Thursday, June 29, 2006
Arkansas, Arkansas, 'tis a name dear
I have a real post coming up chock full of books, vacations, and other great stuff.
Until then, GO ARKANSAS!!!!! See, we're not as backward there as you think we are!
I have a real post coming up chock full of books, vacations, and other great stuff.
Until then, GO ARKANSAS!!!!! See, we're not as backward there as you think we are!
Monday, June 26, 2006
No Whore Bitches Allowed
Well, our yard sale was a success! We made about $110 in cold hard cash. Take out the expenses (newspaper ad, sodas) and we made almost $80. Not bad for getting rid of crap we didn't want, and now we have less clutter! We didn't sell a lot of clothes, but that's understandable. We had a lot of sweaters and other winter clothes out there, and it was hotter than hell, so no one was thinking about buying some nice woolens. We did get rid of some kitchen stuff, shoes, bath stuff, decorative items, and other miscellaneous crap. We also had a great time hanging out with our neighbors during the two day sale.
We were too worn out to do much besides watching soccer, but we did manage to watch The Machinist, which freaked me out quite a bit. I enjoyed it though, and there were plenty of plot twists to keep us guessing.
Oh, on Friday night we did something fun! Victor's boss is on the board of directors at one of the local theater companies here, and he invited us (along with two other coworkers) to see a play. We had dinner beforehand at Tutto, an Italian restaurant in Uptown, and it was very good. Then we went to see Raw Vision, presented by Kitchen Dog Theater. It was really good. The actors all gave very energetic, powerful performances. The play centers around the exploitation of a mentally challenged (insane?) outsider artist, and it was quite funny and sad. The set was fantastic, especially considering we were in a small black box theater. Kitchen Dog is probably the most interesting of the Dallas theater companies I've researched, in that they present plays that fit my particular asthetic. I always meant to contact them to volunteer/work, but life and travel and weddings and such got in the way. I did leave my name on their sign-up sheet, and since Victor works for one of their board members, maybe something will turn up for me.
Well, our yard sale was a success! We made about $110 in cold hard cash. Take out the expenses (newspaper ad, sodas) and we made almost $80. Not bad for getting rid of crap we didn't want, and now we have less clutter! We didn't sell a lot of clothes, but that's understandable. We had a lot of sweaters and other winter clothes out there, and it was hotter than hell, so no one was thinking about buying some nice woolens. We did get rid of some kitchen stuff, shoes, bath stuff, decorative items, and other miscellaneous crap. We also had a great time hanging out with our neighbors during the two day sale.
We were too worn out to do much besides watching soccer, but we did manage to watch The Machinist, which freaked me out quite a bit. I enjoyed it though, and there were plenty of plot twists to keep us guessing.
Oh, on Friday night we did something fun! Victor's boss is on the board of directors at one of the local theater companies here, and he invited us (along with two other coworkers) to see a play. We had dinner beforehand at Tutto, an Italian restaurant in Uptown, and it was very good. Then we went to see Raw Vision, presented by Kitchen Dog Theater. It was really good. The actors all gave very energetic, powerful performances. The play centers around the exploitation of a mentally challenged (insane?) outsider artist, and it was quite funny and sad. The set was fantastic, especially considering we were in a small black box theater. Kitchen Dog is probably the most interesting of the Dallas theater companies I've researched, in that they present plays that fit my particular asthetic. I always meant to contact them to volunteer/work, but life and travel and weddings and such got in the way. I did leave my name on their sign-up sheet, and since Victor works for one of their board members, maybe something will turn up for me.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Why, hello! How are you?
Yesterday, Victor was pestering me about not posting. I haven't really had a chance to post from work, and a little thing called the FIFA World Cup has been taking up most of my free time. For those of you Americans that aren't married to Victor, this is the world's biggest sporting event, where countries from around the globe come together to compete in a game called soccer (or football). The US even has a team competing this year.
