hooky day

I have an atypical Tuesday off today. The college is having an "in-service" gathering - sort of a pep rally to incite excitement for the beginning of fall semester next Monday.  And since we're currently between semesters, the tutor calendar is empty empty.

Full timers are "expected" to attend, part-timers can if we want to, but are not obligated. Suffice to say, none of us part-timers are at the in-service. They tried to entice us with "There'll be food! You'll get paid!", but they lost us at "You hafta stay all day".

We're part-timers for a reason.

I'm sure Boss and Assistant Boss will give us the CliffsNotes. Besides, I'm working all the rest of the week, including Saturday. Star is going on another of her adventures, so I'm filling in for her while also covering for the ready-to-give-birth-any-day Kitty.

As predicted, we got our few glorious days of cold and damp late last week. I, for one, was not climatized and had to break out a fleece.

The sun and heat are back, but not as full on as it was. I sketched this fire ant in response.

I'm at the library under the guise of, "I need to return a book", but really, I just wanted to indulge in a bike ride. 

I dunno, I feel a bit guilty doodling in a sketchbook and going for a joyride on a weekday.

But it beats obligingly attending an in-service for the food and hourly wage.

distraction

Since the semester's winding down, I've been able to indulge in more playtime/ escapism/ however to categorize it. When I'm playing with my art toys, I typically stream a movie to keep me entertained. Perhaps, more importantly, it gives me a time limit, so I don't get lost and totally neglect my adult responsibilities.

Recently, I watched the movie [Waiting], which was a silly movie I'd never seen but had heard of. It's about a staff of young restaurant workers, and pretty realistic (been there, done that) Ryan Reynolds comedy. I kept that in mind and had low expectations, so it worked out and I drew some apples.

Magnum and I have been watching the [Shogun] miniseries on Hulu. Or I should say, Magnum's been watching it. I'd taken to doodling while it's on, and I've got big gaps in my following along because it's mostly in Japanese, and I don't speak Japanese. I understand it's quite good. I'll vouch for the cinematography and costuming being well done, and I got a spider kid drawing out of it. 

Yesterday, I streamed [Border], which is Swedish, but I'd seen it before while not distracted, so I was able to follow along even though I don't speak Swedish. 

"Border" is an interesting story for lack of a better word. Have you seen it? It's realistic fantasy? If that's even a thing. It pulled me in, having me wondering where the heck it's going. Then it goes somewhere, and I was all, "What??", and it goes somewhere again to where I was all, "WHAAATT??"  Add a few more "WHAA-HAAAAATT??", and that's the movie Border.

I can't even really explain the plot, and I think it's best to watch it, not knowing a thing. I will say that I did not watch the final one third or so during this second viewing.  The subject matter becomes too disturbing for my taste at that point. I still recommend attentively watching it, though.

Anyway, I got a Bucee Beaver statue out of it.

I draw the pictures in my head of you and I

The title is a line from a song by Arizona, my latest fave music group.  I love/hate the line.  Here's the full thought...

I draw the pictures in my head of you and I
And fall in love before the ink is dry

My right brain loves the thoughtful emotion expressed, but my left brain is hung up on the grammatical error.  I draw the pictures of you and ME, dammit!

But I'll let it go, right brain wins this round.

As for me, I haven't been doing much drawing lately, but intend to get back to it.  The whole job transition, that's what I'll blame it on.  But at least I have doodled.  

Couple of the latest, letting the pen wander.  Chaos, really.

Fall in love before the ink is dry? 

Nah, but the activity is strangely relaxing.  

Try it?

I'm thinking of dipping into painting again.  Acrylics.  For now, the wandering ink pens will have to do as I currently have no paints or brushes.

And I am enjoying the new job, mainly working on getting up to speed and not being an obvious noob.  

I like my new coworkers and miss my previous coworkers.  Change - transition - is good.

During one of my last shifts at the old folks home, a coworker returned from a resident's room with an untouched meal.

