Day 49: It's A Jungle Out There

RAWWWRRRRRR!!!!

"Please, get me out of here! I've been kidnapped and put inside this glass and wood box. I won't hurt you, I swear!"

'H-how did you get kidnapped? Who kidnapped you? What even IS this place??'

"I don't have time to answer your silly questions!! I need to get out of here!"

[Shocked face, tense body language]

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to snap at you it's just people walk by every day and night and no one has ever stopped. I've been trying to get out for 3 months now and I'm starting to get desperate."

'. . well how did you get here? Maybe if you tell me your story I can understand better and know who to go to for help.'

"Alright, alright. My story is - the short version - that I used to be free, at a carnival in Indiana. My brother and I were the most popular beasts on the carousel. There was nothing we loved more than feeling the wind in our manes and the children's laughter as we circled round and round, rising and falling with the best melody in the world . . ."

'And then?'

"And then the carnival couldn't make enough money and sold everything. It's amazing my brother and I are still together. We tried to get away with our friends - it was such a brutal sight when they came-"

'When who came?'

"The men. A group of men with crowbars and hacksaws, screw drivers and wrenches. They came one day and then our lives were changed forever. Maria, the chimpanzee, was in pieces by the time they were done with her. Gustav, my favorite giraffe friend, was tortured for 5 hrs before he gave in and let them take him away to who knows where. I heard something in the chaos that most of us weren't likely to make it out alive . . . I have no idea what happened to Peter, Gabriel, Tina, or Loma . . ."

'That's terrible! So . . . if you escape, then what?'

"I'll go to Texas. They have the biggest carnival in the country. I won't have to worry about getting taken again if I can just get there... You have to come back! First thing tomorrow, and talk to the owner. Tell him you have a vendor in Texas that will pay top dollar for a pair of li-"

[Footsteps]

"What was that?! Someone's coming! Come back tomorrow! [whispers] You have to come back tomorrow!!"

[Lights turn on]

SILENCE

Day 48: Ninjas are Everywhere

And here's your proof . . .

I found this ninja on my walk to a friend's house. She (or he) popped out of nowhere and onto the side walk right in front of me. Before I knew it she was circling me with her flying fists and powerful kicks.

Not sure what to do, I stayed in place, waiting, until she was done and once again back in front of me.

She sat.

I stood.

Then she said "Bye!" and disappeared in the blink of an eye!

I continued walking toward my friend's house and through an open window I spotted an active Karate class.

Ninjas in training . . .

Day 47: Fun Family Vacation

While riding the bus I got to witness the joys of family road trips. We were approaching a stop light and as we got closer to the stopped vehicles ahead, I saw a woman getting back into the passenger side door of her car that was in the middle lane.

"That seems weird," I thought to myself.

Then we get even closer and I see the license plate - green tree in the center, blue lettering, mountain in the background: Oregon.

Once the bus finally stopped, my seat was positioned right next to the Oregon car. I peer into the car and everything made sense. Dad is driving, mom is turned around in the front seat, and in the back kid #1 looks on as kid #2 screams at the top of his lungs.

Nothing beats a family road trip.

I sure am glad it's not mine.

Day 46: Creepy Camping

I started an Indiana camping adventure with a few friends today and it got off to a rocky start.

Bump 1: It took MuCH longer than the estimated 1 hr to get to our camping destination.
Bump 2: Our camping destination was full, as were most of the surrounding campgrounds. So we ended up following a fellow siteless camper to the next closest campground, which was ridiculously expensive for tent camping.

We managed  to find a spot we liked and got all set up. Then it was time to explore! Unfortunately, since we were staying at a random camp ground we now had to drive to get to any hiking trails. We were directed by the woman at registration to check out the 'nice trails' at Coffee Creek. So we did. They were nice, but it wasn't really what any of us would have considered hiking. At least it was pretty.

Around 5pm we started to head back to embark upon the eating challenge we'd assigned ourselves when getting way too many hot dogs at the store. [You might be noticing a hot dog theme in many of my stories, it's quite strange. I think this year I've eaten more hot dogs than I have in the last 3 years combined!] 

We got back, prepared to start our fire, then discovered some VERY unhelpful news. 

Bump 3: There was no water. No sinks worked, water spigots, you name it - nothing. What the heck?! We didn't understand what was happening and just thought maybe it was some weird thing and it would come back a little later, so we started - and finished - our feast. 

After some cards we decided to take a walk around the camp ground. As we walked past the bathroom closest to our site, we tried the doors. 

