Ginkgo II

When I was in Weimar, Germany, I visited the Ginkgo Museum. I never thought much of the tree, but I became healthily infatuated with it.

I am not obsessed with the medicinal aspect of it really. What I find so lovely about the ginkgo tree is the romantic aspect. There is a poem that I just posted to my blog by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe http://www.planet-weimar.de/ginkgo/goetheandginkgo.html. He romanticized about the beauty of the leaf and the fact that it looks like 2 leaves that have merged into one. And, much like love and relationships, the tree itself is tough to cultivate ~ very hard to grow. I find that to be quite profound. He himself was in love with (and wrote the poem for) someone he could not be with, which is sort of sad, but the poem is lovely none-the-less.

Knowing that these trees are difficult to grow, I was ecstatic to see a ginkgo tree in downtown South Bend. Every time I pass that corner, I am sure to admire the tree.

Yesterday, I was running into the library. It was raining and blustery out, so I was looking down. I was so excited when I noticed that the leaves I was looking at on the sidewalk were ginkgo. I slowed down a bit. Admired. Snapped a couple of pictures, got a little wetter, a few strange looks from other strange people, and went on into the library. I smiled as I walked in and saw a few leaves strewn throughout the stairwell.

Here are some other facts about the tree itself:

1. The ginkgo biloba tree is considered a living fossil; there are trees in China that are believed to be over 1500 years old.
2. In Hiroshima Japan, there are four trees that survived the atomic bomb in 1945 (no other plants/trees ~among other things~ survived)
3. The Chinese list "aphrodisiac" as one of the benefits of ginkgo biloba nuts.
4. The extract has been used to relieve vertigo or dizziness.
5. The dietary supplement is primarily used to improve memory and enhance concentration.
6. Chemically, it has been shown that the compounds improve circulation of the blood in both the large vessels and the tiny capillaries

Have to go out an rake the maple leaves now…

Ginkgo

This tree’s leaf which here the East
In my garden propagates,
On its secret sense we feast,
Such as sages elevates.
Is it one but being single
Which as same itself divides ?
Are there two which choose to mingle,
So that one each other hides ?
As the answer to such question
I’ve found a sense that’s true:
Is it not my songs’ suggestion
That I’m one and also two ?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
AD 1815 - Love Poem to Marianne von Willemer

A Little Love is Everywhere

It makes me smile when I take a drink of water at work right now ~ the lime/calcium deposit in the bottom of my cup @ work is in the shape of a heart <3 smile :)

PBR

My first word: beer

True story.  Sure, it was quickly followed by “Mama,” but the first word was “beer.”

I really think it was because Dad would say “Hey, Jude, bring me a beer.”  Then Mom would enter the room.  I think I was actually calling Mom “beer.”

We went on a family trip, I was 2 1/2 or 3 and when we’d stop at the rest stops, Dad and I would split a beer, Mom & Brother would share a bottle of Pepsi.

We got to our destination, my Dad’s cousin’s place in Seattle. They ordered the pizza and we were asked what we wanted to drink.  Little 2.5 year old Lisa yells out “I’ll have a beer!”  They sat me down on the sofa, put a beer between my legs, snapped a pic and then cut me off.

I didn’t drink for a long time after that ~ about 24 years.

I was up visiting my sister in Madison and we went to the Roller Derby a couple of years ago. What a blast.  Loved it.  Not only was the RD fun, but the people that were there were a hoot too.  There was a couple that seriously looked like they had escaped from the circus ~ he was shorter and had a handlebar moustache; she was very large with the big blonde hair.  The sponsor beer for the RD was “Pabst Blue Ribbon.”  I was the designated driver, so I couldn't have one, but I did have a sip of my brother-in-laws.

As I sip the PBR, I say with a sigh, “ahhh! Tastes like childhood!”  The circus folk turn around and look at me with a curious look.

It’s sad when you realize you are weirder than the circus freaks.

Awww…

went to Wheat Berry in Buchanan, MI last night.  Really fun atmosphere & good grub.

