Going to a pig roast, of all things

Never been to one before. I already ate dinner - I made teriyaki chicken wings with homemade teriyaki sauce, so I'm proud of myself - so I'm unlikely to have any interactions with the pig itself. But I'm ready to soak up the atmosphere. Sorta.

Haven't been to an all-out, wild, Jello-shots kind of party in a while, so I'm trying not to feel like the almost-forty-year-old that I am...!

Sigh... I'm trying.

But I have a feeling we might bow out early.

Signing off,

Granny Maeve

Red Wings parade day!

The Detroit Red Wings are the 2008 Stanley Cup champions!

What a beautiful sentence that is.

I was all ready to take the day off and go to the parade today, too... until I found out it was going to be 94 degrees. I love the Red Wings, but I can watch the parade footage on the news in air-conditioned comfort tonight, thank you very much!

Yippee!

We have a car! It's a 1993 Toyota Camry LE. Yes, the one I mentioned last time. Turns out it's way better than "not too awful"! It's a little scuffed up on the outside, and it'll take a while to air out the smoke, but other than that, it's in tip-top shape. The engine thrums! Nothing rattles! Nothing squeaks! Nothing squeals! Everything works!

O happiness!

Determined to stay positive...

Scott's been off in Barb's car (thanks, Barb!) looking at cars all day, occasionally calling to update me. He roared off with high hopes and a scribbled list of phone numbers, addresses, and car details for various cars for 3,000 dollars or less (all found on either Autotrader, Craig's List, or the Ann Arbor News), and he's simply making the rounds.

He just now called me, all bummed because he drove all the way out to Eight Mile somewhere to look at a car that turned out to be a junker. It screeched unsettlingly the minute he accelerated, he said. The others he looked at weren't a whole lot better, apparently, although there's a 1993 Camry that isn't too awful. I guess "not too awful" is the best we can hope for.

Heck, you'd think three grand would get you a decent used car! When our car died last year, there were tons more options out there. I guess everyone's hanging onto their gas savers these days. Alas.

But we soldier on. The right car is out there. I know it.

Aubree's is Ausom'e

Gotta love Aubree's. Meeting three splendid friends for a splendid pizza and a couple of refreshing pints is a perfect way to round off a Wednesday work day.

Then I came home and excavated the foyer* so I could dig out the roll-away cot, just in case I do have houseguests tonight, and that inspired me to keep right on cleaning. I hoisted a dead TV and two dead inkjet printers out to sit next to the dead toilet that my landlord still hasn't moved from the side of the house. This place is starting to look like the town dump anyway: once there's a commode sitting outside your house it's all over, so why not add to it? Covered the whole mess with a sheet (nobody can say I'm not classy!), then stormed inside and kept cleaning. Place looks pretty good now. Just needs a good de-griming. I can do that this afternoon.

Anyway. Yay Aubree's, and thanks, ladies. That was just what I needed to get cranked up for cleaning.

*As I groggily sipped my morning coffee this morning, I read a reference in a magazine to a "mudroom." I perked up. That's what I have: a mudroom! I've always felt weird calling it a "foyer," 'cause, trust me, that mess ain't no foyer. And "entranceway" is boring. I like the idea of a mudroom! So much more accurate!

The fate of my three top Eurovision picks

None of my three picks made it to the top ten. Latvia came close at No. 12, though, and Denmark and France came in at 15 and 19. So they didn't bomb, at any rate.

The two I mentioned as being horrendous, however (Bosnia Herzegovina and Azerbaijan) did get into the top ten. I am aghast.

Oh, well. I look forward to the DVD from Mike: can't wait to hear Terry Wogan's growly disgust throughout the voting!

In any case, all is well. I've had some of Scott's homemade chili and am settling in for the Red Wings game. The Stanley Cup finals are upon us! Whoooo!

Eurovision Moscow 2009!

So I came back all aglow from the thoroughly enjoyable Ypsi Pops concert in the park, turned on my computer to watch the Eurovision Song Contest shortly after 3 o'clock... and ended missing the whole thing because my Internet connection vanished inexplicably.

At a quarter past six -- a quarter past midnight Belgrade time -- the connection incomprehensibly re-established itself. I hastened straight to the Eurovision site, just in time to see the Russian singer Dima Bilan marching victoriously to the stage to sing their winning song, Believe.

Oh, I believe, all right. I believe in demons. Mysterious creatures in the ether that exist to rob people of the things they enjoy, just for their own amusement. I mean, come on, I lose my Internet connection for the three specific hours of the Eurovision Song Contest? My one little weakness, my one tiny indulgence? Not fair.

But at least I got to see the last five minutes, the screaming crowd, the ecstatic replay performance, the absolutely blissful Russian singer bellowing, "See you in Moscow!"

And thank God for Mike Burger, who is getting me a copy of the BBC broadcast, complete with Terry Wogan's acerbic commentary. So I won't miss it, really. I missed it live, that's all.

As for the winning song... eh. Your basic boy toy singing your basic Eurovision boy-band pop ballad. Unthrilling, even although is a violinist (with a real Stradivarius!), which is kind of fun. And I do like the fact that there's an Olympic skater (who looks remarkably like Carson Kressley) skating around with great drama and emotion on actual ice skates during the performance.

Hmm.

Well, I'm eager to see the final scores: maybe one of my three picks made it to the top ten, anyway.

But the Eurovision Song Contest in Russia in 2009? Now that's exciting! That's going to be a serious show.