"The nurse told me to bring it back.  Said Goldie's 'in transition'.  Does that mean...?"

"Yep", I confirmed.  "In transition" is one way to communicate that someone was in the final stages of dying.  Another rather oxymoronish term they would use was "Active".  as in actively dying.

The term "in transition" seems fitting.  I believe we continue to exist after death, but can't know for sure.  I had a bit of an out-of-body experience when I was a little kid.  It was during a Labor Day parade, of all things.  I didn't understand much at the time and still don't.  But maybe?

On that note, happy summer!  Happy belated Father's Day!  Any favorable transitions going on?

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Linking up a bit late with Mama Kat for the prompt:
1. Tell us about something you have been working on.

running lost and thankful it's a UTI?

 I ran a 5K this morning.  A real organized event with other people at the same place at the same time.  The local running club I joined just before COVID shutdown happened has these "tortoise and hare" races once a month from October thru April.  

Other regularly scheduled events over the summer were run "virtually".  Pay a registration fee, go run a certain distance using an app, upload the "race", get a shirt or whatever.  Yeah, no.  The fun for me (and most participants) is the running and racing with others. Today's 5K was the first in a long time.

In short, for tortoise and hare races, runners start at different time intervals based on predicted pace.  Slower runners start ahead of faster ones with the fastest people starting last, trying to catch the people ahead.  

I ended up passing everyone in front of me and leading for the final mile.  This was a blessing and a curse because I was unfamiliar with the course/area and veered off course at the start of the homestretch.  I still finished first, but ran farther than I needed to.  So there I was coming into the finish at right angle to the actual course.  Not embarrassing at all!

Note that I did not run the fastest, I just passed the tortoises in front of me while keeping the hares behind me at bay.  It was actually quite fun despite my fumbled finish.  It was just nice to participate in a group event.  There were rules requiring masks and keeping people from gathering, but it was certainly better than nuthin'.

The park where the race was held wasn't far from home, so I jogged to and from.  As I was returning home, I got a text from a girl at work.  Could I finish out her shift for her?  I was looking forward to a shower and potato time, but I figured she wasn't feeling well or she wouldn't have asked.  Fine, I would only be there for about three hours.

After a shower and food, I went in, hoping she didn't have any COVID symptoms.  Our workplace has put strict rules in place, keeping staff away for even the mildest of symptoms.  We are already short staffed because of a few people with cold symptoms that likely just have colds.

I went in and learned that the girl I was replacing was suffering with a UTI, thank goodness.  No, wait, UTIs suck!  

But hey, it's not COVID. Another small victory.

veggie tales

Happy first day of September.  I don't know about anyone else, but I get a little optimistic for no particular reason at the start of a new month.  Maybe it's because I dwell too much on the bad things of the past month?

Plenty of good things happened in August, the dark spot being Tiffany's abrupt and confusing death.  I've mentioned that she inspired me to become vegetarian, but I'd gotten lazy, then returned with renewed gusto when she passed.

Now lemme just say, I'm not trying to be all zealot and preaching readers to convert. Not at all!  Eat what makes you happy.  My blogging about it helps keep me on the path to learning and becoming a better cook.

On that note, I think I've mastered tofu.

I really like tofu dishes in restaurants, but whenever I've prepared tofu dishes at home, the tofu's been, in a word, Ew.

I made myself learn to make restaurant-like tofu, and now it's, Yum!  Here's what I made for lunch a little while ago:

I call it "Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry with Rice, Beans, and Some Kinda Sauce I Threw Together".  On a side note, I made that name up on the fly just now.

In other new-month news, the prompt list for this year's Inktober has just been released.  *rubbing hands together rapidly*.  As I recall, I managed to complete 22 of the 31 drawings last year.  For me, it's a cheap, self-indulgent challenge and a fun way to connect online with other weirdos art hobbyists.  

So I have one month to ponder some ink fun for next month, just in time for crisper temperatures and pumpkin spice everything.  

