Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

I’ve been spending a lot of time lurking on the DISboards while planning an upcoming trip to Disney World. Lurking, not posting much. Because it’s really rather crazy over there. There’s some good advice interspersed with massive flame wars (guaranteed hot spots: scooters and smoking). Threads can suddenly go south with no warning. And earlier today I was reading one over-dramatized “I have a secret” thread asking for support for some vague thing but you had to message the original poster to find out more information. Towards the end of the thread people mentioned that the original poster was no longer on the forum, so I did a little Googling to find out why. And I came across this blog post.

Now I’ve seen my share of board drama, but wow. 150 people banned in a week! That’s impressive. And I thought Chowhound’s thread zapping was bad.

So far I haven’t been able to locate a well-trafficked, informative Disney forum that’s not either filled with sweetness, light, and flamewars or filled with bile. Stupid Guest Tricks comes closest of the ones I’ve visited so far, but it’s mainly for Disney employees and some of the stuff posted over there might just spoil the magic (no, I don’t want to know where the cast members hook up, thanks).

It’ll be interesting to see if my account gets banned for making this blog post. 😉

Everybody and their dog blogged about the Manhattan ARG-house. Now chief Lost/Alias/Cloverfield dude J.J. Abrams is going to turn it into a movie.

Is the over-abundance of online reviews taking the joy out of exploring and trying new things?

Can’t remember the last time I just stopped at a place because it looked interesting. Now I have to google it first and read the top and bottom reviews and see if it’s worth it. And I’ve been some places people gave 5 star reviews to that sucked moose wang, and some places that people hated that I loved.

Maybe someday I’ll just go on a vacation and not research anything ahead of time and be, like, spontaneous and stuff. I can quit researching anytime I want. Yep.

Just not this year.

Did so many things today and I’m exhausted.

1. Woke up early and drove to San Antonio.

2. Dropped off my Fiesta dress at the cleaner’s to get cleaned and boxed up. It’s been sitting on a chair in my bedroom for years, and it’s time to put it away.

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This is a picture of the train. It and the dress are heavily hand-beaded velvet and weigh a total of about 50 pounds. Just the thing to throw on and run to the store for milk.

3. Stopped at El Milagrito for breakfast. I could say it was sublime, but that would be cheapening the experience. I do so miss San Antonio Tex-Mex.

4. Went to Bass Pro and took a CHL renewal course.

5. Since we were in the neighborhood, ran by the cemetery and paid respects to grandparents, great-grandparents, great-uncles, cousins, and so on.

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This is the back of my great-grandmother’s original memorial marker. She died at 29 years old just a few days after the birth of my grandmother, possibly from diabetes. She had a 23″ waist, but had gone blind from her illness. On either side of that stone lie my grandparents and my grandmother’s parents.

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It’s a very peaceful and pretty cemetery. I like places where the monuments aren’t flush to the ground.

6. Drove back into town to have supper at Chris Madrid’s. Sadly, I think it’s slipping. The bun, cheese, and vegetables are all good, but the patty was dull and lifeless. The fries were soggy, too. What a disappointment, especially after I talked the place up to the hub for so long.

7. Stopped at the outlet mall to see if I could find a new purse. All I want is a fracking small-medium purse that has a shoulder strap. Is that so wrong? Fashion says I mayn’t buy one this season, because they’re out of style. I say “Bah.”

8. Stopped at yet another furniture store to find a new coffee table to replace the one that met with the ass-related Rock Band accident (Hub put his hiney through the glass during some vigorous drumming… no injuries to anything but the table). This is the umpteenth place we’ve looked, and we finally found one we liked. Managed to fit it in the back of the Prius. Wow.

All this on three hours of sleep! I’m ready for a nap, then bed.

Hub swears he’s not making this up.

On a long drive with the kids the other day, he heard them playing “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Ruby Nose.” The goal was to reach across the backseat and grab their sister’s nose.

I guess with enough grabbing, the nose becomes ruby-colored?

Kids are so weird. I say that because deep down inside, I secretly want to play, too.

When at first you wind the clock and set the pendulum to swinging, the noise of the tick-tocking seems overwhelmingly loud. Perhaps it’s all you can focus on for a while, this alien clacking. Yet, over time, it fades into the background and becomes part of the heartbeat of the world of the house, along with the hot water heater and the ice maker and the low growl when the water runs through the pipes to the sprinkler system.

When the clock stops, the silence is immense.

For dinner tonight we had pork tenderloin stuffed with prosciutto and breadcrumbs, smashed potatoes, and sauteed green beans.

When hub sliced the tenderloin, I had to laugh. It had to be the most phallic food I’ve ever seen! They make a cream for that! Georgia O’Keefe would be proud!

It took me a while to stop laughing. Tasted good, though.

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