Merry Peppermint Sticks to all, and to my Beloved. I'll see her in a few hours.

Until then, just chores. A couple last-minute wrappings to do. Some sweeping. Clean the kitchen. Wash them dishes. Laundry. Make the bed. Like every other day, really.

12/24/2004 Friday 11:57AM
The Eve.

Today after dropping off Mariana at work I proceeded out and picked up the last of her stuff, along with a few nonessentials for later on. Got some more of those, and some of those; one of that; and a few more of those to do this with.
Tonight I'll either go to work and then over to Mum's, or blow off work and go straight to Mum's. Haven't decided. Tomorrow I apparent get to SLEEP AS LATE AS I WANT TO. Then I'm to meet Mariana and her parents somewhere out at Disney for various holiday stuffs. Tomorrow night the guys and I (and hopefully Mariana) will be making merry at home. Sunday (hopefully) I will be going with Mariana to the Millenia Mall to meet her parents for, presumably, post-Xmas sales.

It's been an eventful coupla weeks, little of which I'll bother to recap. I never did get a holiday tree, which bums me out completely.
Last night Mariana and I stayed in. I fixed a salmon and roast veggies dinner. Then we snuggled a bit and finally started wrapping her gifts. Wednesday night was uneventful. She crashed almost immediately after getting home from work, so I spent the evening foofing around her apartment. Did some minor up of cleaning, watched two eps of Lost, including some early ones where I learned some important stuff about Locke that I hadn't known before.
I swear, if it's possible for television right now to be any better than Lost, I don't know how. Anyway, went to bed fairly early; she had to be at work at 8 yesterday anyway.
Tuesday night was fairly uneventful also. Spent much of the day shopping. Were just cuddling and reading when the phone rang; it was my brother, reminding me of the party at Gator's. After some debating with Mariana and with myself, I went for an hour and a half or so, where I was surrounded by teenagers I didn't recognize and who may or may not actually work at the store. Whatever.
Monday was shopping. Sunday was shopping in the morning, then work at night. Before that was lots of work.

I'm reading a old children's book called Penrod, by Booth Tarkington. Read it (and Penrod and Sam) when I was a kid. Didn't remember too much about it, except that it was essentially a Tom Sawyer ripoff. But re-reading it now, I'm struck by something. Just giving you a couple of sentences, though, will tell you all you need to know, as might telling you the publication date (1914):

"Penrod was doing something very unusual and rare, something almost never accomplished except by coloured people or by a boy in school on a spring day: he was doing really nothing at all. He was merely a state of being."
and
{after fantasizing about switching places with a black boy who wanders by playing some music} "Otherwise Penrod would have gone down the street in a black skin, playing the mouth-organ, and an unprepared coloured youth would have found himself enjoying educational advantages for which he had no ambition whatever."
Yikes.
Elsewhere in this old book, which I picked up at a local thrift shop, there is an aged sheet of notebook paper, folded in half and tucked inside. On it are writ some most curious things:

"GRIEVENCES

1. extra time in after bell twice = 6 eggs on house 3 on car
__________________________
General {unintelligible}
2. homework during floats 3 eggs - air out of tires
3. 6
_______________________________________________________
English
31 min Thurs
1. doz.eg.
PAPER IN YARD"

This document isn't dated, unfortunately. It's probably decades old; the book itself was stamped by a local high school library, and I don't know how many school libraries are stocking Booth Tarkington anymore. But it appears that I've stumbled across an old hit list. My brother rightly points out how dated it is; today, a similar list would mention bullets instead of eggs. And now we also know, at least in that neighborhood at that time, the appropriate punishment for various crimes.

12/13/2004 Monday 7:24AM
A busy coupla weeks. I'll get to it.

This weekend wasn't very active. After a fairly brutal coupla weeks (or "busy" if you prefer), we weren't in the mood for very much. I had made reservations at a Melting Pot for Friday evening. But after crashing for a little bit, neither of us was much in the mood, so I cancelled them. Still hungry, though, so I ordered some pizza.
Saturday Mariana had to work, so we slept in until then. Didn't do much Saturday night. She beat my ass at a couple of GameCube games, and then both of us collapsed pretty much at the same time. We planned to go shopping Sunday morning before she had to work, but again, neither of us could really rouse ourselves to go out. Ended up just doing a quick lunch at a Sweet Tomatoes. Then I went to work and the weekend was done.