What are you learning and/or looking forward to this month?

do you want to see?

I'm a blogger of few words today.  This appeared on my FB feed this morning and left me a bit unable to speak...

Know that it's all consensual.

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Linking up today with Mama Kat for the prompt:
2. Share something that entertained you this week, can be an article you read, video you watched, someone’s FB share…whatever!

in time, you slipped away

Meego informed me this morning that his phone is on the fritz.  My usual fix of "turn it off and turn it on again"  is, surprisingly,  not working.

I also noticed this morning that the fridge seems to be just going through the motions of a fridge.  Running, but not fridging like it should be.





In addition, caring mother that I am, I leave sweet little daily missives for Meego that force let him answer a fun "question of the day" (QOD) during the summer to keep the brain from going into hibernation.








Throw in the various pets and their various needs, and it's the little things like this that keep me secure in my position of House Wench.  Somebody's gotta oversee and manage this complex infrastructure.

But not this House Wench.  Not today.  I've got a weekend away planned without the guys.  Just me and several hundred of my closest friends.  We are set to launch shortly.

So, is my refrigerator running?  Why yes.  Yes it is.  Somebody else better go catch it.

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"if you feel like sh*t, everyone you hate wins"

First of all, happy belated Memorial Day to my American friends.  I'm glad we have a holiday set aside for our fallen heroes.  I want to express my thanks and acknowledge that it's not about the white sales.

I happened across this story about female WWII pilots that irked me and had me looking a bit like this eagle, but at least now things are being resolved.  I'm just sad that it needed resolving in the first place.






Memorial Day also serves as a sort of unofficial start to summer.  Magnum and Meego were off of work and school.  On Sunday, we were happily tending to some lovely yard work when a storm blew in and literally rained and hailed and lightninged and thundered on our parade.

As the storm lingered into the afternoon, I was starting to feel that familiar cabin fever.  I told Magnum, "I suppose we could go check out Wolfgang's fitness center, just to appease him."

So, with that, Magnum and I set out with a purpose to our afternoon while Meego was engaged in a rousing game of Monopoly with some neighbor friends, so passed on the tour.  We entered the place, told them our status, and were soon set loose to explore on our own.  As we did so, I texted Wolfgang to let him know we were following up on his request, but no promises.

Everything was nice as expected - spacious workout areas, two large pools, luxurious locker rooms, yoga studios, etc.  And Wolfgang was right, the outdoor pool is very inviting... as long as the weather cooperates.

SOURCE

As we wandered around the machines into the free weights area, I saw a familiar back of shirt and head.  I was 99% sure it was Wolfgang.  He was standing near a pull-up bar as a huge person was completing several reps.

I tried to sneak up on him, but the universe delivered my text at that very moment.  I saw Wolfgang pull his phone from his pocket, glance at it, and then turn around like he felt my sneakiness.  So we chatted a bit about the place, about the the current level of busyness, etc.  In the meantime, the huge pull-up guy dismounted with a solid landing, turned around, and said hello.

It was Dylan, one of Wolfgang's good friends from high school.  Dylan attends a university out of town, but is home during the summers and breaks.  He and Wolfgang are still buddies, but I haven't seen much of Dylan since they graduated high school.

If not for the fact that Wolfgang told me a couple of weeks ago about Dylan's newfound interest in body-building and that "Dylan is just huge now, and you should see how much he eats!", I honestly would not have recognized him.

Dylan's always kept pretty fit, he and Wolfgang ran track and cross-country together and regularly went to the rock climbing center.  But he's always been that kind of runner/climber sinewy type of fit.  Now he looks like the Incredible Hulk without the green and snarl.

We quickly left those guys to their Herculean activities and pondered (a.k.a snooped the place on the internet).  In the end, we got the family account Wolfgang has been rooting for, and he is very pleased about that as it lowers his fee considerably.  We brought Meego over, and he also deemed it worthy.

