Our Recycling Program: A Smashing Success!!!

I'm so proud of the employees where I work. A few weeks ago, I noticed that there were plenty of recyclable items being thrown away in the trash in our break room, which prompted me to post a few signs pointing out that recyclable items should go in, well, the recycling containers that are about a foot away from the trash. I even used pictures of Terry Tate as motivators. I didn't think it was working very well because every now and then I'd still see a tin container or plastic cup in the trash; however, this morning's discovery has convinced me that indeed, there are some *very* dedicated recyclers in my office:











Ok, this obviously leads me to several questions. First, is someone really drinking vodka and making lemon drops at work? And second, why was I not invited to the party???

March Madness - that's Basketball, Right?

Okay, so I don't know sports. At. All. When my supervisor invited me to participate in the NCAA March Madness team pool, I had little idea what he was talking about. I figured it was probably basketball-related, but really, I needed some help with this. I asked a coworker to please explain: what is a bracket? What are the numbers next to each team? This is the game with the bouncing orange ball, yes? Greg was pretty patient with my questions, thankfully, and started to explain numerous ways of picking teams - you can go with the random fill, or use the formula that takes into account past statistics, or you can base it on what other brackets people have filled out, or even check out Vegas odds. In my mind though, these things are much too complicated and will probably have little to do with who actually wins, so I've decided to go with my own method: pitted against one another, which team mascot would win?

I know this isn't a terribly novel approach, but I don't think my picks were ultimately that bad. Let's look at the results: Ohio State is clearly going to win the Midwest region because how can a buckeye lose? It's a friggin' nut. Those things are hard. If you chomp on them they will break your teeth, and I'll bet that a cowboy or aggie or running rebel being pelted with a load of buckeyes would turn tail and run. Especially the running rebel (what a dumb mascot in the first place! If you're a rebel, you're not going to run, you're going to stand your ground and fight). Ok, next, the Kansas State wildcats are going to take the West region because they are cats, and wild, so obviously they are the best. Yes, I know that there are panthers, cougars, and catamounts in this region, but the way I figure, the term "wildcat" includes all of these critters, and then-some. So easily, a pack of cats including lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats, lynx, and snow leopards is going to trounce any single predatory cat. So nice try, Pittsburgh, BYU, and Vermont - you can suck it! The Kentucky wildcats will dominate the East region based on the exact same logic, beating not one, but three teams of tigers (come on Clemson, Missouri, and Tennessee State - can we be a little more creative???). Finally, I predict that Purdue will win the South region because they are the boilermakers, and their mascot is a locomotive. And we know that a locomotive will completely demolish anything in its path, including spiders, blue devils, and the fighting Irish. Right?

So when you line up buckeyes vs. wildcats, I chose the Kansas State Wildcats to win (I know it goes a little against my original logic, but I'm a cat person), and between the boilermakers vs. Kentucky Wildcats, the locomotive has it. And overall, Purdue has got to be victorious. I know it's sad, but what cat is going to be able to stand up against a locomotive? And do you remember the Soul Train train? That train was funky. Another reason for victory - power and funk.

Wow, I guess those Maryland Terrapins never really had a chance! So sad...but that's what you get when you pick a wimpy team mascot.

Name that Mystery Ingredient!

You might recall that in my previous post I mentioned we ate Sunday brunch at Joe's Cellar Diner. Which is suspicious right away, since the diner is not in a cellar. It's on the first floor of a corner building, well above-ground. So I'm not sure what the cellar refers to.

Unless, of course, it pertains to the storage of the main ingredient they use in their gravy. I ordered a side of it to go with my biscuit. It was very jiggly (like Jell-O), but instead of tasting fruity, it was savory. Remember that scene in "Better Off Dead" where John Cusack is sitting at the dinner table and his mom scoops up a blob of green goo and plops it onto his plate, then upon poking it with a fork, it slides off the plate all on its own as if it was off to destroy all in its path? It was kinda like that. Only less green and more peppery.

Look, it held up a spoon all on its own. My guess is that the mystery ingredient is plaster-of-paris. So now it's interactive-blogging-time: what's your guess? Submit your best speculation in a comment!

The Big Three-Six!

Well, I know that turning 36 is a big deal for most people...it's such a benchmark in one's life...so when my friend Cecily from Denver wanted to come out for a visit over my birthday weekend I said "woo hoo! Let's do it!". And in fact, it was nice to see not just Cecily, but my friend Andrew from San Diego, and Chris (of course). It was an action-packed weekend, which I will attempt to briefly (or not so briefly, it's all relative) fill you in on here.

