Saturday

The basic breakdown of today goes something like this:

8:30 Wake up, eat breakfast, shower.
9:00 Watch first half of Pistons vs. Pacers playoff game
11:00 Catch bus to go to work to get lots of work done on all the work I have to do at work :)
12:00 Go to beach
4:00 Catch boat back to campus - think about doing work for 2 hours
6:00 Catch bus - go to Blockbuster's to rent some movies.

The best intentions as they say...

Metrosexuals? WTF?

I had about 30 minutes this morning after I finished breakfast before I had to catch the bus, so I thought I'd watch a little ESPN and catch up on the NBA playoffs, NFL free agent signings, and even though major league baseball is a complete disaster, I thought I'd take a peek at that also. Here in Australia, Sports Center is mostly a direct feed from ESPN in the U.S., with a mix of some Australian commentators, sports, etc. Well, they cut to the ESPN studios in Manhattan where the NBA analysts are previewing tonight's playoff games, with a "pretender or contender?" theme. Analyst 1 gives his opinions. Analyst 2 gives his. Then comes analyst 3 .... This guy had his eyebrows plucked and real make-up on ~ not the stuff they put on you to keep your face from shining in the lights on t.v. But, more than that, he had his eyebrows PLUCKED! Guys, this is not some show on the Lifetime network or a soap opera... this is Sports Center on E.S.P. friggin' N!

A friend of Dave's was over the house last weekend and was asking me if we had this concept of 'metrosexuals' in the U.S. also, and yes, I was aware of it, but it's not something I paid or pay a lot of attention to. Then, I was reading a political blog (of all things) last night and there was a post about metrosexuals ... then THIS guy shows up on ESPN. WTF?

O.K. end of testosterone driven rant.

Something to check out from Jim Lampley of all people - who knew he was so well versed and articulate? Makes you

simultaneously furious and hopeful about America!

Have a great weekend gang!

Just like that! Love Life

I was in a mood this morning. I don't get into "moods". I'm usually not even aware of them, I just look at what I have to do, and do it (or not), but never really ask myself if I'm "in the mood". I woke up early today, 6 a.m., showered etc. and was out of the house by 6:30 which put me to the bus stop just in time to get a close up view of the bus driving away. No big deal - buses at that time of the day are supposed to run every 10 minutes. 6:45 -no bus, 6:55, no bus, 7:00 - no bus 7:05 FINALLY - A BUS! It took FOREVER to get to the exchange because of the morning rush and I stopped at the grocery store to grab some breakfast and some food for lunch also. Well, the place doesn't open 'til 8, so now, I'm waiting for the store to open. That's when things started to turn around a bit. I started walking toward the deli when someone turned on the overhead music - some dance/club sound that started the blood flowing a bit. Then, as I was walking out of the mall, I saw the back of the t-shirt this girl was wearing that just read in bold print "LOVE LIFE" - and just like that, my day turned around.

A "Cuppa" Things

Just a few random things. A few weeks ago, one of my colleagues here asked me if I wanted a "cuppa". I asked her, "a cuppa what?" which of course made her laugh out loud at me because ..... "cuppa" is understood to mean a cup of tea, or maybe if you know the person you're asking is a coffee fan, that it could mean a cup of coffee also. Cuppa - there's your new Aussie word for the day. I love it!

My parents just got back from a vacation in Arizona (Sedona/Phoenix area) - they loved it so much they bought a time share down there! Congrats to them and welcome home!

A week ago or so I saw a man and his son walk into a grocery store barefoot. I asked Dave about it and he said it's not common (they were the first two I had seen) but it's not necessarily rare either. Then, last night I went to a different grocery store, one in Indooroopilly (the mall) and there was a man completely barefoot - in a mall! And this is no rinky dink country mall - it's about the size of the Galleria in White Plains or Fairlane mall in Dearborn. I guess unless you post a "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service".... there's "no worries".

31 more days until they get here - 1 month!

A New Yorker's View of the World

New Yorker
Originally uploaded by ed_roth.

This March 29, 1976 cover from "The New Yorker" magazine is basically the way the rest of the world thinks ALL Americans see the rest of the world. This has been one of my favorite pictures since the first time I saw it. It was painted by Saul Steinberg and was meant to poke fun at what was called the "tribal" perspective of Manhattanites - Steinberg was poking fun at himself as well. It was such a hit, that cities around the U.S. and the rest of the world wanted their own 'views' done immediately and of course, poor Mr. Steinberg wasn't paid one penny. There are almost 18 million people that live in metropolitan NYC - that's more than many of the industrialized nations of the world. And you wonder why Manhattanites think the George Washington Bridge connects them to the OTHER half of the world?