So now I find myself a member of a posh "gym", and I totally plan to get our money's worth.  But I'm wondering how Wolfgang made it rain.

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Tribal

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "Tribal", and I drew this mask for no other meaning than it was just fun.  I don't know the origin of this mask.  I just found the reference on Pinterest and think that it's African, and that's all the culture from me today.

Merriam-Webster defines "tribe" as:
a group of people that includes many families and relatives who have the same language, customs, and beliefs.

And it occurs to me that this is a time of year when many tribes get together.  Our next-door neighbors had  a large gathering at their house yesterday.  They've lived there for about a year, and I don't know them all that well, but what I do know is all good.

This is the neighbor who killed an antelope last fall, then gave us a couple pounds of meat from the murder.  None of us had eaten antelope before, and we declared it good with a very distinct flavor.



Their tribal gathering also seemed nice in that, despite the throngs of people in attendance, it was relatively subdued save for one girl child who felt that screaming was a necessary part of any game being played in the yard.

As for us, Wolfgang was here for most of the day.  He'd dropped his truck off at that same tire store that lives across the creek from us.  Smartly, he asked us for a ride rather than traverse the creek.

He continues to lobby for me to get a family membership at that high faluting fitness center he goes to. It would considerably lower his portion of the membership fee, which he now pays as an individual.   I remind him that it would substantially increase our portion of the membership fee for which we currently pay zero.

Still, we might go visit to have a look around.  "The outdoor pool opens this weekend.  It's REALLY nice... you should check it out!",  as just a portion of his sales pitch.   He knows which of my buttons to push.

I still use the university rec center, but it's not as easily accessible, nor does it have as nice of ammenities as Wolfgang's place.  On the other hand, it costs us nothing (more).  Magnum says he'd be interested in trying a yoga class at the nice place.  But don't tell Wolfgang.

I drew the illustration while Wolfgang and I chatted about fitness centers and various other topics.  I did it in my pocket moleskine, which is just the cutest thing and one of my indulgences.

I don't really have time (nor the inclination) to do bigger art projects, so this is a nice plaything.  I can get cheaper knock-offs, but I think, once you go moleskine, you don't go back.

Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy Sunday, friends!  Another fine week it was.

As mentioned, Wolfgang turned 20(!) on Monday.  I just got back from the bike shop with him as he spent a chunk of his birthday "earnings".  I was just along for the ride, though.  I refrained from buying anything as frugality wins again!




He also shared some of these chocolate covered coffee beans his girlfriend brought back from Costa Rica, where she spent a month studying abroad.

Yummo, how many can I eat before I'm never able to sleep again??







Yesterday, the five of us took a little excursion up to Denver to check out the Forney Museum of Transportation.  We hadn't had a good museum fix in a while, so this was fun.

One of the main attractions is this Big Boy engine that is so big it just barely fits in the building, and didn't fit all the way in the frame of my photo.

It was interesting to walk through the old train cars and note the tight quarters.  Lots of people nowadays wouldn't fit very comfortably!






Of course, it wasn't just trains

One thing that interested me in the list of attractions was Amelia Earhart's "Gold Bug".  Silly me, I assumed it was an airplane.  It was her car - heh.

Anyway, it was a nice day-jaunt to beat the outdoor heat.  

In other silver liningness news, my summer class wrapped up this week.  This marks the half-way point of the program, one more half to go!  And now I've got a few weeks off to occupy myself until the fall semester starts up.

I plan to get caught up on my to-do list.  We'll see how that goes...

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the super duper half

"No snow, but it's gonna be chilly!", he said in his sexy Scottish brogue.

This guy that works at the running store up the road.  He sounds just like Mel Gibson as William "Braveheart" Wallace when he speaks.   Looks nothing like him, though.  Anyways, he got me all registered for the Super Half Marathon last week after I  committed myself to do it.  By then, it was close enough to mostly believe the weather forecast and bank on the event not being cancelled.

