California Pizza Kitchen is kinda a one off, but it's also kinda separated from the food court, so it doesn't really count. But there's this one little place called 'The Steak and Potato Factory' and I've literally never seen anything quite like it in my life. For one thing, it's genuine retro, like, not Johnny Rockets retro, but my grandma's kitchen retro. I mean, the sign is, that's really the only thing. But it's neon (baby pink and baby blue--why for potatoes and steak? I don't know), and it's got the wording for 'Steak and Potato Factory' in those bubbly Steak and Shake letters, and of course the neon kinda flickers from time to time, and the glass casing is distressingly cracked, etc. There's this long off-white counter that kind of barracades the workers in. They're stuck in this little three foot long space that contains these posters that are kind of decaying, that show the pictures of the different foot types you can eat--only it's mostly, you guessed it, Potatoes and Steaks (variated, of course). And there's this little Korean guy behind the checkout who's memorized my order by now, and he's about sixty years old and he always smiles and acts really friendly when you approach cuz no one goes within three feet of the place. (I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but there's only so much room to walk around in in that food court). Anyways, he's the only Korean in the place, and the rest are Mexican, which is kinda weird, because usually it's always one type of race in a certain restaurant right? But I guess potatoes and steaks are generic enough so that it doesn't really matter. Anyways, the older guys always kinda disgusted with his Mexican counterparts because they're always chatting with each other in spanish or texting or fiddling with their crosses or something (they all have crosses, I swear this isn't a cultural predujice, although this post is really starting to sound like that huh? Don't worry, I'll cut it out--I just think older Korean men are cute... the aww! kind of cute, by the way, like Rebecca's grandfather...) but as soon as he gets your order and yells it at them they all snap into attention and start making the potato. I always get a king potato by the way (that's what they're called), and it comes with melted cheese and whipped creme and chives and bacon and it's the best thing in the world--and they serve it to you to go or eat in in exactly the same way--only if you get it to go they won't give you the tray :P ok, so, you kinda slide your tray (if you're eating in) down the off-white countertop towards the other end where there's this greasy little lamenated sign that says 'pick up here', which really has no point in existance, because the counter space is so small you could really stand anywhere to wait for your order. But still, it just adds to everything, and besides, it's fun to slide your tray down. So the guy who's fixing the potato is always really friendly, and he always smiles when he hands it over the radiator like thing they've got that blocks the customers off from the employees. And then you've got your potato! Now, the only thing is, the little Korean guy who takes your order always drops his smile as soon as you go away and starts looking kind of sad again. I think it's cuz he's the only one in the place that speaks Korean and not Spainish (and none of them speak English by the way--which is extra fun, you know, like how they do it on purpose at Willies? Except not on purpose! haha!) anyways, so I got to thinking one night, that he's really not all that lonely because you see, he only LOOKS like a sad little old guy who sells potatoes. Actually, when he goes back into the kitchen he can go through this special little door and go back to the world he comes from (because you can do that in big malls like Linux) and in the world where he comes from he's actually a potentate--very important and all, and everyone gives him a lot of respect right? Cuz they know how wise he is, and he wears a scarlet robe that's embroidered all over with gold (and it must be scarlet--but it doesn't look a thing like a komono, because we're not being racist here, and I would never mix up my races or anything horrible like that) no, it kind of looks like the robes in World of Warcraft that the undead wear, except more colorful. Anyways, he's got command over this whole valley back there, but every once in a while he has to pop back up and smile at someone who's looking at his decayed potato charts and ask if they want anything. But he's happy to do it because he knows that really he's just pulling the wool over all these suckers, and that he's really NOT a potato seller-he only looks like it. I'm sure he has magical powers as well. That's why the potatoes taste so good :) and they really do y'all--go to a 'Steak and Potato Factory' if there's one near you and get a potato--you might have a magical potato man too!!

Woooah...

if you click the 'next blog' botton at the top of my page, it goes to this all black background with spanish writing!! *creepy...*

you should try it!!!!

on second thought--it changes each time you click the button. But try anyways! (you might get lucky!)