Success!

I didn't fall once!

For most of the Halloween party, I hung onto Ken.  The drinks were not very strong, I spaced them out quite a bit, and I brought sneakers in my sweet orange fanny pack.  There was no additional bruising, but my legs are sore from my roller dance moves.

Halloween 2012: "Tough"

Likely a very bad idea for a Halloween costume

I will be dressing as a roller derby player this year for Halloween.


I came up with the idea last year, thinking rather rhetorically, "How funny and annoying (for everyone around me) would it be to roller skate around all night?"  Rhetoric or not, I'll tell you.  It would be really funny and really annoying!  That year, however, I was already scheduled to dress as a dinosaur, so this "best idea ever" had to wait.

The dinosaur costume was great.  Ken and his brother, Tim, who were also dinosaurs, made three costumes our of solid colored hoodies.  I was an orange pterodactyl, Ken a blue triceratops, and Tim a green t-rex.  The costumes were creative, and the warm clothing ideal for walking around a cold Cleveland at night.

The roller derby player also seemed like a really fun costume.  It is slightly "bad ass," I am not expected to look hot (why compete?), and I can play around with makeup to give myself fake injuries. 

Fake injuries are one of my favorite things to create.  That all started in college, when we used to dress up for everything.   My first attempt at bruising was creating track marks on my arms for a cappella solo auditions (the song was from Rent).  My first attempt at blood was for my "Pulp Fiction's Uma Thurman Overdosing on Cocaine" costume senior year. 

Halloween 2007: Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction

My "I've Been Under The Water Too Long" Mermaid kick-ball costume senior year was another hit, followed by my "Extra From Heroes Who Was Killed By Sylar" my first year of grad school, when the one good season of Heroes was still in the collective pop-culture memory.


I was looking forward to creating a broken, possibly bloody, nose this year, and I still am.  I am also looking forward to a pretty unattractive costume.  My rising concern is that we are going to a crowded party Saturday night and I can't roller skate.  Even more perilous, the cost of my pre-paid ticket includes (unlimited) drinks. You can see why I am questioning the wisdom of this decision.  The evening will almost certainly end with an actual broken nose, or any number of broken noses. We'll find out soon enough!

Boxing

As compensation for moving with me to Seattle, I promised Ken that I would try muay thai.  As many of you know, Ken began practicing (or "playing," as I usually say) muay thai, a martial art with 8 points of contact.  It's like boxing with the additional use of elbows, knees and feet.  Or kickboxing with elbows and knees.

Now, I don't want to get hit in the face, but a promise is a promise.  Ken found a new gym that teaches muay thai, boxing and yoga that conveniently offered a one-day groupon for 10 classes for $50.  I told him I would try boxing first, because that has 6 fewer points of contact.

Last night, I went to my first boxing class.  Boxing 101.  I started with jump roping, which I am terrible at.  I can only really skip rope, and when I try jumping with both feet, I need to do a double jump (two jumps for every spin of the rope.  I don't spin fast enough.).  I kept hitting my feet or ponytail and stopping.  I felt like a complete idiot.  Who can't jump rope?

After this, the instructor went through 6 punches, then moved on to foot work.  Finally, he showed me how to duck and avoid punches.  So here I was, learning how not to get hit.  It was fortunate that my hands and gloves were covering most of my face as I did this, because I started laughing.  I already know how to avoid getting hit: stick to running.

Leavenworth

Day 2 of our visit to Eastern Washington.

Shaun mentioned an Oktoberfest in the nearby village of Leavenworth, and I said, "Sounds good!" As we neared the town, which was at least an hour a way so "nearby was clearly an incorrect assumption on my part, I noticed an oddly decorated Safeway and pointed it out to Ken.  "Look! That's weird!" I said, and as you can see from the image below, it had two unexpected cornucopia. 

"Look! That's weird!"

In fact, it wasn't weird at all.  What Shaun didn't tell us was that Leavenworth is Oktoberfest.  It's not just German themed for one measly festival a year, it is a permanent Bavarian-themed village in a perennially picturesque Alpine setting, and it is amazing.

