Bowel Cleanse 2007

Just the thing to celebrate the upcoming holiday season!

I get to drink a gallon of vile tasting cherry stool softener.

Mmm mmm mmm!

Can't wait to get started!

I have to drink it until the poo is clear.

Oh well.

So, tonight I will be heading down to Chicago for my surgery on Thursday and hopefully will be able to post again in a couple of weeks (don't worry, no pictures). But I will probably be pretty drugged up, so my post might not be too intelligible.

Talk to you later!

Radioactive

I just got back from my CAT scan and they made me drink a bunch of nasty tasting stuff until I barfed up some, then had to drink some more to replace the barfed up part. Ick.

Then I was injected with the contrast dye.

When I was at Beloit I found out by a totally freak paralysis incident that I was allergic to CT dye. So this time I was prepared with this knowledge to combat the evil hives that resulted afterward. I took the Prednisone and the Q-Dryl to prevent the itchy bumps. But, alas, I still have hives, not as bad as before, but still there. AND I am also working on my hopefully last stomach full of vomit from the liquid nastiness they had me chug.

Will write more about details later, but right now, one more trip to the toilet and some shut eye.

Productivity

Today I rolled around on the floor and cried all day because of my abdomen pains.

So, no posts for quite a long while, but this is why.

If you want to know more, tell me a joke or a story, just drop me an email or post a comment - it will be a nice distraction from the floor.

The Other Americans

America is great, well, except for some of the other Americans. This is an account of the "other" kind that I don't really agree with on their trip to Tibet.

http://chad.theworldrace.org/index.asp?nMonth=3&nYear=2006

It still amazes me when I come across stuff like this.

You're Right Al Franken!

I have been reading Al Franken's book, "Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right". It is a good read and brings up a lot of questions and good information. But he mentions something about Ann Coulter and the like only writing and appealing to the people who already consume their material, preaching to the choir if you will.

But is Al really doing anything all that different?

From that, I decided that I have to suck it up and read some of the writings from the hysterical right. They always say that it is good to know what the enemy is thinking. I know, I know, I shouldn't necessarily call the opposing side "enemies" but that does seem to be the terminology the current administration is comfortable with. I guess I could change it to the "evil doers", another nod to official administration lingo, and, ultimately, that might actually be more accurate because of what they are doing to systematically to bring down our nation.

I have to read Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and others. To know how they are misrepresenting facts, twisting information and lying to the masses.

My favorite example of Coulter's lying that Al highlights would be the using "any words written in a newspaper can be attributed to that newspaper" technique.

Coulter wrote in her book:

"For decades, The New York Times had allowed loose association between Nazis and Christians to be made in its pages. Statements like these were not uncommon: "Did the Nazi crimes draw on Christian tradition?" ... "the church is 'co-responsible' for the holocaust...."

Team Franken researched the bejeezus out of this book and found that the first quote was actually from a 2001 book review that was in the Times in which the reviewer was framing a question posed by the book he was reviewing. The second quote is actually a quote of a quote from a 1998 Times article called "John Paul's Jewish Dilemma." In which the author of the article is quoting a critic of the church.

Nice technique, huh?

So, how much of this is going on? Not just in published works, but on TV, radio and newspapers? How much of the nation's media does Rupert Murdoch own? How much personal, political philosophy finds its way into what we view, read, listen?

So, that is my most recent charge, to read the shrill works of the right. But I don't want to buy them in the mainstream (don't want any money going to them) so will have to look for them used and library (I guess, but wouldn't that be an embarrassing checkout history? I will have to check out the Satanic Bible and The Communist Manifesto just to balance it out).

Awhile back I saw Clerks II and there was a funny part about reclaiming a phrase that is commonly regarded as a racial slur (has to do with a tailed primate and a, ummm..."deck"). There is another word that in recent history has been made out to be a dirty word. I think we should reclaim it.

Liberal.

