WoW (aka: World of Warcraft)

Holy cripes. I'm completely hooked!

A Girl and her Vespa

Expanding upon my previous post, many moons ago I read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Since then I've re-read it several times, usually when another phase of my life has begun. Throughout each reading, I always take away something new, yet one constant has always remained: the desire to ride a motorcycle.

During our recent trip abroad, we discovered we wouldn't be able to rent any type of scooter without a motorcycle license. Bah!! So, once we got back to the States, we signed up for the Basic Rider Course at HCC. Well worth the $330.

Our course began last Wednesday and ended today. Two classroom sessions followed by two LONG days of intense motorcycle riding. My instructors for the practical part were great! I couldn't have asked for better teachers. Considering that I was one of the few students who have never ridden before, I'm impressed with what I came away with in 9 hours. Granted, my skills are not ready to be tested in the real world. I'll happily stay within the confines of a parking lot. It's just knowing that I have the knowledge and rudimentary skills to take my riding further.

So there you have it. Both Casey and I are now licensed motorcyclists. We'll be heading down to the DMV (aka 'MVA' down in these parts) to update our license to include "Class M". We're also looking into buying used bikes. Why invest the money when we still have many hours of practice ahead of us. One type of bike that's caught our eye is the Honda Rebel. Of course, I really would love to have a Vespa. The downside is that I live in a suburb and it wouldn't be very practical for getting to and from work. So sad. *sheds tear*.

Ridin' Divah

I did it!! I am now the proud owner of a motorcycle license!! GO ME.. GO ME..

More details to follow...

Braille

We're in the car and I'm driving. There are bumps on the center of my steering wheel to indicate where the horn button is located.

Me: "You know. Car manufacturers should make these bumps say something in braille. Like 'horn'."
('Reading' each line I softly say): "Horn. Horn. Horn. Horn"

Casey: ...(pause)...

Casey: "I think there's a very good reason why car manufacturer don't write anything in braille on the steering wheel of a car."

Me:

Me: "OOOOOOH!! "

Hysterical laughter erupts from both of us.

*SWOON*

A few months back a great friend of mine introduced me to an ah. maze. ing. opera singer. His name is Vittorio Grigolo. Talk about a voice of pure beauty. I hear the sound and melt.

Lucky for us, Vittorio is scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center in one of my all time favourite operas "La Boheme". And my friend, being the rock star that she is, scored us tickets. THAT'S RIGHT!! WE ARE SO GOING TO HEAR VITTORIO LIVE!! And it's not as if we're in the nose-bleed section either: ORCHESTRA SEATS BABY!! (for those all-caps adverse.. too bad.. BECAUSE I'M GOING TO HEAR/SEE VITTORIO HERE.. IN DC.. *faint*). He must be - has to be - playing Rodolfo.

*swoon*

                  *squeal*

                                    *faint*

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I thought I could hold out, but no. So, last night we saw "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".

Out of all movies made to date, this is by far my favourite and David Yates is the most impressive of all the Harry Potter directors. Granted, by book 5 the story line had definitely gotten darker, the plot richer and the characters more developed (on so many levels), so Mr. Yates had a bit more to work with. Although, I did feel that "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," director Mike Newell could have paid more attention to the story itself, yet decided to make it more of a visual effects ride for the audience. That's fine if you don't read the books, but for us serious Harry Potter fans, the story details are ver-ver important (see the differences between the movie and film here). You don't want to leave the audience of the final film feeling empty with a lot of possible plot holes.

Anyway, the 5th film did take some liberties with the story line, so if you haven't read the book and would like to get the cliff note version of what you should know, go here. Considering book 5 is about 700 pages, I still feel that Mr. Yates did a fabulous job in keeping to important details.

As for the visual effects, perhaps not as thrilling as the Triwizard Tournament of Book 4, but still impressive with the Centaurs, Thestrals, Dementers (aka Death Eaters), overall scenery and fight scenes.

Now my countdown begins for the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". How am I ever going to sleep this week.

Let's Play Chicken!!

Yesterday, Ollie and I were lounging about in the living room when suddenly we hear a *THWUMP*. We both turn to look at each other. I gave Ollie the "Well, you're our family dog, go check it out," while his stare said "I'd go check it out but I'm exhausted. Be a peach and go look into it for me? Thanks."

30 minutes later I decided to investigate.

A bird had flown--full force--into our dining room sliding glass window. The poor little fella was lying lifeless on the back porch. What on earth motivated it to fly in our direction? It was a pretty bird too: black with white "dots". Not something you see often. Turns out it was a woodpecker. Dang-it!

Several hours later we hear another *THWUMP*. Once again, I go out to investigate. (Ollie, seriously. Where's the "work" in your working dog genes??) Nothing on the back porch and I couldn't see any "mark" on our front window. Fingers crossed, the bird was momentarily blinded by the setting sun, making a full recovery.