After their logging industry failed when railway lines were rerouted away from their hamlet, Leavenworth fell into a steep decline.  In the 1960's, an effort was made to save the town through tourism and it was decided to create a fake German village.  And saved it was!  Now, Leavenworth is not only the home of a fancy Safeway, but the home of countless buildings covered with Bavarian facades.  

Countless Bavarian facades

I am not going on our usual family trip to Disney World's Food & Wine Festival this year, but this fake village made me feel like I was in the middle of Epcot (I've never been to Bavaria, so I can't say how it feels in comparison).  Drinking beer in the middle of the day on the upper deck of Munchen Haus, overlooking a themed village with no discernible German roots really hit the spot.  This town has everything you could possibly want, from brauts and nutcracker shops to lederhosen and haus-pitals, and all with subdued touristy-flare that makes you feel warm, welcome and not at all uncomfortable day-drinking.  With an array of delightful German food, beer, and chocolate, not to mention heavy representation by local wineries, this town should be on everyone's "must visit" lists. 

Ellensburg

Last weekend, Ken and I visited our cousin Shaun in Ellensburg, (Eastern) Washington.  Our cousin had invited us to come visit as soon as he heard that we had moved to Seattle.  "That's Ellensburg;" he wrote. "Only 100 miles east of you. We'll need to hang soon."

We took a two hour drive into the heart of nothingness, or Eastern Washington, to a small town of 18,000 residents (10,000 of which are students at Central Washington University) that, according to its website, offers big city amenities and small town charm.

The big city amenities we drove by included a run-down Casino, Jack in the Box, and what Shaun tells us is the most frequented Subway in America.  The town is know for its June "Dachshund Parade", drawing Dachshunds from all over the Northwest, celebrated for its July "Jazz in the Valley" and famous for its Labor Day Weekend Rodeo.  I clearly have my weekends booked this summer!


We walked a block and a half over to the Farmer's Market and passed a Thai restaurant on the way home. 

"How is that?" Ken asked skeptically.

"When it opened, a co-worked told me about the new thigh place in town.  She said 'We ordered 'Pad Thigh.'  It's like sweet noodles.'"

We skipped trying the thigh food, and Shaun took us on a hike that he promised wouldn't be too difficult.  Ken would be fine in jeans.  Turns out, it was difficult.  Shaun is practically 8 feet tall (when we hugged him outside his apartment upon arrival, I was on the lower step and it made for a very awkward, unbalanced hug.  Then I looked down and saw that I was on the same step as him.  He's just that tall), hikes and exercises in the outdoors regularly, and has calves muscles the size of my mid thigh.  We were walking up what felt like a 70 degree incline and sweating away while Shaun dashed in front of us, occasionally pausing so we could catch up.  We will have to work our way up to his "easy" "hikes".

Afterwards, we got some inexpensive drinks from the wine bar below his apartment.  The waitress was new and very overwhelmed by her 4 tables, and Shaun had to help her identify the wine bottle that matched the glass I ordered.  When more customers came in, she completely lost it and she didn't check in on us again.

To conclude our evening, we walked to the local university that makes up over 55% of the population to see a stand up comedy show, and walked home after.  You can walk everywhere.  Very few establishments are open late (after 9 PM), so we retired to his apartment for a drink with his friends.

The outdoor stuff looks really fun, and Ken and I are planning on visiting again.

Pitch PERFECT

The only reason I had any fun in college was because I was in an a cappella group.  The only friends I still have from college, aside from my roommate and my sister (who actually was in my a cappella group for a year), we in a cappella groups.  So, when I heard about Pitch Perfect, a motion feature about an all-girls college a cappella group, I was naturally very very excited.  Unfortunately, it waited to come out in theaters until I was in Seattle, where I don’t know anyone who would go see this movie with me.  In New York, I could find a million people, though Lindsay would have been my go-to.  In California, I would have found several Counterpoint (that was my group!) alumnae to go with me.  But in Seattle??  Ken already refused.  I don’t think my aunt or 16 year old cousin, Max, would be very into it, and my only friends who I am not related to didn’t do a cappella in college.  This movie might not be their jam.

