i can't drive... 55!!!

Woohoo! Sammy Hagar can't drive me now!
hahaha!
Today has been a very nice start to my new year. The peace Guy accompanied me to the Jepson for a new art exhibit I had been waiting to see. I had attended the talk by the artist, Sarah Frost, on April 25, prior to going to the chemistry nerd trivia.
I had time to briefly explore her exhibit, "Arsenal", prior to her lecture on that Thursday a month earlier. I had read of it in the Winter issue of the quarterly magazine I receive as a member of the museum and had eagerly anticipated seeing what she would do with the space the Jepson had allotted for her work. My brief encounter with the white paper weaponry displayed in the small area had left me with one thought: I want to see this with the peace Guy.
So, when he had asked what I wanted to do on my birthday, I told him: see that particular exhibit with him and have lunch at RolyPoly. I also told him what I had done last year for my birthday; he had given me a look that I am still not sure I want to understand. (At least he understood not to say "poor dear" or such as that. It was my birthday and my choice of how to celebrate it. I wanted to do so alone and that is exactly what I did. Well, mostly. I had deliberately asked for one of my "trip to Italy" travelmates to be my waiter for dinner; he was marvelous, as I had known he would be, keeping an eye on me and making light, fun conversation along the way, leaving me feeling perfectly spoiled by the time my meal was done. Thanks, Nate!)
Being the loving person he is, the peace Guy agreed that we would do what I wanted to do, but he would buy my lunch. Good! Perfect! Fine with me!
(smile!)
And it was a very good day! We had gone to the Jepson and both slowly walked along both sides of the towering triangular display of starkly white weapons, hung at varying heights on nylon strings. Knowing the guns of all types were made of paper was not consoling, especially as I had told him these were working models, capable of firing paper munitions. Nor was the thought of these weapons having sprung from the minds of young boys of any consolation. Thank God the display was in a fairly small room or it would have been too overpowering.
Afterward, we went in search of shiny objects, as it were. Shiny objects with elaborate markings would be a good counterpoint to the the exhibit we had just left. "Silver from the Rizza Collection" was perfect! Old, solid, heavy - definitely what we needed! He told me stories about similar pieces in his family and we took our time admiring the many emobssed and engraved serving pieces and servingware.
By the time we were done, it was time to get some lunch! Off to the cool sandwich shop where I had dined last year on Thanksgiving Turkey! This time, I chose the Greek Turkey and he had the Thai Hot Tuna... but we ended up eating half of the other's wrap, so we had the best of both worlds. Yum!
Then I drove him to work, as his car was still in the shop. I returned home and thanked each of my fb birthday well-wishers. I know, I probably could have done a status update for a blanket "thank you" to all. But, that is not me. I wanted to make sure each of them received a personal thank you from me for taking the time to acknowledge my special day.
Then I headed downtown! I had been invited to trivia at a place I had not yet been for gaming. I had mistakenly thought the place served food; nope, they used to, but no one liked it. So, they had a policy that if you wanted to eat there, you were welcome to bring your own dinner. Not having any with me, I went in search of some.
I settled in at a Scottish restaurant just down the street from the trivia site. Nice! I wouldn't have far to backtrack after my meal! Even better: I had not yet dined at Molly MacPherson's, so this would be a new experience!
I had the special of the evening, a variation on fish and chips. The blackened tilapia was quite nicely grilled and quite attractive against the steamed green of the broccoli. New potatoes, boiled and parsleyed, and a doughy biscuit were fine staples to round out the meal. Very good! Truth to tell, though, the bagpipe music was getting to be grating by the time I finished my meal, so I probably won't return. Maybe I just needed some beer-muffs?
(smile!)
Then back to the Irish (foodless) pub for trivia with folks from Liquor Posse! This was a different game than I had played elsewhere with them, but I liked the variation. Rather than have each team present separate answer slips for each question, each team would submit a single answer sheet containing all of their responses to the queries. The TJ (trivia jock, a'ite?) would then grade the responses and then let each team know their standings. This game, too, had only three rounds, rather than four. But the thing I really liked was this: the last question of each round was a music question! He would play a song snippet, then you would have to tell him who sang it and what the title was. I had arrived about half-way through the second round; when he got to the last question and played his little piece of it, I knew immediately what it was! Def Leppard's "Too Late for Love"! Woohoo!
And the beauty was this: no one else in our group - which was about eight or nine people - even had a clue. They wrote it down because I was so convincing, even going so far as to sing some of the song for them.
And I was right! Woohoo!!!
Then, for the music question in the third round, I knew immediately that one, too! Diana Ross this time, singing about being "Upside Down"! I tell you, that was a big dance tune back in the day!
The group again took my word for it and submitted their playsheet. I had to leave to pick up the peach Guy from work, but I heard the next day that I "really know my music!" and they had won that round. Yeah!!!
Nice birthday!

