Throughout my years of blogging, I've done several Q&A type quizzes, memes and posts dealing with the more private aspects of myself: from deeper ruminations about life to lighthearted trivia about my own quirks and foibles. Today Tabitha posted her response to a meme that's currently going around: revealing some of your secrets on video. Here is my version.
Some of you may already be familiar with some of the tidbits on there. Some of it will be new to you. Either way, I had fun making this video, and was surprised by 1) how easily the ideas started flowing once I started (and I had some serious writer's block when I began!) and 2) how personal it got.
How about you? What are some of your deeper secrets?
(The accompanying song in the video is called "Gently" and is from http://www.danosongs.com)
La Maison des Tortues: One third of the "heckled trio" writes...
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Smelly Man vs. Crazy Man
aka "Why We Should Help the Homeless"
Yesterday Allan and I finally ventured out to see the 4th of July free concert in the Sunken Gardens of the Santa Barbara Courthouse. It used to be an annual event held by the Santa Barbara Symphony. But every year I've wanted to go, something else has come up. But when I finally had time? They canceled it due to lack of funding. Well, this year, ambitious volunteers from the Spirit of '76, a nonprofit organization here in SB, got together all kinds of volunteers to put together a show. And I was determined to make it.
Thinking that there would plenty of traffic downtown because of the parade that would run right before the concert (based on flashbacks from the nightmare that was traffic/parking during the Christmas Holiday Parade), I decided that taking the bus would be a better option. So I rounded up plenty of quarters, packed our chairs and some snacks, and hopped onto a bus that would drop us off right outside the Courthouse.
The trip TO the courthouse was relatively uneventful. The biggest buzz of the trip was when "Crazy Man" boarded the bus. He had a mop of wild curly hair, a "tan" that was not really a tan (if you catch my drift), missing teeth, and a very outgoing demeanor. It wasn't until he sat near us and started talking to anyone around him about all kinds of random things that I realized he was not playing with a full deck of cards. It was a little hard to ignore him whenever he addressed you directly, but on the whole, I kept my eyes focused on anything BUT Crazy Man, and tried to tune him out. If I hadn't been with Allan, I might have been more unnerved, but Crazy Man seemed relatively harmless, save for the weird chattiness.
We enjoyed the concert, and then hoofed it to the bus stop a couple blocks away to go back home. It was about half full, and we had to go all the way to the back before we found two seats next to each other, plus room to put our lawn chairs. Sitting near us was College Kid, who basically kept to himself, like most people do. All was well until we go to the next stop.
There, "Smelly Man" boarded. And to call him "Smelly Man" is a serious understatement. All of a sudden I was hit with a horrible stench. It was a combination of days-old urine soaked into clothing, and a bad case of B.O., made worse by the fact that Smelly Man was a rather portly individual, and hence had more... nooks and crannies within which sweat and bacteria could grow and fester. The worst part of it? Smelly Man was actually sitting near the FRONT of the bus. We were a good 12-15 feet away from him! Even Allan, whose sense of smell is not that acute, was affected by it.
College Kid frantically tried to open a window, but alas, the newly renovated buses did not have openable windows (except for emergencies), because they were now outfitted with air conditioning. So I sat, fanning myself, hands up near my nose.
It gets better.
Who else boards at the same stop but... Crazy Man! That's right, the same wacky dude from our earlier bus trip! I groaned inwardly when I saw him make his way to the back, where he seated himself next to College Kid. Of course, he started chatting it up. First thing he talked about? That horrid smell. I don't think he realized that it was emanating from Smelly Man up front.
College Kid decides to egg Crazy Man on at this point. He humored him about the weird political rants that Crazy Man went on, but when Crazy Man started complaining about the smell again, College Kid, with a completely serious expression on his face, pointed to the large vents directly behind them and said "it's coming from these vents". That only spurred Crazy Man on another tangent about what sorts of poisons they were using in their fuel and that must be emanating in the exhaust, coming through these vents. College Kid goaded him on, agreeing that it must be this poisonous "resin" and that it was awful.
Guess what? College Kid's egging on worked! Crazy Man hopped off the bus at the very next stop, muttering that he wasn't going to sit in this poison. So... in a way, Smelly Man was rather useful in getting rid of Crazy Man!
The rest of the ride, however, was not so pleasant, because at some point, a gaggle of Russian teenagers got on board, which prompted Smelly Man to move from his seat in the front to a seat in the middle, to make room for the teenagers. Just moving 5-6 feet closer to us was enough to make the smell so overpowering, I started gagging.
The Russian teenagers eventually had to move to the back to make room for a guy in a wheelchair, and it wasn't long before the back was pretty crowded with people trying to get away from Smelly Man. The bus kept picking up people as it made its way along its route, and it was sadly hilarious to see a large circle of empty seats immediately surrounding Smelly Man. Many of us buried our noses in something-- shirts, hands, napkins. It was terrible.
By the time we go to our stop, I took a huge breath before making my way past Smelly Man, and held it till I got out the exit door. I didn't dare breathe again until we were far away from the bus.