Prior to that was Thanksgiving. We went down to her family's in Venice for the actual Thursday. A pretty nice time - didn't have to get up too outrageously early, nor did we stay too outrageously late. And the time in-between was acceptable, even if I did feel like the outsider (which I was, of course). But her family was mostly accepting of me. The grandmother loved me, the aunt hated me, so it all balanced out quite nicely.
That's not exactly true. The aunt didn't really hate me, I don't think (I hope!). But we got into some political debates that I couldn't really extricate myself from. Purely as a funny story, the aunt began telling me this story about Mariana's little brother, who has followed his father in admiration for President Bush. So the aunt tells me how she called the house one day and the little brother answered. He asked her, "You like John Kerry??" She answered yes, she did. At this point the aunt tells me, parenthetically, that the boy likes President Bush. Instinctively, I said something like, well, good for him! And then the aunt paused, and said, "Well, not good to me, but..." Then I knew I had stepped in it. But she finished the story: she told him that yes, she liked Kerry. And he didn't say a word, just grunted and handed the phone to his father. It was intended as a funny story, and it was, and that's where I hoped it would lie. It didn't.
At some point later in the afternoon, that same aunt pulled me into Mariana's dad's office and pointed to a picture of President Bush on the wall. Asked me if I like him, with a tone of voice that indicated pretty clearly that she didn't and that I shouldn't. But, foolishly, I didn't back down.

12/04/2004 Saturday 9:24AM
Happy Two, my Babeness.

11/18/2004 Thursday 3:53 PM
I broke an AK-47 a couple of days ago.
Yeah, a real one.

And for the first time in over four months, this:

Where I'm at: Mariana's apartment
What I've been doing: Sleeping
What I'm doing: Catching up
What I'll soon be doing: Trying to wake her up without resorting to the measures she authorized
Of course, what I'd rather be doing: Going back to sleep
The song/lyric running through my mind: "Brand New Key," Melanie
What I'm wearing: Shorts

is not true.
Well, okay, the 'Going back to sleep' is still true. But that's just always.

11/01/2004 Monday 2:36 PM
Work.

Friday I went over to Mariana's after work. She had this cold thing going on, so while she dozed, I went out for some sushi. Got a couple of DVDs in case she regained consciousness (one light comedy, one dark supernatural drama). Came home. Ate sushi alone. Took care of her. Slept.
Saturday she worked all day. Ran errands at night after she got off. First we terrorized Walgreens, but ended up not buying anything. Went to Wal-Mart instead. Shopped. Ended up spending much more money than planned. Went to Wendy's afterward. (It was by now approximately 3am.) Got home, where I found that my Frostie was utterly melted. Disappointing. Ate anyway. Slept.
Sunday we did nothing. Watched horror movie stuff. Watched Big Ron get his ride pimped. Laughed. Had fun. Went to work Sunday night. Came home, ate, graded papers. Bed. Back to work. (See above.)

The executive chef here has given me permission to solicit some holiday recipes from the chef faculty. Actually, it was just a suggestion I had, and he gave me the ball and said to run with it.
That'll teach me to show some initiative.

10/28/2004 Thursday 2:55 PM
On Friday, October 22, Mariana and I heard the first Christmas carol of the year, playing in a mall department store.
And yet I didn't mind. Made me feel good, actually. Love's a funny thing.

And, with that in mind, I might as well admit that I am officially eager for the holidays - Halloween, Eid, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, cold weather, football, blankets, soup and chili, and television specials.

This is Ramadan, again. I haven't been posting my Ramadan quotations for the day the way I did last year (or two years ago?). Oh well.
Ramadan Mubarak.

On August 11 I made a post saying that the possibility of getting a hurricane looked pretty good ("promising" is what I said). Well, it promised, and it delivered. Three knockout blows.