Sunday morning, I got dressed, assuming we'd be in the teens by gun time.  A light liner under my (Broncos?) orange running top, the awesome tights, a (Broncos?) blue fleece neck gaiter, and to top it off, the Mickey Mouse hat and some gloves.

Start of the Game Day 5K

As anticipated, it was about 14 degrees at race start.  Check-in was actually indoors at a plaza downtown, so that was nice.  I stood in the line to get to the line to the women's restroom for several minutes.  Someone mentioned that there were port-o-lets outside.  Yeah, riiiight...

Some of the others looked pretty serious with their high-falutin' gear.  Some looked overdressed or weighted down with various Camelback packs and water belts, etc.  There was a small friendly brass and percussion band playing some tunes at the starting line.  They were students from a local high school - how nice of them to show up and play in the cold!  Some members of them sang the National Anthem, nicely done.

It was no surprise that the entire course was mostly covered with packed snow.  I hadn't really done any warm up, figured I'd use the first part of the race for that, so I set out at a light jog   About a mile into it, there was a beer station.  Not a water station, but some spectators with small plastic cups of beer.  They had funny Superbowl outfits on too.

I declined the beer offering.

C-C-C-COLD water 

At around 5.5 or 6 miles, the packed snow became a swamp of loose mucky stuff, unseen by anything but running shoes.  I'd seen several people walking around with Yak Trax or the like on their shoes and felt that was overkill.  Now I was thinking how nice it would be to have some!





My tractionless minimalist shooz and I plodded on, however.  It was work, but we were all in the same boat, mainly concerned with remaining upright, let alone with moving forward.  One wrong foot plant could mean a twisted ankle/knee/hip and the end of the race.  I was glad to make it to the turnaround point, knowing I had made it through half the snow swamp.

Then it was just a matter of retracing the course.  Temperatures stayed right around 20 degrees.  Having not run this far in a while, my mind began to get bored.  Yes, it's a physical challenge, but not exactly "action packed".   I wished there was a way to put myself on auto-pilot, wake myself about a mile before the finish.

This shot, taken at about the 10-mile mark, made the event gallery.  See?  How bored I look?

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz........

But really, that's my own challenge.  Bottom line, it was a lovely day, the atmosphere was festive - before the game, remember!? - the volunteers were great, and the encouragement from spectators, whether they offered beer or not, was much appreciated.  A few shouts of "I love your hat!" and little kids with cowbells - what's not to like?!?

Eventually, I made it to the finish chute.  I heard my name over the PA:  "Abby Normal from Colorado Springs!", and the crowd went wild!  

...Oh, it turned out to mostly be some nearby geese.

I passed under the goal posts to the makeshift end zone, happy with my finish time.  One guy turned around and went for seconds.  He was using the Super Half as a training run for an upcoming marathon.  I felt okay at that point, but the thought of repeating the whole thing?  Right then?  Ah, HAIL no!

As I continued beyond the finish, a small boy of about eight years old handed me my beer mug.

I broke it in with hot tea instead.

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giving in

We went Boxing Day shopping today.  Well, I didn't really shop.  I was just escorting people who were shopping, and I didn't buy a darn thing.  Maybe I just liked being out with all those other day-after shoppers.

As I was loitering shopping, I saw a few things I might like to have, but nothing really spoke to me.  But I'm not fully without desires.  There are a few things I wouldn't mind adding to my earthly treasures.

I think I might breakdown and finally get an iPod.  I don't own an mp3 player of any kind.  I got an iPod shuffle a few years ago.  Magnum got it for free - I forget how - and smartly gave it to me.  So I have an iTunes account and have playlists on the computer, but that's it.  Nothing portable.

The shuffle was a bust.  Ever have one?  All of the controls were incorporated into the earbuds.  If one sweats while wearing them, and the sweat gets into the controls, the controls go out the window.  I only used mine while sweating.  I enjoyed the songs until they were played at max volume and max volume only, with me being unable to do anything about it.  WHAT?