Okay, off to tackle my neo-con book challenge! If I don't post up for long periods of time it is probably because I am rocking myself in the corner, confused and mumbling nonsensically.

Wish you happy everyday and happy reading if you choose to take the book-con challenge with me!

Feeling crummy :(

I feel like a couple of rungs below shit.

Ugh.

I have been having a lot of pain and I should go see a doctor. I won't go into specifics but it seems like my body is turning against me and is attacking me from the inside. Sometimes my body wages a sudden battle when I am out and doing stuff and there is so much action that I have to just retreat to my home and rest.

They also like to stage skirmishes at night, so my sleep has come under attack as well. And lately for some reason they really rise and revolt whenever I eat barbecue sauce.

It sucks.

Shame on you Denzel Washington!

I went to see American Gangster last Friday and it was okay. I think I was expecting something more dynamic, but it was still a decent enough flick to hold my attention for about 3 hours. Kinda weird to critique someone's life though - "Hey Frank, your life was at times a little slow paced for me."

Ah well.

But the main thing that I took away from the movie was, "look what happens when you turn chinchillas into coats! Look at the whole downfall of your heroin empire because someone supported the slaughter of 100 or so chinchillas. You deserve it schmuck!" Yes, I taunted a movie. But seriously, who could kill sweet little chinchillas?

Yep, that's what I got out of the movie.

Good job Hollywood.

Going Retro!

- insert your favorite retro tune here -

Retroactive that is!

I need, need, need to catch up on my pile of posts so when I make an update I will post an announcement here with the title so you can find it! I will also pair it with one of my favorite retro songs just for my own personal amusement (note: sometimes the song will have nothing to do with post, or really be retro, but hey, it's my blog). Happy reading!

**************************************
4 November 2007 - Original Post date: 13 September 2007, Title: Chinchilla Fun Song: Welcome to the Jungle

4 November 2007 - Original Post date: 21 October 2007, Title: Happy Birthday? Song: What's My Age Again?

30 October 2007 - Original Post date: 12 September 2007, Title: China Moments Song: What I am (Edie Brickell)

30 October 2007 - Original Post date: 19 September 2007, Title: Stealth Chinese Song: The Peter Gunn Theme

30 October 2007 - Original Post date: 2 October 2007, Title: The World's Biggest Tea Party Song: None it has its own sound track, check it out! This isn't a China post, but something that I had started in MN, but never posted up because of laziness.

30 August 2007 - Original post date: 21 July 2007, Title: Staring at err... Celebrating Diversity Song: Like a Rolling Stone

30 August 2007 - Original post date: 21 July 2007, Title: Deja Vu Song: Take Me Home, Country Roads

17 August 2007 - Original post date: 20 July 2007, Title: Q: What has 2 wings, 4 engines and 400+ happy people? Song: Here I go Again (gotta whip out the Whitesnake!)

16 August 2007 - Original post date: 20 July 2007, Title: Leaving on a Jet Plane. Song: Leaving on a Jet Plane (duh).

BOO!!!

It's Halloween and all I have to say is:

Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag! Wonka Bag!

Now, I don't expect all of you to understand the sheer beauty of the Wonka Bag, in fact there may only be one other person out there that shares the full tilt Wonka passion with me.

Nothing special to share today. Just Happy Halloween and eat lots of candy!

Chinchilla Paging

Last night my chinchillas paged me.

They aren't the most vocal of creatures, but they do have little sounds that they occasionally make. One of the sounds that I hear every now and then is for companionship. It is a little chirpy/chugging kind of sound. Usually when I hear it, it means that they want something.

When I was in MN, they would make this little sound and I would go in to check on them and pat them on their little heads. Happy chinchillas. Sometimes they just want treats and will make their little noise until they get their greedy little hands on a cube of papaya or alfalfa ring.