8/23/2004 Monday 9:42 AM
The Generation Gap Smacks Me in the Face:
A headline on Netscape.com today says "'Uncle Jesse' Files for Divorce'." Of course, I immediately pictured Denver Pyle, from The Dukes of Hazzard. You know, Uncle Jesse. THE Uncle Jesse.
I clicked on the link, though, and discovered that the "Uncle Jesse" in the Netscape article refers to John Stamos's character in Full House. THAT Uncle Jess.
Whatever.
The only Uncle Jesse worth knowing about died in 1997. But, for whatever it's worth, John Stamos is getting a divorce, from that model-actress who has apparently outgrown him.

Mariana and I got some of our textbooks this past weekend. One of her books for her Education class is a book for elementary school kids. One of my books for my Literature class is a comic book.

8/11/2004 Wednesday 8:27 AM
I'm still suffering from a lingering cold that I've had for about two weeks now. I was mostly over it, but it came back with a vengeance this past weekend. It sucks.

This past Saturday Babeness and I travelled down to Sarasota and Venice to pick up her scholarship and visit with her family.
The scholarship luncheon was held at 11am at a very nice restaurant in Sarasota called Marina Jack. We got there in plenty of time - early, in fact, which is quite unusual for us - but had to wait for her folks to arrive, since they were insisting to pay for my lunch (hers was complimentary, of course), and the restaurant initially wouldn't let us enter the dining room until we had paid, or been paid for. So we paced around and back and forth. Finally, one of the little old ladies from, I dunno, the Sarasota Little Old Ladies' Guild or something, who had awarded Mariana the scholarship, introduced herself and ushered us into the dining room. A few minutes later her parents arrived anyway. It was a very pleasant lunch - chicken salad with a nice assortment of fresh fruit - and some rather predictable speeches from the scholarship recipients and presenters. I noticed, though, that I was one of only three males in the room. Mariana's father was another, and the child of another scholarship recipient was the third.

After that we drove around a bit, doing some minor sight-seeing, before meeting her family back at their house. From that point it was just lounging and relaxing. Her family prepared dinner later in the evening, and we left about 7:30pm for the trip back to Orlando (by which time we were both exhausted, since we'd only gotten about three hours of sleep Friday night anyway). It was a good little trip, though, and fairly uneventful.

The next day, Sunday, was another day at work.

The Executive Chef has just handed me a printout of the projected tracks of the two tropical storms that are threatening Florida right now. Go to the National Hurricane Center to see the projections, but obviously, this is a very temporary situation, so if you're reading this anytime after Saturday August 14th or so, don't bother. Anyway, the Chef said that Friday's classes might be cancelled, and that that determination would probably be made by today.
I've said before that we never get the good hurricanes. Maybe this year we'll have more luck. Certainly the projections look promising.

8/06/2004 Friday 8:57 AM
Overheard in class today: "I'm an insensitive asshole, and my chest hurts."

7/24/2004 Saturday 12:08 PM
Welcome to Florida! We hope you'll enjoy your stay here. We have a lovely state and a variety of beautiful scenery to make your visit a special one.

7/17/2004 Saturday 11:08 AM
I'm not going to sleep for the next couple of weeks. I just have too much work to do. I'll miss sleep, but it's gotta be done.

The ACF is having their national convention at the OCA this weekend. Since I have the largest classroom (or, really, a classroom which when the modular walls are taken down combines with others to form the largest available room on campus), I had to evacuate Friday. After working through several options, I decided to cancel yesterday's class in exchange for having stayed a little later each day Monday through Thursday. I'd love to go to some of the ACF demonstrations, either at the OCA or at the other facility that is hosting convention activities. But this is a brutal couple of weeks for the class I'm taking, and I'm just swamped with work right now, so I can't. I'm a little heartbroken to have to wait another year (hopefully, if I can keep the job!) to maybe go to the next convention.

7/04/2004 Sunday 9:41 PM
You know I must love this country - which I do - and the Fourth of July - which I do - if I am willing - which I am - to get absolutely sucked dry by mosquitoes - which I did - while standing in my backyard - which I did - to take pictures of the city's fireworks display out over the lake - which I did.
Unfortunately, none of them really turned out well. No matter. At least the mosquitoes were successful in their endeavours. So in lieu of a disappointing picture from this year, let's just revisit the surprisingly good picture I took last year.