To my surprise and extreme joy, Theresa mentioned that she and Lauren (these are my two friends) wanted to see it!  Ecstasy set in.

This movie was so hysterical!  Rebel Wilson? Hysterical.  Elizabeth Banks? Hysterical.  Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow? Hot. 

Best of all, the movie was mostly accurate!  ICCA’s is a real thing (I watched them.  We were not good enough to participate).  Three Members were completely forgotten about.  (I know we referred to someone in our partnering guys group as “The Lost Mendicant” because we didn’t realize he was in the group for half a year.  I also distinctly remember leaving Stephanie out of role call and regularly forgetting to assign her parts.)  No member of the guys group was hot.  (What? You thought the main guy actor was cute?  So did I, but that is only because he sang well.  That’s exactly how it was in college, wasn’t it.)

I only had 3-4 objections, and that is amazingly low as far as my objection counts for movies go. 

1. The “Riff Off”: A group would have to be incredible to be able to make up arrangements on the spot.  It’s easy to pick up parts when singing along with a recording, but what are the odds of everyone in the group knowing the song, for one, let alone recalling the various parts and chord progressions?  Highly unlikely.  These girls weren’t music majors, and totally sucked performing at the frat party the week before.  I don’t buy it, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it.

2. Their ICCA winning performance: It was good, but I wanted more.  I didn’t think that they were that much better than the guy group.   (And why didn’t the guy group incorporate more magic?)  Also, The Bellas “new improved” outfits that reflected each and everyone of their personalities just reflected sluttiness.  Of course, that is true to form.  All all-girl a cappella groups aspired to be desired and would slut-it-up to get the lame guys or girls from other a cappella groups to hook up with them after any performance.  Counterpoint (CPT) totally did that.  

When Bear (Stanford Counterpoint member) visited Ken and I in NYC a year ago, we reminisced and watched old CPT videos.  We had a couple of “sexy” numbers, such as Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango” and the Pussycat Dolls’ “Loosen Up My Buttons” for which we were scantily clad and performed alluring synchronized dances.  We thought we were pretty hot.

Ken watched the videos with us.  Then said, “You thought that was hot?”

This is Ken, my fiancé, who “strongly reveres” me (his words, just now. We thought “worships” was a bit strong) and thinks I’m hot now, when I am significantly less fit than I was in my college days.

This was news to me.  I still thought we were hot.  Sometimes women have a very different idea of what is hot to men than men do.  This was recently covered on “The Mindy Project”.

Fortunately for Counterpoint, and the Bella’s in Pitch Perfect, the guy groups we targeted were nearing the bottom of the barrel and had pretty low standards themselves, especially after a night of beer pong with Coors Light and mixed drinks of Smirnoff, SoCo and Diet Coke.  (We never bought regular.)

2b.  I wished they started singing “cool” songs earlier.  Given Becca’s clear tendency toward “mash-ups”, I was expecting some more sweet a cappella arrangements throughout, but given the very plausible power-struggle story line, I see why the creators waited until the end to bust out their masterpiece.  I just wish it was a little better.

3. The Lesbian: I thought we were passed making the kind of joke where the gay person is all over all the poor straight people every chance he/she gets.  What has Modern Family taught us if not to accept all types of people?  And not to fear the gays because they might hit you. 

However, these are small complaints.  I loved this movie, and it totally made me want to be 10 pounds lighter, drunk more regularly, and back in college.

Dreariness Is Upon Us

Yesterday’s weather was largely cloudy and cold, but it cleared up in the afternoon.   Prior to this, there were hardly any clouds since I got here.  Most skies were completely blue.  I don’t really remember noticing any clouds, but I can’t say that there were none.
 

Today I woke up to a heavy mist that covered the tops of trees and encroached upon power lines.  I had high hopes that Seattle would change its mind, as a warm welcome to its new east coast friends, and refrain from cloud coverage, but I fear that I was wrong.  We did enjoy some extra weeks of summer, but my weekend kayaking outing will likely transform into indoor rock climbing.