Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Dating the living is hard enough
By all accounts, I'm a level-headed girl. I have a job that requires analytical thinking, and I'm constantly looking for the most logical, most simple explanation for, well, everything.
When I can't find a logical explanation, however, I am perfectly willing to accept a paranormal one. Let's face it, I'm just a little quirky that way. Plus, if the guy I'm out with turns out to be a total dud, mentioning my personal history with the paranormal is usually enough to ensure they'll never call me again. It's a lot more sanitary than smoking, and if I find myself flailing, I can toss in the fact that my (seriously, non-existent) "spirit guide" sees us having at least five children and a huge church wedding. CHECK, PLEASE!
Sometimes though, it just comes up when I'm not looking for it. The guy could be perfectly nice, truly amazing even, and yet there it is. When it comes up, I present what I know logically, and pray that he isn't completely frightened of me, this cute, sensible girl who just happens to see dead people on rare occasions. What can I say, I believe in being honest.
That's exactly what happened last night. TechGuy was up from VA, visiting a friend in the hospital. Since it's a bit of a distance thing and this week is crazy enough, we decided to grab a drink in Fell's Point. The chosen place had the dubious distinction of being named, "Baltimore's best 'Dive Bar' in 2006," but at least it wasn't Max's. :)
While we were sitting there chatting, barely a few sips into our beers, the lights came blazing on. Slightly strange, but we just figured someone dropped a contact (not that you'd want one back if you dropped it on that floor). Then, when the bartender walked over from the other side of the bar, grabbed the remote that was right in front of us, shook her head, and fired, I started to think something else was up.
Before I realized quite what I was doing or remembered that I was with this awesome guy who I had no intention of scaring off, I opened my mouth: "Any other ways that light could have come on?"
"Nope, and you saw where I was, and where that remote was," she replied.
"What's his name?" I asked - still forgetting that TechGuy was getting an interesting first-time look into my secret life.
Over the next ten minutes or so, TechGuy and I got the full story on BOTH ghosts. One, a sailor shanghaied during the War of 1812 was a fun-loving prankster. The other, a life-long abuser who lived upstairs until he was murdered by his own son in the '80s, well, wasn't. We weren't positive which one we were dealing with, but when the lights came on a second time, and the AC kicked on, we knew we were dealing with something.
Now, I've seen enough episodes of Ghost Hunters to know that provoking a spirit can either be a really good idea or a spectacularly bad one. Either way, it tends to produce results. Since I was still showing no signs of scaring off TechGuy, I decided to go "all in."
"If you were a real man, you'd turn the fan on," I said to the light (now off since it was starting to annoy the other patrons who, trust me, needed all the low lights and beer goggles they could get). "Lights and fan. Come on, you wimp, show me what you've got."
And...Nothing. So much for "guaranteed results."
I still wasn't 100% on how TechGuy felt about this whole situation, but I got my answer soon enough. He was sitting on his chair with no one except me within easy reach. All of a sudden, he pitched forward a little.
"Did you do that?" he asked me.
"Um...no...."
"He's behind me then," TechGuy declared matter-of-factly. "My chair just got bumped."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Here, I thought, was a real man who was just as logical as me about this whole thing. Squee!!!
Apparently, someone else was anxious to prove that TechGuy wasn't the only "real man" in the room. As soon as I shared that thought with him (without the "Squee" of course), the light flared on. Again. And this time, the fan was spinning at top speed -- just like I had demanded.
The bartender showed us the remote, and we could very clearly see that NOTHING was actually turned on. I gingerly reached forward and hit the fan's speed button, anxious to see what would happen if I turned the not-on-now-speeding fan up. I did not, I assure you, touch any other button - much less the one that turned the lights off. But that's exactly what happened. I turned the fan up, and it and the lights turned off. Then, the AC turned back on.
After that, all was quiet. I tried to provoke once more by asking the guitarist (dive bar had one of those!) to sing "Son of a son of a sailor," but it turned out he didn't know it. Bummer. We left the bar shortly after. After all, TechGuy still had to get to the hospital, and I to the cleaning I had abandoned. Still the evening was, if you'll excuse the pun, enlightening.