I usually check on them before I go to sleep. But the other night I neglected to do so. So I had just settled in to go to sleep when I hear their the call. I thought that they would stop. Nope. Chugging, chugging, chugging. They are both calling. Finally, I get up and check to see what they want. It seems that they just wanted to play. I let them poke their head out of the door and scratched behind their ears and closed them back up for the night. Back in bed and time to go to sleep.

Apparently not quite satisfied with the little chinnie massage they both start to chirp again and once again they just won't stop. I get back up and go into their room. They are both waiting for me by their cage door. I go in and try to give them a bribe. No go. They weren't interested in treats. They just want to play or something. So, we played a little chase game they like and I went back to bed. 10 minutes later they both start chugging again. This time they also wake Matt up. They normally don't make so much noise. So, again I went into their room and they were back at their door eager for my to play with them. This time I just decided to sleep on the floor next to their cage to quiet them down for the night. So, I curled up on the floor and listened to them bubble and coo for a little bit before I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I woke to find both of my little girls fast asleep right next to me on the floor of their cage. I guess they were just lonely.

Happy Birthday?

So today is my birthday.

31. Meh.

I guess the big difference between 30 and 31 is that now I am officially IN my thirties rather than just hanging onto the 29/30 cusp.

Old?

Not really. Always will be people older and younger.

I didn't do much for my birthday, I just wasn't feeling up to it. We went to Madison and enjoyed the Farmer's Market - I got the last box of pumpkin squares, I grabbed them just out of some college kid's lazy reach. HA! Take that youngin'! Not quick enough to take my p-squares away from me! Looks like my China grabbin skillz are still up to snuff. Oh, and I felt entitled to them because I was coming from out of town, and, well shit, it was my birthday. I dunno, but if it came down to it, I might have pulled an episode like the bacon in China. Maybe. I'm about 60% sure I would have done something to wind up with the goodies.

Other farmers market treats we indulged in - spicy cheese bread and an almond bear claw. Yum! For lunch we went to Kabul, which is a long standing Beloit favorite. I remember making the trip up to Madison by Van Galder bus and later on in the comfort of private transport, just to get a nice bowl of the Mashawa soup and bread. I got my good ol' standby, the curry chicken and it was delicious!

After the Madison fun we headed back to Racine. I ended my birthday with a pumpkin shake from Culvers. Man, October is just the best month for so many reasons! Pumpmkin delights everywhere, cranberry treats and pecans. Mmmm!

Anyhow, thanks for all of the birthday wishes!

At least I am still immature.

Sorry this post is so vanilla. It should be pumpkin flavored.

Dracunculus Medinensis

Nothing too exciting to report. I have been trying to catch up on my email that I let get way out of control. I found messages from July that I had not responded to - yikes!

Anyhow, I am getting ready to skip town again to my new home and I will finally be able to stop living out of my suitcase and cardboard boxes. Geez, I have been a little hoboish, but y'know, the kind of hobo that has a roof over his or her head and cable TV. Oh, and I haven't had to eat beans out of a can - yet.

I was going to work on some posts, but got distracted by the unreasonable size of my inbox. I have too much writing to do and no attention span to do it. Oh well, eventually I will get all of it done - I have some fun posts to put up...some day....

The post name?

Has nothing to do with anything. It is my favorite parasite. I had to study and research it in college. And no, for those of you who know me really well, I have never had this parasite. It is a little questionable what I might have swimming around in my system now as not all is right in the world, if the world is my mid-section, that is.

So, that's all for now, but I will be adding and posting when I can. Oh, and my flickr pro account expired :( So all of my nifty groups and whatnot are gone, but they will come back when I renew. But renewing my subscription, unfortunately, is not one of the $$$ priorities at the moment. I do have some photos to load, but now I have a small monthly limit, so that will be slow going until I renew.

So that is about it for the updates for now. Keep checking back!

The World's Biggest Tea Party

I think this is one of the more creepy and ridiculous things that I have seen in a really long time - and that's from someone who is just back from China! I was watching some vapid television program and completely spacing out the surrounding world when this little gem popped up on the screen.