sugar pie honey bunch

The morning was spent grading tests. At home. And my mood was much better without that extra added stress of going to a place where I dearly want to stay, a place where my time may be up. I do believe that stress has been noticed by my students, as I have shown up worn out emotionally and sometimes with red-rimmed eyes.
Today, though, I resolved to not go out there, as I have no classes on Friday. I gave tests to both lectures and decided to grade those instead of making the trip southside. Then, because I knew the students would fret about the grades, I taught myself to use the gradebook function on the new Learning Management System (seriously, this is how academics talk). I taught myself how to use it. I had attended a live webinar, hosted by the folks on campus, late on a Monday evening, hoping to glean knowledge on that particular topic. No. The webinar was to have been an hour, but was barely thirty minutes and was split over two online systems.
So, I taught myself to create the gradebook and the categories and the items. Then I entered the grades into the LMS, even entering the grades for the previous two exams, and setting it up so the students get an updated standing as future grades are entered.
I must say, I was quite proud of myself at the tail end of the working day! I had graded the tests of both lectures, created the gradebooks for each group, entered all of the grades currently attained, and notified the students. A very good day's work!
Then it was off to the No Kidding! gathering downtown! The baseball girl was there, as was her mom later. The Eagle had already landed, as had the chemyst, encouraging me to try a new drink... which I did! I even liked it so much that I treated him to the next round. I don't usually like the pale wheat, but add some orange juice to that Shocktop and it's more than palatable - it's tasty! The math teacher was there for a while, and the bird formerly of Charleston, as well as the tall economist, and we all had quite a lovely time together! In fact, after two hours, some split off to other parts, but the Eagle and the economist joined me for dinner at Taco Abajo, lured by my descriptions of the bread pudding fashioned into french toast triangles. So very good!!
But firt things first: dessert! Off to search for Chocolat, a place boasting sourwood honey caramels. And we found it - and, amazingly, it was OPEN!!! Very nice! So after the shop mistress regaled us with the tantalizing descriptions, I bought some of the chocolate-covered, sea-salted caramels - one for each of the fellows, one for the fellow at home, one for me, and two for my bff and her honey. After all, chocolate is best when shared with friends, n'est-ce pas?
So, after loading up with sweet morsels for now and later, we bopped on down to fire up our taste buds on spiced meat. Yum! And as we were leaving, a band was rehearsing for their midnight gig, and their sound was so unique that I had to find out more. Plus, this was the first trip to the basement eatery for my the fellows, so I took them on the grand tour, as it were.
Ambassadors was the name of the band and you can enjoy their two-drummer sounds here. That first cut is the one that snagged my ear. I may go back at midnight to hear them, but probably not, as it is a bit too cool out for my sensitive self. I just may buy their album, though!
After we came back up streetside, we parted company at our cars. After all, it WAS a bit cold out!
And as I was driving home, I thought I might as well check out the free concert at Forsyth and see if the music was still flowing. It was! So, even though it was cold, the tunes were hot, so I parked and hustled up to get warm. I am so very glad I did! of Montreal (yes, the "of" is NOT capitalized) put on a very nicely theatrical show to accompany their overhead screen scenes and alt-poppy sounds. Scantily-clad, long-legged nymphs in sparkly blue capes, a huge moth man, pirate-clad bassists - oh, yes, my dears, all that and more! I managed to stay over an hour before the cold started to invade my bones and I was forced to leave... but that wasn't until the last song, which then regaled me to the edge of the park and beyond, all the way to my car.
Such a lovely Friday evening!