When I can't find a logical explanation, however, I am perfectly willing to accept a paranormal one. Let's face it, I'm just a little quirky that way. Plus, if the guy I'm out with turns out to be a total dud, mentioning my personal history with the paranormal is usually enough to ensure they'll never call me again. It's a lot more sanitary than smoking, and if I find myself flailing, I can toss in the fact that my (seriously, non-existent) "spirit guide" sees us having at least five children and a huge church wedding. CHECK, PLEASE!
Sometimes though, it just comes up when I'm not looking for it. The guy could be perfectly nice, truly amazing even, and yet there it is. When it comes up, I present what I know logically, and pray that he isn't completely frightened of me, this cute, sensible girl who just happens to see dead people on rare occasions. What can I say, I believe in being honest.
That's exactly what happened last night. TechGuy was up from VA, visiting a friend in the hospital. Since it's a bit of a distance thing and this week is crazy enough, we decided to grab a drink in Fell's Point. The chosen place had the dubious distinction of being named, "Baltimore's best 'Dive Bar' in 2006," but at least it wasn't Max's. :)
While we were sitting there chatting, barely a few sips into our beers, the lights came blazing on. Slightly strange, but we just figured someone dropped a contact (not that you'd want one back if you dropped it on that floor). Then, when the bartender walked over from the other side of the bar, grabbed the remote that was right in front of us, shook her head, and fired, I started to think something else was up.
Before I realized quite what I was doing or remembered that I was with this awesome guy who I had no intention of scaring off, I opened my mouth: "Any other ways that light could have come on?"
"Nope, and you saw where I was, and where that remote was," she replied.
"What's his name?" I asked - still forgetting that TechGuy was getting an interesting first-time look into my secret life.
Over the next ten minutes or so, TechGuy and I got the full story on BOTH ghosts. One, a sailor shanghaied during the War of 1812 was a fun-loving prankster. The other, a life-long abuser who lived upstairs until he was murdered by his own son in the '80s, well, wasn't. We weren't positive which one we were dealing with, but when the lights came on a second time, and the AC kicked on, we knew we were dealing with something.
Now, I've seen enough episodes of Ghost Hunters to know that provoking a spirit can either be a really good idea or a spectacularly bad one. Either way, it tends to produce results. Since I was still showing no signs of scaring off TechGuy, I decided to go "all in."
"If you were a real man, you'd turn the fan on," I said to the light (now off since it was starting to annoy the other patrons who, trust me, needed all the low lights and beer goggles they could get). "Lights and fan. Come on, you wimp, show me what you've got."
And...Nothing. So much for "guaranteed results."
I still wasn't 100% on how TechGuy felt about this whole situation, but I got my answer soon enough. He was sitting on his chair with no one except me within easy reach. All of a sudden, he pitched forward a little.
"Did you do that?" he asked me.
"Um...no...."
"He's behind me then," TechGuy declared matter-of-factly. "My chair just got bumped."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Here, I thought, was a real man who was just as logical as me about this whole thing. Squee!!!
Apparently, someone else was anxious to prove that TechGuy wasn't the only "real man" in the room. As soon as I shared that thought with him (without the "Squee" of course), the light flared on. Again. And this time, the fan was spinning at top speed -- just like I had demanded.
The bartender showed us the remote, and we could very clearly see that NOTHING was actually turned on. I gingerly reached forward and hit the fan's speed button, anxious to see what would happen if I turned the not-on-now-speeding fan up. I did not, I assure you, touch any other button - much less the one that turned the lights off. But that's exactly what happened. I turned the fan up, and it and the lights turned off. Then, the AC turned back on.