"The World's Biggest Tea Party"

I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing this, this, this...thing on TV! Who would actually think that My Little Pony would represent well on stage? Who's brainchild was this? They have international shows - does My Little Pony translate well? and, my most important question, WHY???

I didn't really, really believe that this was true, so I did what any responsible, inquiring person would do. I went online. True. There is a stage production of My Little Pony. AND they have a preview video! 1:18 minute long gem of a video clip of singing and dancing ponies. I think everyone should check it out - http://www.mylittleponylive.net/default.asp Yes, speechless would be the words to describe how this Hasbro production left me.

I do truly believe that the best way to watch this would be in the same way that many young adults watch the Teletubbies. Still, I don't know what is scarier that baby sun thing or these dancing and singing ponies. Hmmm...okay, I still think the baby sun thing is still far creepier, but dancing ponies, in my opinion, isn't too far removed from the creepy children's programming awards.

Then I noticed that it had suddenly gotten very quiet in the room. I looked over to the TV set. Apparently, the TV was in as much shock as I was in because it completely froze up on the ad for the Tea Party leaving its overly pink picture burned into the forefront of my memory.

That station remained frozen on that image for the rest of the night. Apparently too terrified to change.

Stealth Chinese

Being back from China has had some interesting moments. It's not like I feel a certain camaraderie towards Chinese people I happen to meet here in the Cities. BUT I can understand some of the things that they say.

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

I have had just a few run-ins with the language but the best one so far was when I was in a dressing room. A Chinese woman went into the stall next to me. Her son peeked under the door and waved hello to me before his mom swiftly pulled him up. A few moments later the little boy wanted to go, so he started to whine, "Zou! Mama wo yao zou! Zou! Zou!" or "Go! Mom I want to go! Go! Go!"

I think the general tone of this request coming from the under 8 crew always sounds the same no matter the language. It was really funny to me. I started to laugh from my little room. Then the little boy poked his head under again and laughed to. He pointed at me and said, "A Chinese!" I corrected him and told him that I was Korean, which he then asked what a Korean was.

After everyone was dressed, I got to meet his mother and we talked in Chinglish for a little bit and I told her that I had recently come back from China. She was originally from the southern part of China and came over because her husband was working over here. Anyhow, it was fun to eavesdrop in on another conversation in a foreign language. Now, I know that my Chinese skillz are not very good at all, but it is interesting to overhear little snippets of conversation and see what the "foreigners" are thinking about the little bit of world that I now occupy once again.

Chinchilla Fun

Today my mom brought home a little pet harness and leash for small animals. I had been wanting to try it on Deva, one of my little chinchillas. Now, many of you have never met Deva, but she is just about the tamest chinchilla ever. I can just kinda push her over and pet her belly. Easy mark. So operation, "Walk the chinchilla" was beginning to take shape.

Task One: Get Chinchilla Out of Cage. This was pretty easy as she is almost too trusting and can easily be tempted by a raisin. So chinchilla out and ready to proceed with Task two.

Task Two: Put Harness on Chinchilla. This isn't as easy as one might think. You have a little creature who looks a lot chubbier than she actually is and that can shed her fur at will and (the most obvious part of the operation) does not want said harness put on her. So my little Deva squirms and squirms, gets the strap in her mouth so she can slip it through. Puts her arms out in a strange position so it is impossible to line up the straps. Ugh. Worse that a toddler getting ready for bed. But the end of everything I was wearing about a chinchillas worth of fur and I had a very pissed off little ball of chinchilla fury.

Task Three: Attach leash. Deva tried to make a break for it with the harness on before I could attach the leash. She wound up just jumping and flipping on the bed wrestling with the harness. I got the leash on on put her on the floor. Squirt! She popped right out of the harness and ran under the bed.