Two hours ago, we watched yet another bird fly into our back sliding glass window. Again, no death resulted from its miscalculation, but it does make me wonder. Are they high? Possibly finding a stash of some fermented berries to shake things up a bit? It's not unheard of. Back in 2003 there were thousands of drunken flying birds in Sweden, a result of feasting on some of these delicious treats. Or maybe they're completely delirious with avian flu? After last years hype, I think the media is due for another round of public scare tactics. Bah. Media.

I'm betting on the berries. Birds need to let loose once in a while. If only they knew not to "drink" and fly.

Bonding

There's nothing that brings a woman closer to her dog than standing in the middle of the sidewalk yanking dingleberries o' grass from the pups a$$.

Ahhh.. another memory for the books.

Contestant No. 2 is...

I received a call from my brother: "Have you talked with mom?"

Me: "No. Why?" (thinking I was in trouble for not sending an anniversary gift sooner or something)

Brother: "Dad's in the Hospital."

At this point my mind is racing with the horrid possibility that it had something to do with his heart. And then hoping beyond all hope it's actually nothing and everything is ok.

Brother: "Dad fell and cracked some teeth. Possibly cracked his jaw and is get surgery right now.".

Good lord. Did he fall because of heat stroke, which is possible. The last time he got heat stroke was several years ago and a bit funny because he ended up with temporary amnesia. How I would have loved to been with him in the emergency room that day!

When I was finally able to get through to mom, I found out that dad got his foot caught up in the bricks that outline the lawn. He tripped and ended up landing face first into the stoop. WTF?? Mom is the one who is the known clutz. For example, several years ago she tripped in a parking lot and totally fractured her knee. Had surgery and was in PT for about 6 months.

Mom told me that he finished round one of surgery. Has about 200 stitches in his face, mostly his bottom lip. His teeth went through it and tore through the muscle. Now dad is currently en route to another hospital to get surgery done on his teeth. I briefly talked with him and he said he may have to get a few false ones put in. WOW!! Ah, and he managed to say -- very stubbornly -- that "I will not have my mouth wired shut. If my jaw is only fractured then it'll heal w/o that wire." Can't wait to see that head on collision with the doctor.

Now to wait and hear back after surgery number 2. Overall, I am thankful that it wasn't anything worse. Wow. Ok... Let's see. Last month Casey is diagnosed with Lyme's disease, which is then followed by a slew of side effects. Now my dad trips and rips up his face. It's been said that everything comes in threes and it appears that Karma has selected the men as her target this year. So who's next? My brother? My sister's husband? Eek. Not even going to think about it.

Update: Dad is currently undergoing surgery #2. There are 2 fractures in his jaw: one near his sinus cavity and one further down (local unknown - i forgot). Luckily they're hairline fractures and the doctor believes will heal on their own. As for dads teeth, they're working to save them and he'll be wearing teeth braces to keep them all in place.

In regards to the actual fall, I asked mom whether dad braced his fall by putting his hands out. She made a valid point: he was probably trying to safe his coffee (in one hand) and his dry cleaning (in the other hand). Therefore, he had no hands to brace the fall. Now there's taking one for the team?

Pick on Someone Your Own Size

Yesterday, returning from our walk, I spotted one of the neighbourhood cats. This one is HUGE!! and I continually mistake it for a mid-sized dog. Before Ollie notices, I command him to "Wait" then proceed to kneel down next to him and hook on his leash. He immediately cowers his head and gives off the sadest cry I have ever heard him give. He sounded and looked like I was about to punch him in the head. It broke my heart.

So now I'm wondering -- who did this to my dog? There are only 2 times in all of his 3 years of life have we ever hit him, and on the rump. One was to end the aggressive humping and the other was to end the non-play biting. Any other "hit" was totally accidental -- a result of him standing way too close to our feet as we were exercising, running or just moving in general.

Ollie's been in the care of a few people and they're all "animal people". So tell me, why would you hit him? If he's being aggressive, which isn't his nature, you're supposed to grab him by the nape of the neck. Dog obedience 101?!? I've done this before at the dog park and it totally puts him in his place. Ollie is not the kind of dog that warrants getting a beating in the head over anything.

I'm hoping beyond all hope that his behaviour yesterday was left over from an incident that happened as a puppy. Like his issue with bees. During the spring, he refuses to go out on the back deck because of the bees. I think he was too curious one day and a bee stung him in the head. So seriously, if his cowering comes from recent experiences, then you may experience a few *thwumps* to the head.

Keep your hands off my dog and go pick on someone your own size. Bully.

Dancing the Night Away

It's no secret that I'm a nutcase when it comes to exercising, as much as Casey is crazy about sitting. To get him to be more active (because, let's face it ... the only way I could be still if I were knocked unconscious) was to purchase 'Dance Dance Revolution' for our PS2.

This game is awesome. Unfortunately we need a solid surface for the dance pad, so we're either going to purchase the high-end one, or buy a wooden board. Reason is that the pad itself is less responsive due to the un-eveness of our carpet.

Aside from that, this game seriously rocks. We're going to have to get 2 mats so we can duel. And boy, are we learning how to move our feet. The concept of balance and feet-eye coordination has taken on a whole new meaning when we're forced to follow the arrows on a screen.

So watch out friends. Guess what we'll be playing next time you're over.