This didn’t photograph as well as I’d like, but the cute lil’ gourds looked like a heart.

I love autumn.  The drive in to the place was beautiful too.  All the trees were yellow ~ made everything look golden.  Sad that the trees can’t stay that way for longer than a few days…I’d like to appreciate their beauty because once they start falling, that means a lot more yard work and I start damning them.  Not to mention the naked trees mean worst stuff is on it’s way –> ice and snow :’(

New Name for Viagra?

Alas, it’s just vitamins…

Where the Wildly Disappointing Movies Are

Yeah, the screaming that the kid is doing in the marquee…that was us.  The tag line on the marquee –> “There’s on in all of us”

Hated that tag line too.  We all have a dysfunctional, irritating, lying, biting, disrespectful runaway in us?  Huh…that explains it.

So, yes, it’s my fault that I hadn’t re-read the book recently, but the music & cinematography were enticing. 

It’s been a long time since I wanted to walk out of a movie.  We almost did.  A few times.

Is this like a mute point?

Handlmeier’s Mittelscharfer Senf

People ask me all the time about how I “find” all the International students/people.  They seem intrigued, yet quite often I don’t believe they care to hear the reason.  And that’s OK.  Quite frankly, I get tired of explaining it all the time.  Maybe someday I will outline it here and direct people to the blog post if they are really that interested, they’ll visit.

The purpose of this blog post is to express how LUCKY I am to know all of these foreigners.  I mean come on…to have 3 grown men scouring their homeland in search of a specific type of mustard I like.  Seriously. I am such a lucky person.  All I can say is thank God the guys that just got here came when they did…I was almost out of mustard!

I love the view…

…from my living room and OF my living room too.  So does Cecelia.  I also love that chair.  It’s my “Grandpa Chair.”  There was a couch that matched the chair.  My aunt gave it away at some point, but kept the chair.  When I had the chair reupholstered, I had them draw up the schematics to reproduce the sofa. I ended up going with a leather sofa and love seat ~ those 2 pieces were less than half of what the custom couch would have been.  I love the set, but it would have been really cool to have that sofa too. 

It is probably obvious, but the reason I call it my “Grandpa Chair” is because I remember my Grandpa sitting in it all the time. He had a laugh like a donkey. He was cool.

Nothing Else as Disappointing...

So...I just blogged about how gratifying it is to paint ceilings...uhhh, yeah. I might retract that statement after we discovered that the pint of paint we bought to finish the small area was the wrong type of white...we had used soft white for everything, but our lackey, God bless him, accidentally bought bright white. Thankfully, we hadn't done any touch-ups anywhere...it is an easy fix.

incidentally, this is exactly what I looked like while painting.

Just Enough Wind

She has never really liked riding in the car. She refuses to face forward and it was inevitable that she would, until recently, vomit in the car every time she got in. It didn’t matter if it was a 10 minute trip or the hour fifteen to Valpo.

She never liked the window like normal dogs do. So when she started asking for the window down lately, I oblige. I have no fear that she will jump out the window. She doesn’t keep her muzzle out there for long and it’s only barely out there. She is missing out on the joy of the wind in her face and bugs in her teeth.

Ohio is so Proud

of cow tipping that they have have started marketing the art. I have to admit, if I had the room in my luggage, I might have bought the coffee mug.

Nothing Else as Gratifying…

…as painting a ceiling.  I love to paint.  I have a painting partner too.  She and I work well together.  We have painted both her husband’s house (before they were married), our mutual friend’s dining & bathrooms, quite a few rooms in my house, and hers.  She is a master cutter-inner, I am a rolling queen, and her husband “supervises” (he’s our lackey).

It always amazes me at how satisfying it is to paint ceilings. Followed quickly by “I can’t really tell a difference.”   We know that it really is making a difference, but it’s one of those thankless tasks that the only ones that can appreciate it are the painter and maybe the owner, if they aren’t one in the same.