Task Four: Lure chinchilla out with piece of papaya and repeat task two.

Success!?! She HATED the whole thing and while on the leash would just flip around and circle her tail trying to figure out what was happening. I know she didn't like it, but it was still really funny. Laughing at the misery of others, ah, good times.

I don't think that it help that (I think) she knew she looked utterly stupid. Once back on the bed she struggled with the harness and flipped and flipped until she just decided to lay there, dejected until I took the harness off.

Oh well. I was good for a laugh and now I know what to do when she's naughty 'cause she was starting to have fun with her old chinnie punishment.

Eventually I'll put up a picture. Eventually.

Filling my head with crap

Yes, yes, that is what I have been doing since getting back to the US. I have been systematically and ruthlessly filling my head with crap. Maybe it is because I need to catch up on 2 years of stupid TV pop culture crap, maybe it is because all of the channels (except for one) are in English, maybe it is because everything is new, or maybe it is because I just have to see who Bret Michaels picks in the end of his reality show. I dunno. I can't stop watching.

I was watching CSI: Miami the other day and my dad asked me if it was a re-run. I just had to laugh a little as I would really have no idea if it was or not. Everything is new to me. The crap is fun for now and I have been finding some good stuff!

I do have some favorites - I loooove the Food Network! Unwrapped is great and I just finished watching the last installment of Feasting on Asphalt 2 - The River Run (motorcycle trip up the Mississippi River and stopping to enjoy the local cuisine along the way). Also I can't get enough of LA and Miami Ink! Other than that I have been just watching the marathons of CSI, Law and Order, and The Sopranos. Good to know that I have been using my time at home productively.

Between episodes of the Dog Whisperer, I have managed to get some things done like look for apartments, jobs, cars and such. I have also been sorting through a bunch of my old stuff and the oodles of boxes that have been coming from China. So far, nothing too broken! It is fun to go through all of the China stuff - a lot of, "I remember bargaining for that!" nostalgia.

Hmmm...what else do I do...I do some surveys online and get $$$ and gift cards for doing so, win stuff, etc. I like winning stuff. I think I will try to do it more often. This may seems like an unusual if not impractical goal to have, but for me, it actually makes a little sense. I win stuff. I just do.

Every now and then I will email, but haven't been too good at that lately. I went out to see a couple of cars and met the most apathetic used car salesman ever. It was almost comical. It almost seemed as though he was trying not to sell a car. ANYHOW, still no car. Don't know if I will get one before I move again, but I am looking for 1999 or newer, under 80,000 miles, 4 door, manual or automatic car. Pretty broad requirements, but it would be nice if it wasn't too big and sorta cute.

Sometimes I read. Not a lot, but sometimes.

I hang out with my mom. She's cool.

I had another toe stubbing day recently - same little left toes as in China, and still hurts like a !?%#*

I keep on telling you to hold on for more posts, but have only been working on them half-heartedly. I just haven't been in the writing mood lately. I have some more pictures to post up too - the last batches from China. But I need to renew my Flickr subscription, maybe after we have a little more money....

Anyhow, that's about it. I have some other recent events to write about, but mostly I have been filling my belly with cheese popcorn and my head with guilty pleasures. So all in all I would have to say that I am now full of crap :)

I Suck.

It's true.

I haven't been working on my posts at all.

AND I haven't been answering any email.

I don't have any good reason, I just don't feel like doing anything. I'm just lazy. Absolutely, positively lazy.

Wanna get me on the phone? Chances are I won't pick it up. If you leave a message there is a pretty good chance I won't call back.

Wanna email me? I might read it, but no guarantee. Will I write back? From the way things are going and the current size of my inbox, I would answer that with a big N-O.

Wanna try to IM with me? Good luck I might be on, but you can't see me.

Wanna invite me to be your friend for a social networking type of thing? Keep sending me those invites and MAYBE I'll get around to it, but not until at least two of the invite time frames expire.