Bump 4: LOCKED!!! What the heck?! No one mentioned to us that there was a closing time for the bathrooms! We walked back to the trail to carry on and I looked back at the bathrooms, surprised and chilled at what I saw. Through the narrow windows near the top of the roof of the building (remember, it's locked) I saw a man's face, peering out at us. It was SO CREEPY!!! We hurried away feeling very uncomfortable.

Before the end of our loop we met some other campers who informed us that there was no water because the well had dried up. 'That's weird,' we thought, 'it'd been raining an awful lot over the past week for the well to be dry.' We went to inquire with the lady at registration who confirmed this adding, 'there might not be water until Monday.' She also didn't seem too sorry about the inconvenience at all.

Ugh! This place sucks! - we were all thinking it. Thankfully we had plans to leave the following day and enough wipes and hand sanitizer to make it through the night.

Day 45: Grill Master

I had one hot dog left over from my friend's 4th of July party, along with a few ears of corn, that I decided it was time to grill.

Despite what you are about to see, it might be hard for you to believe that I'm not a grill master. More of a grilling savant, really. With no formal training, I learned the tricks of the trade all on my own. I've been known to really wow those around me with my skills.

Today, however, really took things to a whole new level. Behold!

Grilled corn and what used to be easily identified as a hot dog. There's a very slim chance I might have overcooked it - just a smidge. The outside layer of a hot dog is supposed to get hard and leathery . . . . . . . right?

Day 44: Explosion By Food Processor

Have you ever seen the movies where someone is making something in their blender and they turn it on before securing the lid and all of the contents fly out and get all over everything? I've always seen those scenes in TV and movies and thought to myself, "how do you forget to put the lid on? That doesn't seem realistic, more like desperate for laughs..." *cough-hater!-cough*

Well I was in the process of making some very delicious mango chicken teriyaki and may have had a similar experience . . .

I was making the sauce in my food processor. It didn't seem like that much so I decided to use the smaller, more shallow bowl. I put everything in, secured the lid, and fired it up.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liquid immediately started flying EVERYWHERE! I hurriedly turned off the food processor and sadly took in the scene. . .

From this angle . . .

. . . and this angle . . .

. . . and this angle, when I discovered I was also covered with sauce . . .

And it got even better because I only had 30 minutes to finish and clean up this '30-minute meal' I had started roughly 20 minutes earlier, before I had to be at a meeting. If you weren't on to my tone through the quotations, this meal definitely wasn't finished in 30 minutes.

After recovering from the shock of the explosion, I switch the remaining sauce to a bigger processing bowl, wrapped a towel around the lid, and finished my mutilation of the contents. It still soaked the towel, in case you were wondering.

All in all I managed to finish, clean up, AND shovel a few fork-fulls of food into my face before running out the door only a few minutes late.

Words to the wise, if you're blending a few solid ingredients with mostly liquids, use the largest food processing bowl possible!

Day 43: Dress for Success

I don't understand the 'rules' of clothing - and I earned my Bachelor's Degree in Fashion Design. That's not a dig on my chosen line of education or the industry, it's leading into a dig on social norms. I guess I should clarify a bit further, I don't understand the 'rules' of clothing when it comes to the 'professional working world.'

Why is it, that out of ALL of the colors available in the existence of the universe, Black is the primary color deemed 'professional'?! I just don't get it. How did that happen and why?

There's this concept called a Power Color - and everyone has one. EVERYONE. It's the color that when one wears it, they look amazing. Not only that, they FEEL amazing.

Say what?! Looking and feeling amazing just because you wear a certain color?!? YES. If you're intrigued, you should look into it on the world wide web or your local library! [I took this quiz What Is Your Power Color, it was fun and I liked the description.]

Great, everyone has a color that makes them the most beautiful, confident 'them' they can be. So why isn't that encouraged attire? You'd think if there was something that enhanced one's natural powerhouse it would be sought after by every employer to increase productivity, revenue, and hopefully, morale. But it isn't.

On the other hand, there are some who have colors they love and will wear outside of work all the time, but when it comes to situations where the need to hunker down and crank out greatness is called into play (i.e. work), these colors are often turned down and deemed as not being quite work appropriate. That's bogus. [Obviously, not everyone feels this way or follows these behaviors, but I know for a fact that some do.]

I think people should be able to wear what they feel comfortable and good in (within a somewhat modest setting - I don't want to see anyone walking around in their underwear!). I feel super comfortable in jeans. Does wearing jeans affect my work or make what I can do any less professional? I don't think so.

And if we take it a step further, what does 'professional' even mean in the greater sense? Oh boy, we seem to be falling down the rabbit's hole now. We'll save that thought for another day.