Slow life

Well, I suppose it's time for another post...it's been a few weeks and there are a couple things that have happened.

Topic # 1: Super Furry Animals (not Fritz or Vivek). Yay! My favorite Welch band found its way to Minneapolis! We weren't sure if we would be able to make it, but Vivek miraculously recovered from his fever in time for lab happy hour (a newly instituted, weekly pool and beer event), dinner, and a long night listening to music (that was entertaining, bad, and then fantastic). There were a few memorable moments to the night - the first was an opening act by Jeffrey Lewis. With songs about Top Ramen and the comic book animated Creeping Brain I found myself wishing that his act would go on a little longer. Another, much too loud, act later and we found ourselves staring at five Super Furry Animals. And they certainly were furry! I couldn't tell at first because the lead singer came out wearing a Power Ranger's helmet - as you can see....
He also ate celery as a sound effect at one point.

Topic #2: Fritz goes insane! It seems that Vivek's absence during the work week has confused Fritz. When Vivek's gone, Fritz acts like he's lost and can't figure out what to do with himself. He's always happy to see me when I get home from work, but once he realizes that Vivek isn't coming home he starts yeowling and running around the apartment. Sometimes he even hides in his cat tent (given to him by the parents of his cat buddy Lindy).

When Vivek finally does get home, Fritz doesn't know what to make of it. A couple weeks ago, Vivek was petting Fritz when Vivek tried to amp up the petting with a second hand. Fritz freaked out and went into attack mode as Vivek brought his hand over. For his trouble, Vivek suffered bleeding puncture wounds and scratches all over his right arm. The next day Fritz walked over to Vivek, sat down in front of him, and gave him a mean spirited meow. Vivek stepped around him, and in return, Fritz attacks him again! Thankfully Vivek was wearing pants, so he was fine. That was the end of the misbehaving though, and ever since Vivek sprayed Fritz with water, things have been cool. I guess Fritz just needed to know that Vivek isn't a total pushover (though, it's really really close!).

Topic #3: Vivek and I have been married 6 months....Hooray! To celebrate we bought a cheap bottle of champagne at Costco. I'm drinking it now, in fact. It went well with the frozen pizza we got from Costco, and to me is the perfect Oscar watching beverage.

Slow life indeed.....

Oh yeah, see if you can figure this one out:

India Wedding Photos!! - Really!!!!

Well, we got a CD with our wedding and reception photos from the Indian photographers. We've posted them in two public Picasa albums that you can find here. There were actually many more photographs than what we've posted, but most of them were bad at worst, and hilariously funny at best (though not in a good way - see the post called O! for an example of that type of photo).

We may try to add captions at some point....maybe I'll start now. Anyway, enjoy!

Another trip to the symphony

Thanks to a great wedding gift Vivek and I had tickets to the orchestra this weekend. This time we had tickets to the Orchestra's Sounds of Cinema series. Our night included a screening of the classic silent film "The Battleship Potemkin" as the orchestra played a soundtrack compiled from the works of Shostakovich. It was a pretty unique experience, especially since we were allowed to bring our popcorn and drinks in with us. I have to say that it was slightly strange to hear the low rumble of popcorn munching during a live performance of Shostakovich. Even so, I think it was a great experience - the movie was great, the popcorn decent, and the music was outstanding. We were up at the highest levels of the hall this time, so I felt comfortable taking a few shots of it before the concert started. You can see the movie screen in the first shot.

And here's my scotch and popcorn....If you're wondering, the floor here was sticky. I don't think that's standard for the symphony. And it wasn't my fault.
The ceiling and walls in the hall have all these odd cube things in them. Since we were close to the ceiling this time, I thought I'd get a shot. Anyone have any idea whether these should help or hurt sound quality in the hall?

Being camera happy I took a last shot, this time of the mountain of snow along our street. Some very kind person cut a path through it so we can get from the street to the sidewalk. Here's a picture with Vivek's foot in the canyon.

Four years!...geeze it's cold out!....*yawn*

Many of you may not know the story of how Vivek and I met. If you don't I may tell you someday, but the story is not that interesting. The important point is that four years ago, on Martin Luther King weekend, some friends and I drove to Chicago and I met a guy with a fourteen letter last name; first name, Vivek. Even though I'd like to say that it feels like we met yesterday, I can't....I mean, a lot has happened in four years, and I've started living the next decade of my life. Also, being surrounded by 20 year olds all day is starting to make me realize that I'm an old lady. Not that old, but I'm old enough that I have very little in common with the young tikes that come in to be in my thrilling experiments. It's weird. There are of course many other things that make me feel like I'm not like them. I'm married now, for one. Well, mostly married - wedding #2 has yet to happen.

Anyway, to celebrate being together for four years, Vivek and had all these plans in mind. In honor of the good ol' days (I'm old because that's how I now think of them) Vivek and I were going to hit the night clubs in Minneapolis. Then, it got really freakin cold here. Really cold. So I chickened out and refused to go ahead with our plan to tear up the dance floors downtown Saturday night. So we had dinner at a place called Amore Victoria in Uptown (very tasty, though I'm uncertain about the veg status of my food) when Vivek got back from CT Thursday. There we made plans on how we should best spend the long weekend. Because the projected high for Saturday was -3 degrees, we decided that it would be a day spent at home. And, we did not leave. Somehow, it felt like we were giving the weather a big F U by staying inside wearing our sweats all day. I think that Fritz captured the spirit of our Saturday quite well....