Hmmm...sounds pretty anti-social, doesn't it. Not like, the clinical anti-social disorder kind of anti-social (eek), but a little more like the self-imposed isolation kind.

I'll try harder.

But first I have some serious corner time to think about what I have done (or in my case, what I haven't done).

China Moments

Like "Senior Moments" but, like with China.

So the adjustment is going very well. I am having fun being back and having the opportunity to hang out with my parents again. But I thought that some of you would like to hear about some of my China moments - well the top three, the rest would bore me by telling you.

1. Toilets. Y'can't smell the public ones from down the hall. There is paper in every stall, each stall has its own door, and you can sit down. I must confess, I still sometimes throw my used paper in the garbage can rather than flush it down. I do have to say though that I LOVE going to the bathroom without an audience. Not that I really had a huge problem with it (at least later on in China) but I still prefer doing my business without one.

2. Chinese and Chinglish. I did spend most of my time in China speaking English, but I didn't know how much I got accustomed to saying certain things in Chinese. And now when I need to ask or say the English equivalent, the Chinese comes out first. Usually it has to do with asking for something, asking where something is, asking what something is and asking what the price is of something. But there are other things too, but I won't go in to all of the excruciating details of all of that.

3. English. I often find myself not listening to the English being spoken at me. It is just too fast sometimes, so I just glaze over and not really listen to anything of what is being said. I also find myself speaking really, really slow and often using very simple English. Sometimes in public, I think that other people may think that I am a foreigner because my English is, at times, so strange, slow and simple. Either that or a little retarded. Sorry, but it's true.

Car Sick :P

Ugh. I am tired of looking for cars. Why can't someone just give me a rad car? There is just too much to consider. Ack!

So, to all of you out there, do you have any car advice for me?

The Tale of the Least Offensive

This past weekend I hit the road on the Greyhound bus. It was interesting. The first leg of the trip brought me to La Crosse, WI. It was an okay ride, hardly any people on the bus so we could all spread out and not have to look at each other once. We stopped off in Winona for our little break and I got myself an excellent Bloedow's doughnut at the Sinclair station. Winona has the most Sinclair stations that I have ever seen in a smaller city!

Anyhow, I met Matt in La Crosse and we drove around the city for a little bit to see if it would be a place where we would like to live and then set off for Madison. Madison was great! It was really nice to visit our former home. I got a great deal off of Priceline for a hotel room and the first official stop on the Madison tour was indeed the most important, Casa de Lara.

Casa de Lara...oh so good! It was delicious as usual and did not disappoint. I had my usual, the especial burrito, washed down with an Horchata and Matt delighted in his Nopalito con Queso. Everything tasted sooo good - god we missed that food. We were able to find an acceptable Mexican substitute while we were in China, but nothing even remotely comparable to Casa de Lara in Madison. I have a feeling that we will always go back to Madison for a little treat from the house of Lara.

On Thursday we made the rounds. We visited my Beloit pals Ben and Josh at their awesome store, Civitas (Ki-vee-tas) and went down for a little peek at State Street and also stopped in at Matt's former office. Later I went to visit The Guild. I loved working there and they were great to see again! There have been many changes to the office since I left, but it is good to see that the company has grown and nice to see the people who helped make my time there so wonderful! Unfortunately I was not able to visit my couple of Sand County pals, but I will just have to come back to see them (and get a little Mexican food magic).

After the Madison fun we headed out to Kenosha. Kenosha. Ummm... Let's just say it wasn't for me. Or for Matt. It seemed quite run down and there was at least 1 or 2 houses for sale on just about every block. The cheap hotel that we stayed at was a smelly dive. We were in a "cottage" aka "cement cell". The check in woman made me feel uncomfortable with her painted on smile and vacant eyes. I don't know if any of you have seen the horror flick, "Vacancy", but it kinda gave off that kind of vibe to me. Like at any second, someone would pop out of the bathroom and kill us. The room smelled, the a/c was right above my head on the bed and the drain in the sink burped up a spider. Groovy.