The smell was so rank that, hours later at home, my nose's memory was STILL smelling it. In a way I felt a bit sorry for Smelly Man. He was clearly down on his luck, but my goodness! What a miserable experience for everyone else around him! I'm just grateful I wasn't encountering him from the vantage point of a service provider, where I'd have to deal with him without making faces, covering my nose, or gagging. Bleccchh!
I guess the one silver lining was the Crazy Man left early because of Smelly Man, but honestly? I'd rather deal with Crazy Man. Weird ramblings you can tune out, but awful smells? Not so much...
Yesterday Allan and I finally ventured out to see the 4th of July free concert in the Sunken Gardens of the Santa Barbara Courthouse. It used to be an annual event held by the Santa Barbara Symphony. But every year I've wanted to go, something else has come up. But when I finally had time? They canceled it due to lack of funding. Well, this year, ambitious volunteers from the Spirit of '76, a nonprofit organization here in SB, got together all kinds of volunteers to put together a show. And I was determined to make it.
Thinking that there would plenty of traffic downtown because of the parade that would run right before the concert (based on flashbacks from the nightmare that was traffic/parking during the Christmas Holiday Parade), I decided that taking the bus would be a better option. So I rounded up plenty of quarters, packed our chairs and some snacks, and hopped onto a bus that would drop us off right outside the Courthouse.
The trip TO the courthouse was relatively uneventful. The biggest buzz of the trip was when "Crazy Man" boarded the bus. He had a mop of wild curly hair, a "tan" that was not really a tan (if you catch my drift), missing teeth, and a very outgoing demeanor. It wasn't until he sat near us and started talking to anyone around him about all kinds of random things that I realized he was not playing with a full deck of cards. It was a little hard to ignore him whenever he addressed you directly, but on the whole, I kept my eyes focused on anything BUT Crazy Man, and tried to tune him out. If I hadn't been with Allan, I might have been more unnerved, but Crazy Man seemed relatively harmless, save for the weird chattiness.
We enjoyed the concert, and then hoofed it to the bus stop a couple blocks away to go back home. It was about half full, and we had to go all the way to the back before we found two seats next to each other, plus room to put our lawn chairs. Sitting near us was College Kid, who basically kept to himself, like most people do. All was well until we go to the next stop.
There, "Smelly Man" boarded. And to call him "Smelly Man" is a serious understatement. All of a sudden I was hit with a horrible stench. It was a combination of days-old urine soaked into clothing, and a bad case of B.O., made worse by the fact that Smelly Man was a rather portly individual, and hence had more... nooks and crannies within which sweat and bacteria could grow and fester. The worst part of it? Smelly Man was actually sitting near the FRONT of the bus. We were a good 12-15 feet away from him! Even Allan, whose sense of smell is not that acute, was affected by it.
College Kid frantically tried to open a window, but alas, the newly renovated buses did not have openable windows (except for emergencies), because they were now outfitted with air conditioning. So I sat, fanning myself, hands up near my nose.
It gets better.
Who else boards at the same stop but... Crazy Man! That's right, the same wacky dude from our earlier bus trip! I groaned inwardly when I saw him make his way to the back, where he seated himself next to College Kid. Of course, he started chatting it up. First thing he talked about? That horrid smell. I don't think he realized that it was emanating from Smelly Man up front.
College Kid decides to egg Crazy Man on at this point. He humored him about the weird political rants that Crazy Man went on, but when Crazy Man started complaining about the smell again, College Kid, with a completely serious expression on his face, pointed to the large vents directly behind them and said "it's coming from these vents". That only spurred Crazy Man on another tangent about what sorts of poisons they were using in their fuel and that must be emanating in the exhaust, coming through these vents. College Kid goaded him on, agreeing that it must be this poisonous "resin" and that it was awful.
Guess what? College Kid's egging on worked! Crazy Man hopped off the bus at the very next stop, muttering that he wasn't going to sit in this poison. So... in a way, Smelly Man was rather useful in getting rid of Crazy Man!
The rest of the ride, however, was not so pleasant, because at some point, a gaggle of Russian teenagers got on board, which prompted Smelly Man to move from his seat in the front to a seat in the middle, to make room for the teenagers. Just moving 5-6 feet closer to us was enough to make the smell so overpowering, I started gagging.
The Russian teenagers eventually had to move to the back to make room for a guy in a wheelchair, and it wasn't long before the back was pretty crowded with people trying to get away from Smelly Man. The bus kept picking up people as it made its way along its route, and it was sadly hilarious to see a large circle of empty seats immediately surrounding Smelly Man. Many of us buried our noses in something-- shirts, hands, napkins. It was terrible.
By the time we go to our stop, I took a huge breath before making my way past Smelly Man, and held it till I got out the exit door. I didn't dare breathe again until we were far away from the bus.
The smell was so rank that, hours later at home, my nose's memory was STILL smelling it. In a way I felt a bit sorry for Smelly Man. He was clearly down on his luck, but my goodness! What a miserable experience for everyone else around him! I'm just grateful I wasn't encountering him from the vantage point of a service provider, where I'd have to deal with him without making faces, covering my nose, or gagging. Bleccchh!
I guess the one silver lining was the Crazy Man left early because of Smelly Man, but honestly? I'd rather deal with Crazy Man. Weird ramblings you can tune out, but awful smells? Not so much...
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