Now that I think about it, those thankless tasks seem to be the ones that I prefer to do.  The ones that no one really wants to do and aren’t a whole lot of fun, but contribute so much.  Most of all, I love spending the time with my friend.  It is on of “our” things.  And what is better than doing a thankless task with a friend?  Very little…for someone that’s co-dependant.

They Really Need a Native Speaker…

This was at the same place with the “Ask cashier for towels and squeezes” (versus ‘squeegees’) photo that I posted a month back.  They have a new sign for the food-ette place inside.  It’s meant to be a play on “LaGuardia” but, they used a “q” in the sign instead of a “g”.  I found it mildly entertaining.

Some of My Favorite Things

Mmmm, the smell of Autumn!! The damp leaves, the dry leaves, the smell of chimneys puffing their smoke, campfires, sweaters, gingerbread, apple crisp, and hot cider. The sights of the season are always spectacular and I know my camera cannot produce an image that would do the grandeur of it all justice.

I was driving along the toll road between South Bend and Valpo (and back) today and enjoying the occasional blast of color that greeted me around the subtle turns in the road. Breathtaking...and it's just starting. We will be in full color soon.

I wonder if the trees are jealous of the ones that start to turn 1st or if they feel sorry for it? Is it a "I wanted to be the first to show the beautiful red leaves" or is it a "aww, poor thing is going to be cold and naked sooner than the rest of us"? (Yes, I know, trees don't think.. I blame Disney for my giving emotions to everything) Even the unwanted weeds were joining in the spectacle, showing off their importance in a vibrant and bold red. The audacity!

One of the things I miss from the house I rented before I bought this one is the beautiful tree in my backyard. It was magnificent. It was enormous and perfect. In the fall, the leaves turned this lovely peach color before turning yellow or orange. It shadowed my deck and I would sit there in it's shade looking up at the beauty of it. I miss that tree. I have to admit, I have been known to drive by the house at this time of year just to see the tree. I never seem to get to it in time to see it in full color. Either that, or since it's not my tree anylonger, it has lost a little of its luster for me. But, I doubt that, my tree wouldn't be that way.

Please do me a favor and if you are in the Midwest, make sure that you take the time to enjoy the beauty of the season!

Infamous

I have a lot of wonderful memories of Oz. Two of those memories are of my trips to Taronga Zoo. Talk about prime real estate! You know “the” view of Sydney ~ the one where the Opera House is on the left, the bridge is to the right? Yeah, that’s the one…it’s the view from the zoo.

It’s where I was up close & personal with my first koala (THEY AREN’T BEARS!!). It was also where I became infamous.

My Aussie sister and I were being goofy (SO unlike us…). We decided that we needed to talk to the seals and try to get them to do tricks. It’s not that unrealistic, is it?! I mean, they have seal shows, right?

It is important to mention that I wear glasses. I also wear prescription sunglasses. On this particular day, I had my regular glasses hanging on my collar of my t-shirt. As I was “talking to the animals” I leaned a little too far forward and PLOP! There go my glasses! I think it’s also important to mention that I tend to be a bit dramatic. We again tried to get the seals to bring my glasses up to me balanced on their nose, but they weren’t cooperating. We needed a zookeeper. I tried to convince the Keeper to get the seals to bring it up. He just rolled his eyes at me and proceeded to drag my glasses up the side of the tank with the pool skimmer. Killjoy.

The story doesn’t end there! Oh no, the title of this blog is, after all, ‘infamous.’

When I went back to visit my family a couple years later, my sister & I decided to go back. We of course had to go visit the scene of the crime. There was a Keeper there at the tank talking to some other Americans. We overheard him saying “Yeah, a few years back, a Yank dropped her glass…” I screamed, shrieked, and screamed again “THAT WAS ME! THAT WAS ME!!”

I believe his response was a non-emphatic “Crikey, it was…” (and no, putz, it wasn’t Steve Erwin).

Halloween

I love Halloween. I like to think of myself as a creative person, but when it comes to coming up with clever costumes, I am not too good when it comes to execution. I think I am too impatient when it comes to the details. I think I get bored.

