A Very Noteworthy Day
Saturday:
Strange things happen to the people I know. (Especially my sister. Last summer, she was driving down the road and a bear ran into the side of her car. A bear.) Today it was my turn. I overslept a little so I got a very quick shower, put a Pop-Tart in the toaster, and went to dry my hair. Please note that I was half-naked at the time. I finished, heard the toaster pop, and went to get my breakfast -- and the Pop-Tart was on fire.
It was like an inferno. Flames six inches high leapt from my toaster. You could smell burning sugar and blueberries crying out in the heat. It looked like I had attempted to toast a charcoal brickette. And I just looked at it for a moment. "Well what the heck am I supposed to do now? My bloody toaster's on fire."
So I pulled the plug, filled a saucepan with water and just doused the toaster. Saucepans were not meant to have things poured from them. My counter was drenched. I almost ruined my copy of Twelfth Night which was laying open upside-down near the blender. The potholder was soaked. But it put out the Pop-Tart, which hissed a lot and stood there, black and unhappy, steaming.
Of course at that point the fire alarm went off.
I threw open the balcony window, scrambled to the bathroom and turned on the fan, remembered there was a fan in the kitchen and turned that on, then got my broom and started waving it under of the fire alarm to dispell the smoke. Luckily it only took a couple of seconds before things were cleared out enough for it to shut off, and as I didn't hear any neighbors complain nor fire trucks wail, I decided the event was over. Not having any tongs, I extracted the Pop-Tart by impaling it on my kitchen shears and left it smoking on top of my stove. Then I went to put some clothes on.
I had Cap'n Crunch for breakfast instead.
Then I went to see people graduate from college.
I was late, thanks to the Pop-Tart incident and an unexpected road-closing for a 5k walk-a-thon, but I just lurked in the doorway and got to hear everything anyway. It was basically a standard graduation. The nice thing was that I got to spend time with people I love, like Karin, the Monzas, Mare-Mare, Beebs, Krista, and assorted other personages I know less well. We also had what Karin called "a drive-by Amy" wherein my dear Amy P. stormed up, hugged us, exclaimed how nice it was to see us, lamented that she had to meet her family for lunch, and blew away again. It was token Amy.
We had chicken tender sandwiches in the student union and talked about what we had been up to, how weird it was to be so old, how things had changed, etc. It was wonderful but strange. A little like a very good, familiar dream. It hurt to leave. But college is just not part of my life anymore -- things aren't like they were, for better and worse, and I'm just grateful that we can still occasionally come together and enjoy each other.
Karin (as reported by Agent B, and confirmed firsthand) has become a huge anime and manga fan. This is sort of hilarious. The woman is an actuary. She is a sweet, conservative, highly-educated, wholesome and intelligent woman. The thought of her watching magical cartoon men with bizarre sidekicks is a joyful image indeed.
I love radio shows. The king of them all is Prarie Home Companion with Garrison Kieller. He is my hero. There are skits, musical guests, monologues, and the occasional audience shoutout. It's kind of like Saturday Night Live for old people.
After that Mountain Stage came on, which is a country-music performance, and I was going to turn it off, until I found out they were re-broadcasting a show they did just before St. Patrick's Day and they were going to start and end the show with Celtic music. Hot dog! I got to hear Aire Japan and Dervish. Yay!
So meanwhile I picked up a little, cleaned up the Pop-Tart and residue from my kitchen, and have been writing ever since. I was going to watch She-Wolf of London but I think it's too late to start now. Besides, I don't think I met my daily 500-word goal so I'll have to work a little more tonight. Miles to go before I sleep ....
Strange things happen to the people I know. (Especially my sister. Last summer, she was driving down the road and a bear ran into the side of her car. A bear.) Today it was my turn. I overslept a little so I got a very quick shower, put a Pop-Tart in the toaster, and went to dry my hair. Please note that I was half-naked at the time. I finished, heard the toaster pop, and went to get my breakfast -- and the Pop-Tart was on fire.
It was like an inferno. Flames six inches high leapt from my toaster. You could smell burning sugar and blueberries crying out in the heat. It looked like I had attempted to toast a charcoal brickette. And I just looked at it for a moment. "Well what the heck am I supposed to do now? My bloody toaster's on fire."
So I pulled the plug, filled a saucepan with water and just doused the toaster. Saucepans were not meant to have things poured from them. My counter was drenched. I almost ruined my copy of Twelfth Night which was laying open upside-down near the blender. The potholder was soaked. But it put out the Pop-Tart, which hissed a lot and stood there, black and unhappy, steaming.
Of course at that point the fire alarm went off.
I threw open the balcony window, scrambled to the bathroom and turned on the fan, remembered there was a fan in the kitchen and turned that on, then got my broom and started waving it under of the fire alarm to dispell the smoke. Luckily it only took a couple of seconds before things were cleared out enough for it to shut off, and as I didn't hear any neighbors complain nor fire trucks wail, I decided the event was over. Not having any tongs, I extracted the Pop-Tart by impaling it on my kitchen shears and left it smoking on top of my stove. Then I went to put some clothes on.
I had Cap'n Crunch for breakfast instead.
Then I went to see people graduate from college.
I was late, thanks to the Pop-Tart incident and an unexpected road-closing for a 5k walk-a-thon, but I just lurked in the doorway and got to hear everything anyway. It was basically a standard graduation. The nice thing was that I got to spend time with people I love, like Karin, the Monzas, Mare-Mare, Beebs, Krista, and assorted other personages I know less well. We also had what Karin called "a drive-by Amy" wherein my dear Amy P. stormed up, hugged us, exclaimed how nice it was to see us, lamented that she had to meet her family for lunch, and blew away again. It was token Amy.
We had chicken tender sandwiches in the student union and talked about what we had been up to, how weird it was to be so old, how things had changed, etc. It was wonderful but strange. A little like a very good, familiar dream. It hurt to leave. But college is just not part of my life anymore -- things aren't like they were, for better and worse, and I'm just grateful that we can still occasionally come together and enjoy each other.
Karin (as reported by Agent B, and confirmed firsthand) has become a huge anime and manga fan. This is sort of hilarious. The woman is an actuary. She is a sweet, conservative, highly-educated, wholesome and intelligent woman. The thought of her watching magical cartoon men with bizarre sidekicks is a joyful image indeed.
I love radio shows. The king of them all is Prarie Home Companion with Garrison Kieller. He is my hero. There are skits, musical guests, monologues, and the occasional audience shoutout. It's kind of like Saturday Night Live for old people.
After that Mountain Stage came on, which is a country-music performance, and I was going to turn it off, until I found out they were re-broadcasting a show they did just before St. Patrick's Day and they were going to start and end the show with Celtic music. Hot dog! I got to hear Aire Japan and Dervish. Yay!
So meanwhile I picked up a little, cleaned up the Pop-Tart and residue from my kitchen, and have been writing ever since. I was going to watch She-Wolf of London but I think it's too late to start now. Besides, I don't think I met my daily 500-word goal so I'll have to work a little more tonight. Miles to go before I sleep ....