I wasn't the only one that happened to.  The shuffle and I parted ways.  I could make do without, I told myself.  I'd be the bhikkhuni  of mp3's.    ("bhikkhuni"  is a word I learned today. They're like female monks).   Apparently, I've grown tired of the nunnery.  I want an iPod.  One with controls that work.

In fact, the more I sit here thinking about it, the more I want one, like, now.  If I blog it, it will come.

Also, by now, most everyone's heard of the Crossing Guard Cat, right?


I'd like one of those too.

But I think I'll start with the iPod.

surrender

It all began with the great art renaissance of 2009.

I had been an artsy geek kid from as soon as I could hold a crayon.  Somewhere after high school, though, she got stashed away into my inner attic.  Work and babies and "adulthood" took a front seat.

Then one day in 2009, I started feeling funny.  I found myself with a bit of free time, and maybe it was something that I ate.  I hurled all over a wall in the basement.  It wasn't dainty or tentative at all.

Flowers.  Big, bright, vivid, bold colored flowers and vines spilled all over the wall.

It didn't stop with the flower mess.  Sea creatures, palm trees, comets...  no wall was immune.  Even my kids were going all "WTF?" in not so many words.  I decided maybe I should get some canvases or something.

I suppose it was inevitable that some would spill on me.  Somewhere in all that drunken mess, I ended up with a tattoo.  

But it's really not as "rebellious" as some may think.  Here in our neck of Colorado, we have about 3 seasons.  Fall, winter, and tattoo.  It's not just emo's and punks and sluts.  I know tattooed housewives, school teachers, college kids as well as tattoed emo's, punks, and sluts.

"STOP, I MEAN it!!"

I didn't come up with mine on my own.  I found a tattoo artist who designed mine after chatting about it with him a bit.  I wanted "pretty", and he added a nice edgy wildness that I like.

I think it gives me street cred in the crosswalk.

GO, I MEAN it!

... or in the mud pits.

Hi, ready for some logic?

The one thing that does cause me pause is when I meet a new student for the first time.  Will they not like having a tattooed tutor?  But that has yet to stop anyone.



I awoke one day to find I have a tattoo.  I'm sure I'm not the first to have that happen.  It splattered onto me during a party.  Or maybe it was always there and just emerged.
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Happy Dumb Day!

I made a wonderful decision a while back.  I decided that I would not schedule any students on Fridays, so I could just have a day to be dumb.  Smart move!

I felt I was burning out, and that's when the idea hit me.  Friday.  Block it.  Kids still go to school, Magnum still goes to work.  I have a day of dumbness all to myself.

The private teaching company I used to work for never scheduled classes on Fridays.  Now I know why.  That plus my formative years in Monday-thru-Friday public school has programmed me to slack on Fridays. If it's a psychological quirk, so be it.  I give in.

It's not to say I don't do anything teacher related, but I don't have to actually face anyone while I do it, so I can do it with a dumb face and in comfy dumb clothing.

Dumb Fridays, as I affectionately know them, are not necessarily epic.  I get caught up on the housewifery, paperwork, maybe go coffeeing with a friend.  Sounds a bit boring maybe,  but they're lovely, really.



It's cold today.  Snow nearby.  Froze at the crosswalk this morning, but it was good mindless freezing.  Have you done anything stupid today?  I highly recommend it.
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regarding

I wrote a letter once.  Well, it was really an e-mail to a website.  It was to Dr. Laura's website.  Remember her? 

I would sometimes tune in to her radio show while scrubbing a toilet or... yes... ironing someone else's wrinkly clothing.  Many I'm sure know the story of how she crashed and burned and subsequently made her exit from commercial radio. 

Anyway, I wrote my letter just before her crash and burn.  Maybe she was already in her downward spiral. 

She used to read an  "e-mail of the day" or "e-mail of the week", something like that.  One of her featured e-mails was written by a woman who was pointing out what a wonderful wife this woman she had encountered was.