I know, I know... most people at least know what the World Cup is, and I sometimes get mad about the jokes that Americans don't care about soccer, but the fact of the matter is that most people really don't give a hoot. Our friend Dylan, on the other hand, has been in Germany for a week and a half, going to the US games. Victor had a ticket to tomorrow's US vs. Ghana game, but he wasn't able to get out on a flight (see: recent whiny posts about traveling non-rev). I hope Dylan is able to sell the extra ticket.
We have been DVRing all of the games during the week and watching them when we get home. We were in Dallas for the last two weekends and watched several games at the Trinity Hall Pub. It's fun to watch with other diehard fans. It was packed for the US game last Saturday!
In other news...
I work about 20 miles north of Dallas in Plano. As I was driving home today, just as the Dallas skyline was coming into view, I noticed some smoke over the city. I was on the phone to Victor at the time, and I said "Hey, it looks like Dallas is on fire. Hope it's not our apartment." About 20 minutes later, as I was exiting the expressway, I noticed the smoke off to my left... kind of in our neighborhood. I called him again. "You know that fire I was telling you about? It looks like it's right by our house! Maybe in the M Streets area." We talked a little about how we hoped it wasn't our place and hung up. I noticed several news helicopters in the air and started to get worried. The closer I got to my house, the closer the fire got.
Eventually I took a shortcut heading toward the smoke and came up to Greenville Ave. For those of you not from Dallas, Lower Greenville is a long stretch of Greenville Avenue lined with shops, restaurants, and bars, and we live right around the corner from the last stretch of it. Well anyway, as I came up to Greenville, I saw the police. Then I saw the fire trucks. There must have been 8 or 10. The entire street was closed off, so I crossed and drove parallel to Greenville until I could see what was happening. As the Dallas Morning News reports, almost an entire block of Greenville was on fire. The old Arcadia theater, plus two restaurants, a bar, a condom shop (yes, we have those), and probably some other businesses were utterly destroyed. I'm pretty sure the old theater was empty, but the building was historic and pretty. It's pretty sad that everything was destroyed like this, but it sounds like all of the people there got out in time.
In other other news, my parents arrive tomorrow night for a one-night stay so that my dad can visit a back doctor here (he has a really bad back), and Saturday we are having a garage sale with one of our downstairs neighbors. So if any of you Dallas people want to come to a garage sale, email me or otherwise get in touch with me for more info!
Yesterday, Victor was pestering me about not posting. I haven't really had a chance to post from work, and a little thing called the FIFA World Cup has been taking up most of my free time. For those of you Americans that aren't married to Victor, this is the world's biggest sporting event, where countries from around the globe come together to compete in a game called soccer (or football). The US even has a team competing this year.
I know, I know... most people at least know what the World Cup is, and I sometimes get mad about the jokes that Americans don't care about soccer, but the fact of the matter is that most people really don't give a hoot. Our friend Dylan, on the other hand, has been in Germany for a week and a half, going to the US games. Victor had a ticket to tomorrow's US vs. Ghana game, but he wasn't able to get out on a flight (see: recent whiny posts about traveling non-rev). I hope Dylan is able to sell the extra ticket.
We have been DVRing all of the games during the week and watching them when we get home. We were in Dallas for the last two weekends and watched several games at the Trinity Hall Pub. It's fun to watch with other diehard fans. It was packed for the US game last Saturday!
In other news...
I work about 20 miles north of Dallas in Plano. As I was driving home today, just as the Dallas skyline was coming into view, I noticed some smoke over the city. I was on the phone to Victor at the time, and I said "Hey, it looks like Dallas is on fire. Hope it's not our apartment." About 20 minutes later, as I was exiting the expressway, I noticed the smoke off to my left... kind of in our neighborhood. I called him again. "You know that fire I was telling you about? It looks like it's right by our house! Maybe in the M Streets area." We talked a little about how we hoped it wasn't our place and hung up. I noticed several news helicopters in the air and started to get worried. The closer I got to my house, the closer the fire got.