Happy birthday, America. *clink*

7/04/2004 Sunday 10:43 AM
Last night before sleeping, Mariana and I debated the definition of "fish-fry." She ended up looking for a definition online, where she found one that said a fish-fry is "a cookout where fried fish is the main course." There didn't seem to be too much left to debate after that.
Don't tell ME we don't have a good time together.

And there had BETTER be some high-quality hush-puppies there, or Mum will have some splaining to do.

7/03/2004 Saturday 11:17 PM
I'm sorry, but I'm not recapping four months of non-bloggingness.
I work here, teaching Composition and French vocabulary - no, I don't speak French at all - each in seven-and-a-half-day blocks. I've been there since March. It's fun, they pay ridiculous amounts of money, and I eat free gourmet food practically every day. Only downside - aside from trying to teach a semester class in seven and a half days and teaching a language I don't speak - is the sheer repetitiveness of it: I give the same lecture every three weeks, tell the same jokes every three weeks, grade the same papers every three weeks, and eat the same free gourmet food every three weeks. None of which I mind too terribly much.

Mariana works somewhere else. She just started a few days ago. She likes it okay, but won't make it her life's work. It'll pay the bills and keep her buying the stuff she likes to buy, and that's all that counts.

I'm taking a miserably demanding class on Tuesday nights. I'm way behind and struggling to catch up. And if I don't catch up, it's real simple: I won't be eating free gourmet food anymore after December.

I won't be seeing Farenheit 9/11, either, since I don't want to put a buck into that sunuvabitch's pocket. That is real simple, too.

Today was the first day this summer where I swore that it's never rained harder, anywhere, than it did here. I know, I say that a couple of times every summer. Well, today was the first this summer.

Tomorrow there is a little cookout/fish-fry at my mum's house. Mariana and I are going; she still hasn't met the two other siblings.

This is my summer break vacation, technically. Didn't go anywhere significant, didn't accomplish anything significant, and spent the entire week with my Babeness. That's the way it should be.
But this is summer vacation. We get four weeks off each year, four weeks where there are no classes: one week in spring, one week in summer, and two weeks around the holidays. But we only get two weeks' vacation pay each year. So whichever two weeks we claim our vacation pay, we don't have to work. The other two weeks, though, that we don't take the vacation pay, we're technically supposed to be working. Remember, though, there are no classes during those two vacation weeks. So we teachers are supposed to go in to work...with no students to teach. None of us really knows what we're supposed to be doing. Researching, perhaps, or photocopying supplies for our next incoming class. I talked to the guys in charge, and they gave me a little wink-wink, nod-nod thing, and told me just to show up every day, make sure somebody saw me and saw that I was there, walk around a little bit, and that would be sufficient. So I did that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and that was it.

Overheard from Mariana (a few days ago):
You will feel the wrath of the three-cornered hat!

7/03/2004 Saturday 11:07 AM
There's always more where that came from.

3/13/2004 Saturday 11:07 AM
Another late FF:

1. What was the last song you heard?
That Britney Spears "Toxic" song.
2. What were the last two movies you saw?
A Beautiful Mind, and most of Sixteen Candles.
3. What were the last three things you purchased?
Late-night snacks at Wendy's, gas, and Lotto tickets.
4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
Drive down to Venice with Babeness; eat; drive back; make money.
5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
Babeness; my brother; Taylor; Ty; Tony.

3/05/2004 Friday 7:23 AM
Another late FF:

What was...
1. ...your first grade teacher's name?
Ms. Horton. I had already read the Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who. I had already decided that I didn't want to go to school and wouldn't like my teacher, so when I found out that my teacher was named Horton, I disgustedly snorted, "Good, she's an elephant." (I had already learnt to hate school and I hadn't even started yet. Omens galore.) My parents weren't too sympathetic and thought my comment was cute, and even more to my horror, they told Ms. Horton what I had said, right in front of me. I cringed. They laughed.
2. ...your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
Either the various Superfriends cartoons (the traditional Batman, Superman, etc. cartoon, whatever it was called), or the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour (or, again, whatever it was called).
3. ...the name of your very first best friend?
Timmy Adams. Lived two houses up. Son of my dad's best friend.
4. ...your favorite breakfast cereal?
Either CrunchBerry or Lucky Charms.
5. ...your favorite thing to do after school?
Play football with my friends.

