BB8 watch-and-blog

Dick is so disgusting with all the spitting--how funny that they asked him about it tonight! The little "showmance" between Jessica and Eric is a little surprising. I mean, I knew they were buddies, but until I saw Tuesday's episode, I totally thought she was not interested in him that way at all. Then she suddenly mentions wedding bells, and they're making out in the HOH bed! I really wish Eric had used the veto so Jessica could backdoor Dick. I could not understand why Eric wouldn't want to mix things up that way, until he explained it was to fulfill America's wish to evict Amber. I don't have anything serious against her, although I will say that I'm sick of her constant crying, and telling God to bless himself (what's up with that?). But Eric's accusation that she is on a high horse is a little of the pot calling the kettle black. He is getting a little cocky.

The Power of 10 trip to NY was a little disappointing. All that money for the winning, and Amber managed to snag only $1,000. I recorded that episode of the game show but don't know if I'll bother watching it now. Funny how no one in the house believed Drew Carey is the new Price is Right host. I hope they do a current events competition like they've done in the past, where houseguests have to guess whether a headline is true or false. I wonder what some of the unbelievable but true headlines would be...what has happened in the past couple months that's big? I can't think of much.

Show notes as I watch:
...Wow, Zach's speech was sooo rehearsed and cheesy!
...Big surprise, Amber's crying.
...78% of America wanted Amber out?? Wow, that's high!
...First mention of Eric's America's Player earnings...He's racked up $30k?? Yowsers.

Let's see who it will be!! Bye bye, Amber! She could have worn something a little dressier for eviction night. She wants to be a motivational speaker? Or a nurse?? Hmm.

HOH competition: This is insane! It will take for-frickin-ever to fill those globes up up with liquid. Three ounces at a time to get 16 gallons! Seven miles of walking back and forth??!! On slippery wood?? They are going to be soooo sore tomorrow. You know what would be good to do...for two people to team up and fill up one person's globe, so they can get done faster. I wonder if they'd be allowed to do that.

Ooh, I just remembered! I'm recording BB After Dark on Showtime tonight at my parents' house, so maybe I'll get to find out before Sunday who the winner was. Or maybe they'll still be going back and forth.

Gasp! A double eviction next week??! Uh oh.

Phipps Conservatory

During my trip to Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago, I visited the Phipps Conservatory, which is one of the better botanical gardens in the U.S. (or so I read). It was a lovely, if humid, way to pass two hours. There was certainly no shortage of photographic material, especially because of the temporary exhibit of Chihuly glass sculptures scattered throughout the vegetation. They really gave a focal point for the photos, and provided delightful bursts of color. I present for you here a couple of my favorite shots. More will be on Flickr soon.

What on earth?

Last night I dreamt that I bought lunch for all the participants in one of my training sessions. For some reason it was not held at a school, but rather at a storefront in a strip mall. So I went next door to the chicken place and ordered the 66-piece platter of nuggets, and 12 ears of corn. It was the kind of place where all the food is laid out in bins in front of you, and placing an order that large caused quite the resentment among the workers because I was basically buying them out of chicken and corn and they were going to have to rush to make more for the other customers. They tossed my abnormally large chicken nuggets (think grapefruit size, and yes, they were spherical) in some sort of thousand island dressing concoction, but more resentment resulted because they didn't have a bowl big enough to toss 66 at once. After I paid (it was $116 and I thought to myself, my boss will never approve this expense) I asked for some little cups of bbq sauce, and they said that would cost extra. I was like, dude, I just spent over $100 for chicken nuggets and you can't give me free sauce? And that's all I remember.

Birds & bees

I had a dream about bees last night. I was trying to collect them from a hive, using a plastic trash bag. My first attempt was a disaster. I managed to get the bees in the bag, and close it up, and they were like this solid mass at the bottom. But then I let some air in, which caused the bees to go crazy and start buzzing around so much they caused the bag to blow up bigger and bigger until I couldn't keep it closed anymore. So I threw it away from me, but being a plastic bag, it kind of blew back towards me, and the bees came after me. At any given point I only had one bee on me, and I managed not to get stung.

Then, in all my brilliance, I decided to try again. This time, I used some of that taming smoke that beekeepers use. I pumped it into the bag, got the bees in there, and then started smothering them. The more I rubbed the bees in the bag, the more molasses was created. Well, it was some sort of dark brown liquid, so I can only guess it was molasses, although I suppose it could have been honey. Anyway, that was what my subconscious decided to reveal to me last night. Go figure.

Summer TV

Thanks to my DVR, I've stuck with On the Lot all summer. Admittedly, I fast-forwarded through a lot of the nonsense (the hostess is more annoying than an eyelash in your eye), but still it was neat to see several original short films each week, and I adore Garry Marshall as a judge--his endless quotations were a delight. Anyway, tonight was the finale. The winner, Will, is too adorable. What a sweet, awe-shucks kind of guy! I'm glad he won. You can see all his shorts here. Check out Glass Eye first.