I have had some interesting homemade costumes though: light bulb, gumball machine, deviled egg…those were fun. I love subtle decorations too ~ I have a ceramic Partylite Haunted House and a skeleton dog from the same. The picture above is another Partylite thingy too. It has the wax tart on top and the tea light on the bottom. I was attempting to get artsy, but most of the pictures turned out blurry ‘cause my hand was all shaky. I’ll pretend it is making it look spooky.

As for carving pumpkins…the below are the results of 2 of my International roomies and my efforts at creativity from a couple Halloweens Past. Can you guess which one was mine?

Circle City

I use to live in Indianapolis.  I loved the city. When I lived there, the city was going through renaissance.  Before the mid-nineties, people use to say that they rolled the streets up at night.

My university was downtown.  I loved walking to the Canal to study in between classes. The downtown area was clean and pretty.

At first, I lived near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  That was horrible in the spring. I couldn’t open my windows without hearing “vroom…vroom” and on time trial or race day…oyevay… I once got stuck 3 blocks from home.  It wouldn’t have mattered if I didn’t have to pee so badly.  I almost wet my pants. I love the apartment because it was my 1st place, but that was the only reason.  Boy was that place nasty.

My next place was in the historic district downtown in a lovely painted lady.  These houses now go for a pretty penny, but they were just starting to revitalize the area when I lived there.  That house was amazing. Too bad the roommates were asses.

Still, I have lovely memories in that house too.  That’s where my German brother Alexander and I started off. Actually, for all the horrible memories there, Alexander trumps them immeasurably.

After I left Indy, my brother moved there to do his residency.  I loved visiting him down there (FREE PLACE TO STAY!).  Then he had to go and get a Fellowship in Ohio…some people…

I spent some time in Indy this summer visiting friends and doing the NITE Ride again.  I loved being down there.  I really miss that city.  It still feels like home.

OK, or…

We saw this dress in the window of the design school on Michigan Ave. in Chicago.  How fun!  Still not sure if it is suppose to say something.  I know some sign language and it didn’t seem to say anything.

Not sure if the top hand is “OK” or a tweaked nipple?  You be the judge!

Fire Breathing

I don't know how the cups didn't disintegrate. This was supposedly "apple schnapps." We think not. There was no apple. There was only fire! We were fearful that we were too close to the open flames on the table.

Oktoberfest, sorta

I love my Germans.  No big secret. So, when I heard that the closest thing to a German restaurant in the area (an Austrian one in a neighboring town) was sponsoring an Oktoberfest, I was game, so was Mom.

They had the traditional “oom pa pa” band that I only found in the tourist places in Munchen (where my loving “brother” only took me against his will).  I sat at a table near the band ~ during their breaks they sat with us. We liked them.

I was curious what bier they were going to have and what they were going to deem “authentic” Oktoberfest cuisine.  I was not surprised at what we found: Spätzle, wienerschnitzel, brats, new potatoes with sauerkraut, and some sort of goulash. And more sauerkraut. And more sauerkraut.

Seriously, this is what was LEFT after I ate some.  Guarantee, I am not a HUGE sauerkraut fan, but I will eat it.  Just not a gallon of it.  I swear this was a whole head of cabbage.

Notice the mustard. YES! Authentic German mustard. Yum.

The band also sang one of my favorite German songs ~ incidentally, one that none of “my” Germans have ever heard…obviously they had never seen Animaniacs.

I requested Ramstein, they didn’t accommodate. 

Tally: 1 brat (not a Bavarian weisswurst), 6 boiled potatoes, a liter of sauerkraut, 2 Oktoberfest dark biers, an apple strudel, and an apple schnapps.

Poor Drunk Guy :(

We were sitting at the wine bar people watching ~ I was also watching the bride checking her phone & texting with her future hubby.  How schmoopy :).   That’s OK I had Michele & Jae to text me!

So, there was the couple pictured here that was drunk and kept coming over to us trying to get us to dance with them.  It’s probably my fault ‘cause when the Ahmed Zappa look-a-like invaded one our personal space “bubbles” I grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt.  I guess that was an invitation to drape their bodies on us at will.  Still, they were fun and harmless.