Yesterday I wished Babeness a Happy 15. Today we're going to MegaCon.
No, there's no real segue there, except that Babeness is involved in both. If you want a recap of last year's MegaCon antics, go here. We are hoping to reap a bountiful, uh, bounty of Buffy and/or Angel stuff (for me) and Sailor Moon and/or Hello Kitty stuff, for her. And maybe see a porn star again.

A couple of weeks ago:

When was the last time you... 1. ...went to the doctor?
Don't remember. Years.
2. ...went to the dentist?
November-ish.
3. ...filled your gas tank?
Filled? About a week ago.
4. ...got enough sleep?
Early '90s.
5. ...backed up your computer?
Last night, when my installation of Netscape hiccupped and forgot who I was (again). Last time it happened, last month, it took me a couple of hours to reconstruct everything. This time, though, with a more experienced hand, it only took a few minutes.

2/17/2004 Tuesday 3:41 PM
A late FF:

1. Are you superstitious?
Not particularly, at least not to the extent that I believe in any supernatural explanations. I have rituals and habits, but not because I believe they have any real impact on future events.
2. What extremes have you heard of someone going to in the name of superstition?
The same ones everyone else has heard of - athletes who wear the same unwashed clothes during a winning streak, etc.
3. Believer or not, what's your favorite superstition?
Knocking four times whenever I drive through a yellow light, as long as I don't glimpse any of the red light afterwards. A girl I used to go out with many years ago taught me this. If you can successfully do this for three consecutive yellow lights, you'll get a date the next night. Or so went the little superstition. The caveats: they yellow lights must be consecutive, and not interrupted by any other lights or lit arrows, or by getting out of the car or turning the car off. And you can't glimpse any red at any of the three lights. If you do, it's over. You ARE allowed to speed up or slow down as necessary to catch the yellow light or get through it before you see the following red light.
Years later, I still do this, rote, without even thinking. And it's harder and rare than you'd think, trust me.
4. Do you believe in luck? If yes, do you have a lucky number/article of clothing/ritual?
See above. I guess my favourite number is 4, and I don't really know why, and I don't consider it "lucky." No other "lucky" items.
5. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?
Nope. Why should I? It's silly. I read horoscopes occasionally for fun, but not in the slightest for any sort of advice, insight, or direction. But speaking of horoscopes....

I've been in the job hunt, of course, with frustrating and occasionally embittering results. So yesterday (Monday), my Netscape.com horoscope said the following:

"This is not a day for forward progress. You’re not going anywhere, and you don’t care. There’s no pressure to move on when everybody is happy where he or she is. And if somebody feels restless, he or she can just get up and go without you. You’re rediscovering a state of lethargy or contemplation that you haven’t visited for ages. After a while, you might notice that the other people are starting to annoy you."
There were a couple of rather inconsequential sentences after that.
Though I know horoscopes are just random and meaningless, somehow they got that one right.

Here's the week before:

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
No clue. Possibly it's better described as "reckless." Maybe flying out to Kansas that one time. Maybe the night on the bench at UCF - or the day up in the library...
2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?
I can only answer this in terms of my significant other, since my mother and friend(s) don't really lecture me about such things. But Mariana doesn't want me to run with the bulls in Spain, even though I'd love to.
3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)
I'd say a 7. I have a feeling the folks who answer '10' are just trying to sound like those Generation X-y, SUV-commercial people who claim to rock-climb, hike on weekends, and "will try anything once!"
4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?
Mariana. Easy.
5. ... and what's the worst?
Un(der)employment.

Further back:

You have just won one million dollars:
1. Who do you call first?
Babeness.
2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
Probably the newest, specialest-edition Pontiac Trans-Am I can find, or if I can't find one quickly (since they're discontinued), a loaded-up full-size SUV, probably a Lincoln Navigator or Hummer or something.
3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
Paying off some loved-ones' bills.
4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
Difficult. Of course I'd like to, but when I've won a million dollars, giving my friends a token thousand bucks or so each seems kinda cheesy and patronizing.
5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
Of course. Probably mutual funds, at medium- or high-risk.