Sunday, however, we were forced outside so I could finally go to the Frida Kahlo show at the Walker Museum. As with most things I had waited to go to the show for as long as I possibly could. You see, the show had been going on for months, and was now in its last days. So, Vivek and I had a late breakfast at a nearby diner (also very tasty) and then drove to the museum. We were almost there when we noticed that traffic was much heavier than usual. Then, waiting at a light in front of the museum, I looked inside and saw hundreds of people standing in a very long, and apparently unmoving line. Looking at all the cars ahead of us I realized that this event would be very very crowded. And I hate trying to appreciate art when all I can see is a corner of the painting if I jump to get my eyes above some tall guy's shoulder. Yes, I hate crowded museums....I'll never forget the time that I got to see the backs of people looking at the real Mona Lisa. So Vivek and I decided he needed a hair cut and we could wake up early and catch the show this morning...and off we went!

On our way out this morning I decided to bring the camera along, thinking that the crowd would be worthy of a picture. I especially thought this because I believed that today would be the last day of the show. Funny thing though. As we approached the museum the streets were almost empty. See...
When we got to the light, I peeked inside the window, and there were no people! None! "Are they closed!?" asked Vivek. "They couldn't be," I said, "the show is supposed to end on the 20th, and today is the 20th!" As those last words escaped my mouth it began to dawn on me that even though Saturday was lost to me and Vivek, it still counted as a day. So I checked my watch. And well, today is the 21st. There ended the Frida Kahlo adventure.

If you read this post after reading *yawn* in the title, then you only have yourself to blame for being bored right now. I'll end with another picture of Fritz, this time enjoying a cold afternoon with his favorite human.

Minneapolis Weather -- January 19, 2008, 9:08 AM

It's nice and warm here, and I'm thinking of going for a walk in my shorts and sandals.

He's gonna get schnockered!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Last night Vivek and I decided that we couldn't spend our first New Years in Minneapolis at home, playing video games (Vivek just got a new one - Medal of Honor 2 for the Wii, which, despite his claims, is very violent). So, we had dinner at a place called "The Duplex" and then drove around for about 30 minutes before we finally decided on a place to spend the last two hours of 2007. It's true that we did not have plans ahead of time. I've been recovering from a cold, so our typical New Years celebration, dancing, was out of the question, and we still have no Minneapolis friends to bug on nights like these. Anyway, we eventually ended up at a peanut bar where we found a couple stools at the bar and marveled at all the 80's music that someone had queued up on the jukebox. It wasn't a bad place, and I'd probably go back with a group of friends to chat with over a beer (in fact, their draft beer is served in giant mugs, something I'm finding to be a recurring theme here).

Anyway, besides the 80's music, there were other great things to listen to at this place. Here are a couple phrases that I overheard last night. They're not funny on their own, but imagine they're being spoken by Frances McDormand's character in Fargo (but with a man's voice), and you'll get why Vivek and I were chuckling through the night.

"Jonas! Jonas! .... He's gonna get schnockered!"
"The housing market is still way down?" "Jah"
"Who cares? I gotta seat!"
"Oh! You know goddamn well whose coat that is!"

There's something about the Minnesota accent that just delights me whenever I encounter it. It's so much more interesting than the Missouri and Utah accents. The Minnesota accent, when encountered, is a great thing. And, I swear I didn't hear it, not even once, until it started snowing up here. Maybe the snow brings it out in people, or maybe I'm just looking for it more, but I hope that it doesn't go away when the snow starts melting.

Anyway, that's as interesting as our night got. It was definitely better than watching Vivek shoot at people at home (on the Wii, of course) but may not make for an interesting post. But honestly, if you didn't chuckle at this one, you really need to watch Fargo again.

Preoccupying Fritz (& Khena)

Vivek and I are going to Salt Lake City for the holidays, and for the first time ever, I have to leave Fritz in the care of strangers. In the past I always relied on friends to check in on Fritz while I was away. But now we have no local friends to take advantage of. It's sad, but true that in 3 months of living in Minneapolis, we haven't met anyone that we would feel comfortable asking to check in on Mr. Fritz while we're away. Oh well, there are always people who are happy to come by if you pay 'em.

To help assuage our guilt over leaving Fritz in the care of a perfect stranger, whom he only briefly met the other day, we gave him his Christmas gift early. I'm willing to say that he loved it, and if he doesn't forget about it while we're away, he probably won't even notice that we're gone. Why? Well...



In a way, I've also been in need of some preoccupation over the last couple weeks. I've been plenty busy, but when I come home my company is limited to Fritz and the TV. Vivek is now on a project that requires him to travel to Connecticut for four days of every work week. It's supposed to last until July, so I need to get used to our new "part-time" long distance relationship (thanks A, for helping me get the terminology right!). It's pretty funny how old habits return quickly, as in Vivek's absence I've taken to working through the evening and even into the early morning hours again. All of this is of course done with the TV on - it's like caffeine for me, but without the lasting effects.

I bring this up because we don't have cable so I've been playing old episodes of the X-Files. I got through season 2 in about a week and a half! I had forgotten how much I used to love! Love! the X-Files. I still think it's good, and better than a lot of shows out there, but watching all the episodes back to back really makes it clear how recycled the plots of each show are. I mean...it's almost always the case that Scully gets kidnapped and would die except for sheer luck. And if it's not Scully that nearly dies, it's Mulder. It's good that I ran out of DVD's to watch, because I think that if I watched many more I'd start hating the show.