After that, all was quiet. I tried to provoke once more by asking the guitarist (dive bar had one of those!) to sing "Son of a son of a sailor," but it turned out he didn't know it. Bummer. We left the bar shortly after. After all, TechGuy still had to get to the hospital, and I to the cleaning I had abandoned. Still the evening was, if you'll excuse the pun, enlightening.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A moment of silence and a speedy recovery
For the fencing team at The College of William and Mary.... (pulled directly from the team website).
The William and Mary fencing team was traveling to Haverford PA this weekend to compete in our 2nd of 3 MACFA team events. We were traveling in two vehicles, a
van and a car, when the car was involved in a crash on I-95.It brings us great sadness to report that our longtime coach, Pete Conomikes, died in the crash. Three fencers from the team were also in the car and are being treated at
Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Their injuries range from minor to critical.We mourn the loss of our coach and are hopeful that our teammates will make a complete recovery.
Pete has been an amazing influence on so many in the fencing community. We ask that you keep those involved in the crash and their families in your thoughts and prayers over the next several days. We also request that the privacy of our team members and their families be respected in this time of great stress and uncertainty.
We will update this post with further information as we receive it.
Thank you for your concern.
William and Mary Fencing Team
11/11/07, 1:30 PM Update:
Matt Peppe has been treated and released from MCV. Spencer Butts remains in critical condition as does Ben Gutenberg.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Entertainment Report
Since most of you have probably missed SNL since Molly Shannon, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, and the rest of the "good cast" left, you probably weren't aware of last night's completely incredible episode. Since the writers' strike starts Monday, you'll probably get a chance to see it in repeat real soon. I highly encourage it. The host was Brian Williams, of the NBC Nightly News, who is already one of the funniest people on the planet, in my opinion. While I'd never heard of the musical guest, the episode was absolutely HYSTERICAL and featured cameos by Senator Obama and Horatio Sanz.
But that's not the piece of entertainment news that I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around. It's this one about former All My Children star and uber-hottie, Justin Bruening:
My sister will see the irony in this one right away, but for those of you who aren't intimately knowledgeable about the backstage workings of daytime TV, I'll warn you that it may be enough to make your head explode. Here's the story....
Once upon a time in the early 1980s, there was a young actress named Catherine Hickland. Hickland was married to David Hasselhoff, who of course, played Michael Knight on Knight Rider. In 1989, Hickland and Hoff divorced, and in 1992, Hickland married Michael E. Knight (yes, that's his real name) who had been starring on All My Children since the early 1980s as a character named Tad Martin (we'll kindly forget that Ted Orsini debacle, after all, it's not really important right now). From 2003 through August of this year, Tad's son Jamie was played by none-other than Justin Bruening who is now starring in NBC's new Knight Rider movie as the son of The Hoff's character, Michael (No 'E') Knight, Jr.
Congrats to Justin on the new role, and congrats to everyone who followed that without their head exploding!!
But that's not the piece of entertainment news that I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around. It's this one about former All My Children star and uber-hottie, Justin Bruening:
On November 2, 2007, it was announced that he would be starring in a new spin of the original Knight Rider series, portraying the original Knight Rider's son, Michael Knight Jr., for a two-hour special on NBC. The original having been portrayed by actor David Hasselhoff, newspaper The Hollywood Reporter immediately took notice to the similarities between the two castings:
“ ...the choice of Bruening closely resembles Hasselhoff's casting a quarter-century ago. Like Bruening, Hasselhoff was a soap star (The Young and the Restless) with few other credits when he landed Knight Rider. He was almost the same age as Bruening, who is 28.
My sister will see the irony in this one right away, but for those of you who aren't intimately knowledgeable about the backstage workings of daytime TV, I'll warn you that it may be enough to make your head explode. Here's the story....
Once upon a time in the early 1980s, there was a young actress named Catherine Hickland. Hickland was married to David Hasselhoff, who of course, played Michael Knight on Knight Rider. In 1989, Hickland and Hoff divorced, and in 1992, Hickland married Michael E. Knight (yes, that's his real name) who had been starring on All My Children since the early 1980s as a character named Tad Martin (we'll kindly forget that Ted Orsini debacle, after all, it's not really important right now). From 2003 through August of this year, Tad's son Jamie was played by none-other than Justin Bruening who is now starring in NBC's new Knight Rider movie as the son of The Hoff's character, Michael (No 'E') Knight, Jr.