The week before (January 13), the FF questions had to do with my favourite things right then. I can't answer as of even a month ago, but I'll answer right now:

At this moment, what is your favorite...
1. ...song?
That bizarre Quizno's Subs commercial jingle, as sung by those horrible, twisted little hamster things. I love that commercial.
2. ...food?
Still lasagna.
3. ...tv show?
American Chopper
4. ...scent?
...oranges?
5. ...quote?
Nothing in particular.

I've already done the FFs for the previous few weeks. And before that...

1. List your five favorite beverages.
Mountain Dew, milk, Cherry Coke, regular Coke, and orange juice.
2. List your five favorite websites.
This one; Babeness's; Google; BoxRec.com; The Onion.
3. List your five favorite snack foods.
Guacamole and chips; M&Ms; (boycotted) Phish Food ice cream; popcorn; crunchy Cheetos.
4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
Monopoly; Trivial Pursuit; Risk; Chess; any kind of POKER.
5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
Galaga. Don't play too many.

1/26/2004 Monday 12:11 PM
I finally ate funnel cake, at EPCOT.
Babeness and I finally went this past Saturday. A good time was had by all.
Originally, of course, we planned to get there around 9am, when it mostly opens. In actuality, of course, we got there a little after 10am, after foofing around with breakfast, stopping to get a battery for the camera, and assorted other minor time-taking. We still managed a full day of fun-having, though. I just felt like I owed Mariana; she works so hard, all week, and we don't often get (or take) the opportunity for Big Fun, and instead we settle for Small Funs. Well, I wanted to finally give her some Big Fun, so we EPCOTted. I hadn't been there in years, and she'd never been.
Parking was fine, and we didn't have to walk too far to get into the park. The line wasn't too bad, either. It was a good start to a good day, and by the time it was over, we saw almost everything (that we wanted to see). Started with the little trip through Spaceship Earth, the "communications" ride. It's increasingly dated, of course, and the exhibits and animatronics are showing their age. I'm not sure, but I think they managed to go through the entire spiel about communication without ever using the word "internet." But the EPCOT page indicates that it's "Fun For Little Ones," so for them, I suppose it's still grand. And anyway, you can't go to EPCOT without going through Spaceship Earth, so it doesn't really matter. I still somehow can't get over the fact that the ride actually goes into the Spaceship Earth dome. It doesn't seem possible.
Frankly, I don't remember the exact order that we did everything. But I think from there we went into the national pavilions, one by one. Of course, she was eager to be let loose in the Japan pavilion, to wallow amongst the Hello Kitty. But we took them in order...whatever order they came in, and again, I don't remember. But they're all wonderful. I tend to poke around more than she does, through the souvenirs and imported goods in each pavilion, even when I have no intention of actually buying anything. One or the other of us tended to suddenly wander off without warning, me to some display of such-and-such or some overlook to take a picture, or her to another display or to the next store. She particularly liked the British pavilion, and was sorely tempted to buy a Beatles lunchbox, but she didn't.
Got our picture taken with Winnie the Pooh (by me) and Eeyore (by her).
I particularly like the Morocco pavilion - wonderful food, beautiful metal- and glass-work, lovely clothes. Bought a fez for either Tom or Joel (haven't decided). In the Italy pavilion (I think) some nice couple offered to take a picture of us together in front of some semi-nude statue. But when we got the camera back from her, we saw that she actually hadn't taken a picture of us at all. So we just took one ourselves.
After passing on various crepes (because they weren't quite fresh) and other assorted goodies, we finally decided to eat at the Japanese pavilion. Took us a few minutes to figure out where the actual restaurants were, though. I think it was the Yakitori House. Various tempura and a couple of small sushi rolls, with rice and miso soup. Very nice, but not spectacular.
From there we wandered through the rest of the pavilions, returning to some or others of them to decide what to buy for people or ourselves. Somewhere in there we also used the FastPass system (which I highly recommend!) to get into a couple of the exhibits and rides. I love aquariums, so we went into the Living Seas aquarium and related exhibits. Saw manatees and manatee parts. I also love gardening and growing, of course, so we went through the Living With the Land ride and saw the huge vegetables. That got me all excited like about spring, too. I didn't grow much this past season, so this season, I definitely want to restart the garden. Almost bought some passionfruit seeds, since I never can find any passionfruit vines to replace the ones that got kilt in the freeze.
At some point around this time, I went back to the Morocco pavilion to get some yummy hummus and pita.
Late in the afternoon, we finally got into the Mission: Space motion-ride. I had severe misgivings about it, since I had visions of that Central Florida Fair fiasco running through my mind. We interrogated the ride hostess for a few minutes before we went in. What clinched it was her telling us that it was only about four minutes; we figured, we can stand four minutes of anything. So we went in, listened to the little spiel, and finally it started. And it wasn't too bad. I wasn't really conscious of the fact that the little cart we were in was spinning, but we were told it was, so I was pretty glad about that. Most of the effect was in the visuals; you concentrate on what's basically a film in front of you that shows the implied visuals of a space launch, through the atmosphere, into the void of space, down to Mars, and through a hard, chaotic landing on the surface of Mars. Where the spinning of the capsule shows up, though, is in the palpable G-forces that it produces, that make your arms and legs alternately very light and very heavy. I didn't feel too woozy when we walked out, but just in case, we parked ourselves on a bench outside and relaxed for awhile while we reoriented ourselves. By then it was into night, and Mariana, who was wearing a mid-length skirt, was a bit cold.
We also knew we wanted to get a good seat near the ponds for the IllumiNations fireworks display that caps every evening. And that was where and when

