July 29, 2010 by kim.

I’ve got a number of posts to write, but I need to gather my thoughts. In the meantime, here’s a picture I took of a chipmunk:

CUTE!

Posted in Animals | No Comments »

July 26, 2010 by kim.

Matilda does not like me to play the piano. I’m not entirely sure why, as I am playing a digital piano and most times have my headphones plugged in. Meaning, she can’t hear what I’m playing and how good (or bad) it really is.

Why is this?

All she does when I start to play, is to sit nearby, squeaking out little meows, pleading (I’m assuming) for me to stop. If she is not successful, she will just disappear under the bed until I come by and let her know that I am, in fact, finished.

Is she just looking for attention? Does she want to play? I know the loud, guttural sound she makes when she wants to play, and that’s not what I’m hearing. Is she trying to sing? Does she want me to play out loud?

Do I spend a little too much time talking to the cat?

Meow!

Posted in Animals | No Comments »

July 25, 2010 by kim.

We had a pretty nasty storm here the other night. It wasn’t as bad as in the Midwest the past few weeks with all the flooding and such, but it was still pretty scary. We were watching the lightning with moderate interest, and then the sky got very dark as it often does during a storm. The wind picked up, the clouds looked brown, and the lightning began. I thought it was just heat lightning at first, but then the thunder and rain came in and we decided it was something a bit more.

Sitting on the bed, we were able to watch out of our huge sliding doors at the crazy lightning. It was so bright! I had never seen it like that. I had turned to talk to Chris (Matilda was already under the bed) when I saw an orange flash out of the corner of my eye and heard a loud ‘CRRRRACK’. We both jumped off the bed shouting a common expletive (especially since Chris actually saw the lightning bolt hit), and saw that something had actually caught on fire!

Trees blocked our field of vision, but I was able to take some grainy footage with my little camera. It was dark out, but you can see the glow:

We think it might have been something electrical, as it didn’t seem to be a steady, roaring fire. Just one that waxed and waned for the next hour or so.

Still – just a little too close for comfort!

Posted in Nature | No Comments »

July 22, 2010 by kim.

Went to Starbucks and ordered an iced tall decaf mocha with whip. I was asked my name so the barista could write it on the cup. I said ‘KIM’. She heard:

Close.

Posted in Food, Observation, Annoyance | No Comments »

July 18, 2010 by kim.

This is one of the amazing things you can see in New York City:

These two creatures are one of four in a group called the Xylopholks. According to their website, all are well-schooled in music and play different venues around the city to entertain us human folk.

The clip I provided doesn’t really do them justice (I was only using my camera video recorder), so check out their website (www.xylopholks.com) and see how wonderful they really are!

Posted in Video, Fun, Entertainment, Animals | No Comments »

July 11, 2010 by kim.

Chris and I were visiting his family in Fredrick, MD over the 4th of July, and we decided to take a side trip to Gettysburg, PA. I had never been to Gettysburg before and this was a fantastic time to go, since the battle took place from July 1-3 in 1863 and how neat to be in such a historic spot right around the time it happened all those years ago and it was RIGHT THERE, so we went.

We opted to do an audio tour instead of walking around to different battle sites, only because it was in the upper 90s and we thought it would be a shame to see one monument and get heatstroke, thus putting a damper on the whole vacation. We ended up buying a CD from what we thought was the official visitors center, only to find out at the end of the tour that we had entered Gettysburg from a back way and missed the MAIN visitors center which probably had an audio tour CD that didn’t sound like it was from the early 50s. It almost sounded like one of those filmstrips from grade school minus the beep to tell you to change to the next slide. Instead we would hear, “drive left past the stop sign and continue on to the next monument. You should be driving at 15 miles per hour so that what I say matches up with what you see. If you haven’t gotten there yet, turn me off, and turn me on again when you arrive. Then, pull over to the side, and I will tell you more about this monument.”

Weird.

We stopped at many monuments and took many pictures, but we moved quickly so we wouldn’t melt. Then, we came upon Longstreet Tower, named after General James Longstreet. Naturally, we wanted to climb this behemoth, so we tore ourselves from the air conditioned car and began our ascent.