Well, that sounded okay, until I heard what the writer based her assessment of the wife on:

"I saw this couple shopping together, and the husband didn't pay any attention to me even though I am way hotter than his wife is.  Obviously, she's a great wife!"

Wait.. what?

Okay, I guess the fact that someone might be arrogant enough to assume that was true and write a letter of such to Dr. Laura isn't so ridiculous.  But what bothered me was that Dr. Laura thought it worthy of her "e-mail of the..." feature.

The next day, when I wasn't scrubbing or pressing, I went to the website and found the featured letter by Hot Woman and sent in something like, "Are you kidding?  That letter was so pretentious I'm not even sure it's real.  Dr. Laura, are you in the midst of a downward spiral and about to crash and burn?", in not so many words. 

I just wanted to get it off my chest and leave it at that.  Not long afterwards I noticed, however, that Hot Woman's letter had been removed.   I wondered if perhaps others had been bothered, maybe slightly offended, and had also put in their two cents.

Something similar just happened closer to home.  Do you remember how I mentioned my friend - we'll call her Heather since that's her name - was taking over as Chaco's English teacher?  She did and was doing a wonderful job with the kids and cleaning up after PMS.  Then we all got an e-mail.

Because of a union rule technicality, Heather was being replaced with teacher #FIVE for the remainder of the year.

I've learned to have pretty low expectations of the public school system.  Still, this seemed even more silly than the usual shenanigans.  I sent Heather an e-mail, not a rant,  just a thanks for all she'd accomplished in 19 days. 

She replied back and told me how she'd shed tears over the situation and had even offered to work for free if she could stay until the end of the year (yeah, that's Heather).  But alas, no.

But... wait!  Heather called me the other day and it seems the district suddenly found a way around their technicality and Heather was allowed to stay. 

I suspect that I wasn't the only one who chimed in.

Have you ever written to an organization / business / media personality / celebrity / etc.?  What was the outcome?  Have you ever not chimed in but wish you had?
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indulgence

I've said here before that I don't give a hoot about reality TV.  Most of it I just ignore, some of it actually repels me.  Then there's celebrity gossip and the like.  Don't care for that either.

Then there's The Royals.  Last week, Prince William and his new bride What's-Her-Name were visiting our nation, so there were daily news updates and photos of their every movement.  *Ho Hum*.

BUT, I admit, I'm not totally immune.  I did just happen to catch the news of the recent royal wedding in Monaco.  There was a photo of it somewhere in the middle of the newspaper with a short paragraph about it.

"Oh pretty!", I thought.  "Oooh, Monaco!", I remembered reading something years ago about Monaco and how it was all playground for the filthy rich and not much else.  So while the British Royal Wedding did nothing for me other than offer some amusement as to Elton John's posing like our elementary school mascot, this wedding caught my attention.  Mr. and Mrs. Prince William are just kids, but these two Monacoans, they were like, old! 

I learned that he, Prince Albert, is 53 while she, Princess Charlene is 33.  Take the average, and they're like my age.  I could relate.  Finally something for me to waste time on!

And I did...

I read reports of the wedding, watched videos, learned about the bride and groom, learned about Monaco, even planned a trip for myself there someday: 


View Larger Map

"We could not calculate directions between Colorado Springs, CO and Monaco."

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Oh well, thanks a lot for nuthin' Google Maps.

And in the midst of all this research, I learned that all is not quite well in Castle de Monaco.  Reports of possible (more) illegitimate children for the Prince and ice cold feet for the Princess complete with several attempts to be a runaway bride.  Even stories of a curse put on the family, effectively dooming all their marriages forever.  Geesh!

I gotta say, watching video of the wedding, she doesn't look particularly happy.  At one point she's downright bawling and those don't look like this-is-the-happiest-day-of-my-life tears, but rather sh*t-what-have-I-done? tears.

Here's a short clip, what's your impression?

I for one hope things work out.  It figures, though, that I finally find some shallow indulgence only to have it be all confused.
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