I ate a funnel cake

with Mariana. It was impressive, I guess, but again, not overwhelming. The lasers were almost non-existent, and there were periods of nothing except the big globe slowly spinning around in the pond, which tended to slow down the momentum of the overall show. But by then we were well and truly exhausted, so we just took pics and watched and listened. The IllumiNations display ends the night, so we left afterwards.
When we got home, we staggered in and collapsed onto a bed. We still wanted to do some of her laundry, and we had wild ideas of making this or that as a snack before bed. But a few minutes later...it was Sunday morning.
I'm really glad we went. It was a lot of fun, I really love seeing my Babeness happy and I really love being a part of it.

She called me yesterday, though, and said that the little Hello Kitty figurine she'd bought was broken, so we'll have to return it. Besides the fez for Tom, I also bought one of those conical Chinese hats for Joel in the Chine pavilion (obviously), and a tiny ninja bobblehead for my brother (in the Japan pavilion), since he collects mostly sports-oriented bobbleheads. It occurs to me that I didn't really even get anything for myself.
But then I looked at the pictures we took of ourselves, and I realize that I did.

1/09/2004 Friday 10:25 AM
I'm off to work all day.
Mariana is in Tampa until sometime tomorrow. And it's cold.

And this...pretty boring:

What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .
1. ...today?
Coming home from work.
2. ...over the next week?
Applying for new jobs.
3. ...this year?
Getting a new job.
4. ...over the next five years?
Mariana graduating.
5. ...for the rest of your life?
Spending it with Mariana.

And this: 1. (a) thong OR (b) commando
Commando. But with the right clothes, of course. Rather, not with the wrong clothes.
2. (a) Jay OR (b) Dave
Dave. Easy. Jay is still a usurper. Plus, Dave is silly-funny, while Jay is hope-this-is-wry-enough funny, and Dave doesn't have to deal with the he's-not-Johnny factor.
3. (a) Kabalarians OR (b) Rajneeshi
Rajneeshis. Classic 60 Minutes bit.
4. (a) British Sci-fi OR (b) French comedy
British Sci-Fi. I guess.
5. (a) Kimchee OR (b) Rocky mountain oysters
Kimchee.
6. (a) Outer Limits OR (b) Twilight Zone
Zone. Too many Outer Limits just deal with aliens in one form or another, one scenario or another. The Zone had variety. And the creepy eyeball during the opening credits.
7. (a) Mad-TV OR (b) SNL
Neither. SNL shoulda been buried years ago, and Mad-TV is just folks who failed auditions with SNL.
8. (a) Pepper OR (b) Dew
Dew. Please.