After the first set of stairs, I was already winded. I couldn’t believe it! All the walking I do and one set of stairs almost does me in? Well, I wasn’t going to let that happen. I was determined to get to the top, and get to the top, I did. All 120 steps. Then I sat down for a while to catch my breath. When I finally recovered, I took a couple of pictures.

This is the East View:

Isn’t it pretty?

This is the South View:

Well, the South View sign, anyway, and the parking lot, of course.

Here is a view looking down:

Both interesting and a bit freaky, no?

Finally, the tower itself:

Tall, isn’t it?

What – did you really think I was going to show you monuments and things of that sort? I’m showing you things that people don’t get to see much of. Parking lots, signs, large towers …

Okay, okay. You win. Here’s a monument that I found rather interesting:

No political statements here – I just like the statue.

Isn’t history fun?

Posted in Fun, Holiday, Vacation | No Comments »

July 7, 2010 by kim.

Apparently, our little town doesn’t take into consideration that people taller than 5 feet actually walk on the sidewalks. Take this sign, for instance:

Looks like a normal sized sign of normal height, but not when I walk up to it:

Sure, I could walk on the other side of the street and avoid getting smacked in the face all together, but what fun would that be?

Posted in Observation | No Comments »

July 2, 2010 by kim.

HAIRCUTS

This update comes from the post I put up a mere week and a half ago. By now, everyone should know that I hate having my hair cut, right? Right. Well, I needed to have it cut because I couldn’t do a thing with it and I was tired of the dead hairs falling off of my head and into our dinner (that happens when you have long, unmaintained hair, I guess). I decided to have it cut in Manhattan this time, to avoid a repeat of the last experience. I went into the salon I had planned to visit, and was told there would be a 15 minute wait. I said that was fine and looked around for a place to sit. It was a tiny place and there really was nowhere to sit comfortably. The girl at the desk told me she’d see me at 11:30 and I took that as a cue that I should just go out and walk around until my time arrived. So, I did.

While wandering, I wondered if I could find someplace else to have my hair cut. I really wasn’t thrilled with the first salon, because it put out the vibe of, “We are so much cooler than you are, wearing your Old Navy t-shirt, Target shorts, and shoes from who-knows-where along with your grandma purse and backpack …”. Or, maybe I’m just paranoid.

As I was getting close to the salon again, I happened upon a place that looked a lot nicer and friendlier. I went in, asked how much a cut was, and had it done. The woman was a really nice Russian lady, who took one look at the picture I brought and proceeded to cut. She did a good job, and then we discussed all the gray hairs I have. I mentioned that I was told by ANOTHER salon (in Chicago) that I should have partial highlights to cover the grey. She agreed, and I decided to go ahead with it:

I don’t look too happy, do I? That’s just the way I look when stylists are messing with my hair.

When she finished, she had me look at it and then she blew it dry and styled it. For whatever reason, she curled it under instead of away from my face. I don’t know why. I think I’m not meant to have it that way, I guess. When I left the salon, I thought it looked a little lighter than I wanted, but I knew I had to wait until I got home to make my judgement.

Not happy.

I had Chris take a picture of me a couple of days later when I calmed down and stopped threatening to shave my head:

Looking at it now, it doesn’t look so bad, but it is lighter than I would have liked, and it doesn’t feather out at all! It just sort of pops out every which way. Chris says that’s the style nowadays, though. I just don’t get it. My hair has a mind of its own.

C’est la vie!

P.S. - update to this update - I kind of like it now that it has grown out a bit!

Posted in Observation, Annoyance | 1 Comment »

July 2, 2010 by kim.

CRACKER JACKS

Remember when I told you all about Cracker Jacks and how their prizes totally suck nowadays? Well, I had bought a 3-pack and when I posted in May, I had only eaten one box. Since then, I’ve polished off the other two, and here are the “prizes” that were inside:

Wow. Clever.

The final prize was a huge favorite of kids everywhere:

A pencil topper.

Again.

Lame.

Posted in Food, Annoyance | No Comments »

July 2, 2010 by kim.

How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation

Simone Elkeles (the author of the aforementioned book), submitted Chris’s video for her book How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation to the ForeWord Reviews Book Trailer Contest, and it WON!

Here is a blurb about it:

You can actually view the video if you click the link at the top of this post.

GREAT JOB CHRIS!

Posted in Video, Entertainment, Celebrate | No Comments »