The other show I've been watching this summer, although much more obsessively, is Big Brother 8. Four words: I hate Evil Dick. He is so mean and rude and cruel. At first I thought his honesty was refreshing, how he would not gossip or say things behind people's backs, but rather right to their face. But now he just does it for the thrill of the confrontation, and it is so uncomfortable to watch. I can't believe he didn't get evicted last week!

And I have just one question for you: why on earth do the girls wear strapless tops when competing for HOH? Both Jess and Daniele have risked flashing America with their victorious jumping. It's so unflattering to always be pulling up your shirt.

Other shows I've been catching up on while they're in reruns: How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and Family Guy. Funny stuff! It's nice to be able to just drop in on a show, and not have to know all the intricacies of the plot up to that point. I love shows like Lost, Traveler, and Jericho, but it's nice to have some comic relief!

36 Hours in Pittsburgh

I think it's the LA Times that has a feature called "36 Hours in..." but I could be mistaken. Anyway, I'm here for three days, but for about half that time I'm free as a bird. No work obligations! My training today was done by 10:15, so I had time to go into the city and explore. I took the Duquesne Incline up to check out the spectacular view.




I've been on one other funicular, in Montmartre.


The view that awaited that time was completely different.


Tomorrow I think I'll go to the Phipps Conservatory, and maybe the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. I love gemstone rooms.

Oh, by the way, my bag did make it from Raleigh. Thank goodness!

The joys of travel

Scheduled flight: 6:30 pm departure from Raleigh, 8:30 arrival in Pittsburgh. Then, 2 hour drive to hotel.

Enter everyone's favorite, "maintenance delay," followed post haste by the crowd-pleasing "flight cancelled." Considering how much I travel, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Actual flight: 7:45 pm departure from Raleigh, 8:45 arrival in Charlotte, 10:10 departure from Charlotte, 11:30 arrival in Pittsburgh. Still followed by the 2 hour drive to the hotel.

US Airways is not on my good side. Let's hope the baggage makes it.

On my mind

Here's a snapshot of what's on my mind this fine Sunday afternoon.

Event: Looking out the window.
Thoughts: Getting my lawn in better shape. Figuring out how to make watering more of a habit. Finding organic weed killer and fertilizer.
Actions: Watered, pulled weeds, discovered corn gluten is the answer. Who knew?!

Event: Reading a Newsweek editorial about zoos as animal prisons.
Thoughts: I like visiting zoos, but do feel badly for the animals that aren't happy. The little ones probably don't know much of a difference (I'm picturing the meerkats from the Asheboro zoo, who behaved just like the ones you see on Meerkat Manor). But the bigger animals must feel confined. But zoos educate people, engender sympathy for wildlife, breed endangered species, and on and on.
Action: It's a tough one. I'll leave it for another day.

Event: Watched video of air traffic patterns (just now got around to it, Mom!)
Thoughts: I'm part of that glowing mass, many days. It's very cool visually, but my goodness, planes pollute a lot. I wish my company bought carbon offsets. Not likely. They won't even buy a new laptop (they're taking away my desktop and giving me a used laptop from 2003 they purchased online).
Action: I should just be grateful I'm working and not complain but oh look, I am.

Event: Did not win lottery.
Thoughts: If I had won ($161 million!) I would want to start a couple nonprofits: one for the environment, and one for animals. I would make people's houses more efficient, for free. If someone called you and said, "I'm with such-and-such non-profit organization and would like to set an appointment to come out to your house and install compact fluorescent light bulbs, a programmable thermostat, and a water heater blanket, at no cost to you," wouldn't you say yes? And the other would be a no-kill shelter and adoption center, I think.
Action: Since no one won, I will buy a couple tickets for Wednesday's drawing. Keep your fingers crossed!

Quick note

I want to write about my 2nd trip to St. Louis, as well as my trip to South Carolina to visit an old friend, but I don't have it in me right now to recount it all. I'm in Wise, VA this evening, about to climb into a bed that is not my own for the fourth time in five days. I like travel but am feeling more than a little burned out at the moment. Thankfully after tonight I will have seven blissful nights at home. Poor Comet. He is very vocal when I'm there now. Probably yelling at me, asking, "So when ya gonna leave me again?!"

It is ridiculously hot right now. In the span of a couple hours, a heat advisory, an air stagnation advisory(?), and a thunderstorm warning popped into my inbox. Nuts. For the next couple of days it's going to be like 101 degrees with a heat index of 110 due to humidity. I am just so thankful for air conditioning. How on earth did people manage before it was invented, especially wearing all those layers??

More soon.