We drove around the town quite a bit to find that with every block we explored, the city did not really get any better to us. The downtown was really run down and on the fringe of the city were the basic grocery and national chain sort of stores. But nothing really charming or interesting about the city - except for one thing, Frank's Diner, which was featured on the Food Network and I will talk about a little later.

So after knocking myself out for the night with anti-histamine (if I was going to be killed by the creepy check-in woman at least I wouldn't really know...), we went into town for Matt's interview. I hit the streets for about an hour. I quickly ran out of things to look at. There is a nice looking city museum and a new Upper Midwest Civil War museum (will open in 2008), but nothing really fun downtown. A lot of closed store fronts and particle board windows. I wound up just sipping a latte at a cafe right across the street from Matt's interview.

After the interview Matt and I went to one of the treasures of this city, Frank's Diner. It was excellent! My burger was gi-normous and tasty! I got a most excellent 1/2 pound, blue cheese and bacon in the middle, grill perfect burger. Mmmm-mmm-mmm! If I had my camera I would have taken a picture of it (I mean, why only take pictures of foreign food?). I couldn't finish all of it, but I knew I could count on Matt to step up to the plate and over eat for me.

After a filling lunch (Frank's is known for something called "the garbage plate") we decided to drive around the surrounding areas to see if there was a more appealing place for the two of us. We really liked Racine. It's no Madison, but it was a nice looking place and had some charm to the city, it's livable and close to Milwaukee.

After we wasted as much time as we possibly could driving around the Racine area, we headed up to Germantown to visit another Beloit friend. After we exhausted the entertainment possibilities there, we just decided to wait for her in the parking lot of her condo. It was so great to catch up with her again! We hadn't seen each other for about 4 years because she was still abroad when we were leaving for China. Anyhow, she took us out to dinner since Matt and I are poor and we had a good time catching up.

Anyhow, the next day we all got up bright and early and set out for Starbucks, where she moonlights as a barista and she gave me the hook up with a little taste sneak peek of the pumpkin spice latte (my favorite). Then Matt and I headed back to Madison to go to the Farmers Market. We had fun walking around the square again and got almost all of our favorite treats - spicy cheese empanadas, whoohoo!

Then it was time for me to catch my bus back to the cities. The bus was coming up from Chicago, so a lot of the bus was fairly full. I was lucky though, I was the last person to get a solo seat, meaning I had no seat partner. Now I hadn't really ridden the bus for a long time since my Beloit days, so I had long forgotten the rule of not mixing races when choosing to partner up in a seat and, of course the rule of the least offensive.

You can see the rules go into action the moment that solo seat riding has been ruled out as an option, then everyone in a seat avoids eye contact (lest it be mistaken as a friendly invite to seat share) and the one seeking a seat starts to walk down the long row at a steady pace (as to not seem desperate) and sizes up his or her options. "Who can I tolerate sitting next to for the next X hours?" Tolerate. As the seat less wanderer makes his or her way down the aisle they have the power - the power to take away a cushy ride on the bus from someone. So people will put a bag up on the seat, pretend to be asleep, make themselves seem really large, burp/fart, etc. Anything they can do to avoid the question.

"Is anybody sitting here?"

Once that question is asked there is no right of refusal, all one can do is wince out a smile and say, "Oh, no" as you try to shove yourself as close to the window (or aisle) as humanly possible so not to risk *gasp* touching each other (shrieks in horror).

Quite an amazing process!

I had forgotten about the rules completely. I was too busy rejoicing in my luck on being the last single seated person and was just in the process of looking up at the last of the seat less wanderers when I made eye contact (dammit). As soon as that happened he coasted on over and asked the question. I had no other choice but to coax out a smile and respond, "Oh, no" and

I was the least offensive and

I got a seat partner.