Thursday morning (Feb. 25th, my birthday), Chris presented me with a very nice bottle of wine, two gorgeous hand-blown wine glasses, and a fabulous orange Jersey Shore towel (GTL, that's what happens at the Jersey Shore, baby) (update: a week later he also gave me a purple/magenta dance top that I wanted - so thoughtful!). I had to go to work that day, which was also incredibly awesome (heh heh heh, rolling eyes now), but after work I met Chris at Melt on 21st right by my house for happy hour. Tasty tots and falafel sliders...yum! But that was just an appetizer really - we swung by the airport and picked up Cecily, whom I hadn't seen since our adventure in the Chiricauhuas, Thanksgiving 2008 (check out pictures here). Of course, Cecily looked exactly the same as always. Chris researched a few dinner places and we ended up at Siam Society - tasty noodles and hand-ground curry all around. When we got back to my place Chris revealed that he had purchased an angel food cake from - wait for it - a bakery. No cheesy grocery store cake for me! It was soooo good - it had a very light buttercream frosting with raspberry glaze over it, and it even said Happy Birthday Marci on it! What a sweetheart Chris is...awww...









I decided to take Friday off so that Cecily and I could try to find trouble exploring the fine city of Portland. We hopped on the streetcar right outside my apartment, which we rode to Powell's Books. I subsequently spent way too much money there, but then enjoyed some yummy pizza at Rocco's for lunch. We then got back on the streetcar and rode it down to the aerial tram, which we rode all the way to the top of the hill - even though it was kind of rainy out, the view was still amazing. We rode the tram back down, got on the streetcar again, then looped around and did some shopping at Buffalo Exchange (start: the Great Fedora Quest). We eventually did the entire streetcar circuit, ending up back at my place mid-afternoon.

Chris picked us up and we drove back downtown where we met up with my friend Andrew, who I used to work with in San Diego. He was in town for a conference so it was good to see him; the four of us walked to Henry's Tavern for dinner and a sampling of their amazing beer menu (over 100 taps!).

One of our prime objectives for Saturday was to find a fedora for Chris to wear that evening. We decided to hit a thrift store on Mississippi Avenue before my dance class, but alas - they were closed until noon. WTF??? Closed until noon on a Saturday? We waited at Fresh Pot in hopes of a surprise early opening, but that did not happen, so I outfitted Cecily in some bellydance garb and dragged her to my Beginning Neo-Tribal Bellydance 2 class. I think she may have been a bit nervous about it at first, but she has a strong dance background (ballet, tap, swing) so I knew she would have no problem...in fact, I envied her belly-roll skills! I just have belly rolls, no skills. But we had a good time there, nonetheless.

After class we met Chris on Hawthorne for some thrift store shopping. Cecily bought a dress for the evening, but even after scouring 3 stores, we couldn't come up with a fedora. We did, however, eat a slllooooowwww lunch at Por Que No which was quite delish (albeit a little stressful since I had to scarf as soon as the food arrived so I wouldn't get a parking ticket).

Cecily and I left Chris to come up with a fedora (and other outfit components) on his own, and later that afternoon, my brother Paul, Anne, and Adelaide came for a visit to my apartment. That kid sure is growing fast...and Abbey knows it (or as Adelaide calls her, "Dabby"). Clearly, the biggest draw for her in coming to my place is Dabby and the choo choo (aka the streetcar that runs down my street every 15 minutes).

The weekend highlight for me was definitely Saturday evening. I've alluded to us getting prepped for the night...and for good reason...I purchased tickets for me, Cecily, and Chris to go see The Royal Tease, a burlesque show at the Bossanova Ballroom on Burnside. We had reserved seating with dinner, so we decided to get all dressed up for the event. And as The Baroness says, "any occasion to dress is an occasion to over-dress". Following that advice, I went over the top, wearing a flashy red cocktail dress, short black wig, and very high heels. Cecily looked smashing in her blue dress, and Chris rocked it with a fedora he purchased at a non-thrift store - it was a combination of leather and striped material - an excellent choice!

The performance was pretty fabulous, with lots of tassels, pasties, T, and of course, A. I think my favorite performers were Charlotte Treuse (amazing tattoos), and Inga Ingenue, who did a really cool toy doll routine and an incredible performance with two giant pink feather fans. The only bummer of the night was that we were supposed to get dessert with our dinner (red velvet cake and cinnamon gelato), but that part of the meal never showed up. And my vegetarian polenta was kinda barfy too, but Chris shared his pork loin and yams so it was all good.

The following day was the last of Cecily's visit, as she had to hop on a plane first thing Monday morning to return to Denver. We enjoyed a nice(?) brunch at Joe's Cellar diner (mmm...egg yolk!), the ambiance of which was moodily enhanced by a non-stop musical marathon exclusively featuring Queen and Led Zeppelin. Chris then drove us via the Columbia River Scenic Highway to Crown Point State Park where we stopped at the Vista House, then to Multnomah Falls. It was a gorgeous day so there were plenty of people there, but it gave us excellent photo opportunities. We ended up back at Chris's house for dinner where he cooked up a delicious meal of home-made crab-cakes and put us up for the night (he lives closer to the airport than me). What a sweetheart!

I'm glad I have such good friends, and that they made my 36th birthday one to remember. If you want to see more pictures, there's a photo album slide show to the right, or you can click here. Thanks for hanging in there and reading this not-quite-so-brief blog entry!