Eventually I took a shortcut heading toward the smoke and came up to Greenville Ave. For those of you not from Dallas, Lower Greenville is a long stretch of Greenville Avenue lined with shops, restaurants, and bars, and we live right around the corner from the last stretch of it. Well anyway, as I came up to Greenville, I saw the police. Then I saw the fire trucks. There must have been 8 or 10. The entire street was closed off, so I crossed and drove parallel to Greenville until I could see what was happening. As the Dallas Morning News reports, almost an entire block of Greenville was on fire. The old Arcadia theater, plus two restaurants, a bar, a condom shop (yes, we have those), and probably some other businesses were utterly destroyed. I'm pretty sure the old theater was empty, but the building was historic and pretty. It's pretty sad that everything was destroyed like this, but it sounds like all of the people there got out in time.
In other other news, my parents arrive tomorrow night for a one-night stay so that my dad can visit a back doctor here (he has a really bad back), and Saturday we are having a garage sale with one of our downstairs neighbors. So if any of you Dallas people want to come to a garage sale, email me or otherwise get in touch with me for more info!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Two reasons I love my job right now
1. Yesterday, we stayed about 20 minutes late because the New Kids on the Block sing-a-long/dance-a-long we were having morphed into a Boyz II Men sing-a-long. None of us wanted it to end, but we finally pulled ourselves away, got in our cars, and went home.
Tonight we are being treated to a free meal at Texas de Brazil. Yum! I have a feeling none of us will want it to end, but we will finally pull ourselves away, get in our cars, and go home.
1. Yesterday, we stayed about 20 minutes late because the New Kids on the Block sing-a-long/dance-a-long we were having morphed into a Boyz II Men sing-a-long. None of us wanted it to end, but we finally pulled ourselves away, got in our cars, and went home.
Tonight we are being treated to a free meal at Texas de Brazil. Yum! I have a feeling none of us will want it to end, but we will finally pull ourselves away, get in our cars, and go home.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Stranger in a strange land
I got a phone call yesterday from my friend George, who lives in Austin. He was wondering what we were doing this weekend, because he and a coworker were coming up here to look at art and buildings (they're architect types). Victor and I decided to stay home and hang out with them. I think there are plans to visit the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth and perhaps The Modern as well. We have been to the Kimbell once before, with Kurt and Meredith, but a lot of it was closed that day. The guys also want to hit the Nasher Sculpture Center here in Dallas. We haven't seen it yet. I'm not sure what else they want to do. There are plenty of famous buildings here in the Big D, so they may want to take a look at some of those too. I found out from reading Ryan's blog that there is a building by a famous Mexican architect right here on my street, which is pretty cool. There's also some sort of new arcitecture exhibit going on at the NorthPark Center, which happens to also be my favorite mall, so it would benefit everyone if we went there!
Our place is still pretty clean from Diana's visit a couple of weeks ago, but I'm up early to straighten up a bit. Ostensibly. In reality, I'm reading websites and writing on my own. Such is life!
I got a phone call yesterday from my friend George, who lives in Austin. He was wondering what we were doing this weekend, because he and a coworker were coming up here to look at art and buildings (they're architect types). Victor and I decided to stay home and hang out with them. I think there are plans to visit the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth and perhaps The Modern as well. We have been to the Kimbell once before, with Kurt and Meredith, but a lot of it was closed that day. The guys also want to hit the Nasher Sculpture Center here in Dallas. We haven't seen it yet. I'm not sure what else they want to do. There are plenty of famous buildings here in the Big D, so they may want to take a look at some of those too. I found out from reading Ryan's blog that there is a building by a famous Mexican architect right here on my street, which is pretty cool. There's also some sort of new arcitecture exhibit going on at the NorthPark Center, which happens to also be my favorite mall, so it would benefit everyone if we went there!
Our place is still pretty clean from Diana's visit a couple of weeks ago, but I'm up early to straighten up a bit. Ostensibly. In reality, I'm reading websites and writing on my own. Such is life!