Then, there was this guy.  Very obviously plastered.  He wasn’t that bad looking, but he was barely standing.  At one point ballerina girl was dancing alone and this guy tried to move in on her.  She was very subtle in her snub and he was a little sad in his recoil.  But he moved on quickly.  There were a couple of PYTs dancing near.  Funny thing was, he would only attempt dancing with them if they came within arms reach of him and then he would just do this weird arm thing.  Most of the chicks had no clue he was making the attempt.  I would liken the attempt to one of those situations where you see someone wave and you wave back only to realize that they were waving at someone behind you, so you try to recover by faking a stretch or running your hand through your hair.

It was an interesting study.  I wonder if he ever scored?  There were a few s-faced chicas there that were probably just his type.

A Little Bit of Spain

This weekend was a blast. We went to Chicago to celebrate a dear friend’s bachelorette party.  She had lived in Spain at one point and we thought it would be fun to have a Spanish themed party.  Initially I had looked up different party favors, but realized no one would really have the need for a paper fan (you know, like Flamenca dancers use) with the love bird’s names on them ~ or the other route, penis shaped straws.  Just seemed to be a waste of money.  We decided to put that toward more important things – booze and food.

We made a detour to get “THE DRESS,” which was a challenge for a couple of reasons: the bride doesn’t want anyone but immediate family to see it until the wedding & 2 it was raining.  We managed to get the dress without my seeing it and get it into the car without issue.  Off to downtown!

We got to the Palmer House around 4:45 CST and checked in.  Being from the area, I have of course been in the historic landmark, but I had never been in the rooms.  Extremely pleased!  The room was spacious and really pretty. Phew! So far so good!!   We wanted the event to be that ~ special, just like the bride!

The Palmer House is one of the oldest hotels in Chicago.  Potter Palmer had built it as a wedding present for his Bride.  So, it was sort of symbolic that we were celebrating a wedding ourselves!  I had heard (or thought) that it was one of the only structures to survive The Fire, but the original one did perish that dreadful year.  The current structure was the 3rd version (the expansion was built around the 2nd & they never lost a day of business!).  It’s breath-taking.  It’s worth walking in and going UP to the lobby (yes, ladies, up…).  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_House

We then took a taxi to Mercat a la Planxa http://www.mercatchicago.com/ for some Spanish tapas.  The restaurant is located in the Blackstone Hotel. It looks fancy too ~ but if you want to know about it, you can look up the history yourself :)

It was a little pretentious in presentation, which isn’t my preferred style, but it was a special occasion and we had a lovely view of Grant Park.

There was a table next to us celebrating a man’s 90'th birthday.  I gave him a hug on his way out.  He said that was his best gift yet.  I think he was over exaggerating a BIT.

We ate a LOT. Then, we walked to Millennium Park and showed one of the bejeweled companions (did I mention we were all wearing crowns?) “the Bean” then off to Swirl via Walgreens & Dunkin Donuts.

First, let me say…I never realized how heathenistic Hubbard Street is.  Wow.  Lots of Adult Book stores.  One right next to our club too!

The bar was nice http://www.swirlwinebarchicago.com/.  It was narrow, no cover, no line ~ 2 drink minimum and a live flamenco band.  I felt bad, ‘cause from the adverts, I thought there would be the full garb with the skirts and castanets, but it was mostly just the band.  There were a few times where one of the guys danced.  And when he did…*prrrr* 

We were sitting on top of him, so I got a fairly good look at him. Nice guy.  Married for 19 years and still going strong.  I do have to admit, I found him less attractive when I heard him speak.  I was hoping for an accent.

Before we knew it, the time was 1:30 am CST (2:30 for us).  We said goodbye to one of our Crowned Princesses and jumped in our own Taxi and headed back to the Palmer House.

Then, none of us could sleep, but that didn’t matter. T-minus 2 weeks until the big day!