Paris

Been here 5 days; but having trouble with this French keyboard. Tomorrow we leave for Slovenia! Having a great time; will write more when I get back.

Frappe, my ass

I was dissapointed with Toscanini's for the first time today. Chocolate milkshake cravings had taken me there and I was momentarily worried when I couldn't find milkshakes on their menu, but finally remembered that in the Boston area milkshakes aren't milkshakes, they're frappes. A frappe with chocolate no. 3 (dark chocolate) was ordered and I was happy again - until I got it. Totally runny, more akin to very cold chocolate milk than a satifying, filling, thick milkshake. All the milk dumped in dilutes teh taste of the ice cream and it's so thin you gulp it down in a few swallow harldy even realizing it.

Maybe frappes aren't the equivalent of milkshakes and are inherently wussier? Or maybe Toscanini's just makes really bad ones? Either way, I won't be trying that again.

Annoying

There is a wedding across the street - with an accordian. Gah.

In happier news we got our plane tickets for Sasha and Megan's wedding. We'll be in CA Oct 21-25!

Vacation

We leave for Europe on Wednesday. This morning we got our Paris hotel reservations and it finally seems real. So excited. We'll be back Oct 5 (there won't be any posting while I'm gone).

Unattainable West Coast Cravings SUCK

I want It's-its and grilled cheese from In-N-Out. Grrr.

As I was reading a magazine in front of the science center today, a guy approached me and asked me if I would do a survey for the psychology department...

I hesitated

... for candy.

Okay!

It's a pretty savvy strategy for getting participants: ask people who are seated so don't have the chance to keep walking or pretend they are busy, and offer sweets around lunchtime. I saw them talk to a bunch of people and none of them refused the survey.

In case you were wondering, it was about a robot that either hit or saved a child, with various outcomes, and in some cases meant to and others did not. You had to judge which situations were better or worse than others and sometimes had to weight intent against outcome.

The cravings are coming

Last night I would have given anything for nacho fries from Izzy's. They're round slices of potatoes instead of the traditional fry shape, fat and soft and delicious, covered with nacho cheese sauce and jalapenos. Too bad it's in Yuba City and not there anymore (some stupid fish place the last time I visited).

Specialized footware is a pain

I was almost to the bus stop when I realized that tennis shoes would
probably be more appropriate than ballet flats for going to the gym.

Great day

While volunteering at ALACE this morning, I got to watch a bunch of
birth videos, which wigged me out at first, but were ultimately really
cool and tear-worthy. And they gave me Ina May's Guide to Childbirth as
a present. Best of all I felt energetic and had a happy stomach.
(While I haven't had morning sickness or overt nausea, sometimes my
stomach felt kind of blah and I couldn't tell if it was hunger or
queasiness.)

After a 20 min nap and hummus and tabouli making, I was tired, but had
to go to Harvard square to give Bill a change of clothes for ultimate
frisbee, so I dropped by yoga and had the awesome fortune to catch an
almost empty class - only one other guy there. Reenergized from yoga, I
went to see how the ultimate game was going and got roped into playing
when someone left. I scored to (lucky) goals. Now I'm walking back to
the square where I'll read my new book while I wait for sweatmaster Bill
to shower before we meet our friends for Mexican food.

Talons

[Heh. Sent to wrong blog. I am not eating my nails.] I don't know if it's the prenatal vitamins or what, but these thing won't break. When your nails are so long that they click when you type and stab you when you rub your eyes (we won't talk about nose picking), then it is time to hack those suckers off.

Pee Machine

I thought that the urge to urinate every two seconds would wait until my uterus was actually big enough to push on my bladder. I was so, so wrong. If my body is retaining any electrolytes, it would be a miracle.

Bone crusher

What is it with people with inappropriately strong handshakes? It's so bizarre and aggressive that it makes me think of a psycho killer who feels like he has to prove something and is set off on a murdering spree because of some imagined slight that showed "lack of respect". Or maybe Lenny from Of Mice and Men, without the mental capacity to realize his own strength.