Congrats to Justin on the new role, and congrats to everyone who followed that without their head exploding!!
Smalltimore
I haven't done a thing of substance today. All right, a thing of substance that has required me to get dressed. I wrote over 1,000 words for my Nano novel, and got a little bit of "real work" done, but I'm kind of digging the idea of spending my Sunday in my pj's belting songs from my Natalie Cole CD.
Thanks to Charissa and Danielle for organizing the Blogger HH on Friday. I really enjoyed meeting everyone!! I promised I'd look into organizing January. Hope people like karaoke.... ;)
I also figured out just how small this town really is this weekend. Friday night, it turned out that Summer and hubby (Matt) were neighbors of my friend Kristen. That was random enough, but after what happened Saturday, I'm more convinced than ever that this really is the "Biggest Small Town in America" (a much better slogan IMO than "Get In On It"):
When I'm nervous about a big decision, and after I get opinions from my friends (who are the most wonderful people in the world and who would totally have my back in any bar fight I may happen to find myself in), but I still don't know what I'm going to do, I employ the tried-and-true "man on the street opinion." Of course, in this case, it's the "Random Chick in the Bathroom" approach.
Yesterday, I asked the opinion of this girl in the bathroom, and we started talking (boys, this is normal female behavior, I assure you), and then we walked out. Never exchanged names, because that kills the "random chick" part of the whole thing. Plus, you'll never "see this girl again." To exchange names is kind of against the "random chick in bathroom" advice column code. I headed out the door to meet my friends again, and I was halfway up the street when this guy came rushing out of the bar yelling, "Hey Stranger!!!"
Turns out, "Random Chick" wasn't as random as I thought. I worked with her husband at T. Rowe for four years!!! He met her after I left, and married her about a year ago. Considering I had never been in that bar before IN.MY.LIFE. it wasn't supposed to happen. Yet it did.
One thing: I was named MVP of my football game yesterday. I actually made four catches and then, apparently, posed with the ball like I was dancing. Not sure what happened there, but I made four catches!! ;)
AND NAVY WON!!
Good weekend all around.
Thanks to Charissa and Danielle for organizing the Blogger HH on Friday. I really enjoyed meeting everyone!! I promised I'd look into organizing January. Hope people like karaoke.... ;)
I also figured out just how small this town really is this weekend. Friday night, it turned out that Summer and hubby (Matt) were neighbors of my friend Kristen. That was random enough, but after what happened Saturday, I'm more convinced than ever that this really is the "Biggest Small Town in America" (a much better slogan IMO than "Get In On It"):
When I'm nervous about a big decision, and after I get opinions from my friends (who are the most wonderful people in the world and who would totally have my back in any bar fight I may happen to find myself in), but I still don't know what I'm going to do, I employ the tried-and-true "man on the street opinion." Of course, in this case, it's the "Random Chick in the Bathroom" approach.
Yesterday, I asked the opinion of this girl in the bathroom, and we started talking (boys, this is normal female behavior, I assure you), and then we walked out. Never exchanged names, because that kills the "random chick" part of the whole thing. Plus, you'll never "see this girl again." To exchange names is kind of against the "random chick in bathroom" advice column code. I headed out the door to meet my friends again, and I was halfway up the street when this guy came rushing out of the bar yelling, "Hey Stranger!!!"
Turns out, "Random Chick" wasn't as random as I thought. I worked with her husband at T. Rowe for four years!!! He met her after I left, and married her about a year ago. Considering I had never been in that bar before IN.MY.LIFE. it wasn't supposed to happen. Yet it did.
One thing: I was named MVP of my football game yesterday. I actually made four catches and then, apparently, posed with the ball like I was dancing. Not sure what happened there, but I made four catches!! ;)
AND NAVY WON!!
Good weekend all around.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)