A Pictoral Record of Laura Losing her Sunglasses

Today's story is particularly near and dear to my heart, as it is the story of me losing my favorite sunglasses ever....for the third time. Well, technically the second time, because the first pair broke, so I replaced them, and the second pair went missing in a non-remarkable way, but I have photographic evidence of me losing the third pair.

So after a long hard day playing at the beach, we're just about ready to go, but I decide to go rinse off one final time. There's no need to take off my sunglasses, because it will just take a minute.

Let me just play for one more minute....I'm almost ready to leave, I promise!

And this is where the scary movie music comes in...Da Dum, Da Dum, Da Dum, as the approaching wave grows larger and larger, while meanwhile, I am completely unsuspecting, just playing in the water.

Bye-bye Laura.

I throw my hands up in disbelief, as I realize the full enormity of my loss.

Where, oh where, can you be, my beloved sunglasses?

Luckily though, the story has a happy ending. Target has a seemingly unending supply of my favorite sunglasses, so I now possess pairs 4 and 5, just in case.

Old San Juan

Rumble in the Drain

So last night I battled my garbage disposal and won. I’ve always had a healthy respect and fear of the unknown of the garbage disposal, as I did not have one until I think my junior year of college, so I tend to be on the cautious side when it comes to putting stuff down there. Unlike Bill Bryson, who has a fantastic article about his exploration in the boundaries of garbage disposal functionality in his book, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, but that’s another topic entirely.

Anyways, I’ve had some issues in the past with my current garbage disposal, due to a clog in the pipe in-between my next-door neighbor’s apartment and mine, which caused considerable trauma, but has since been resolved. This incident led me to believe that my garbage disposal wasn’t quite right though, as it was coughing up bits of smelly black rubber, which obviously did not come from say, a red pepper, or something.

Well, all has been fine for about a month, except for the odor wafting suspiciously in my kitchen the last couple of days. I just chalked it up to the fact that I hadn’t taken out my trash or done my dishes recently, but last night it was just too gross, so I investigated a little. I took out the trash and that didn’t seem to help matters. The dishes weren’t overly disgusting, at least not enough to cause that smell. I leaned a little closer to the sink, and whew, sure enough, it was coming from the drain. I hadn’t put anything in there in a while and I know I hadn’t run it in quite a while, so I got out the flashlight and took a look. There, lying amid a few vegetable remains and staring back at me was something that resembled a human organ, perhaps a heart or a liver. Something that very clearly would not have fit down the drain and had no right to be in my garbage disposal, at the very least. I retreated to the living room, to avoid it leaping out and attacking me, to plan my strategy, or at least figure out what it was.

The obvious course of action would be to run the garbage disposal, but what if it really were some sort of weird growth that got mad and decided to take over my apartment? I eventually made myself realize that it was obviously just a bacterial growth of some kind, although the fact that was in my sink didn’t really comfort me either. So I ran the garbage disposal for a minute or two and took another look. There was still a chunk or two of my nemesis remaining. Man, he was a stubborn bugger. I had to reach even deeper yet into my arsenal, oh yes, for the Drano. Luckily, in Drano the quivering mass lurking in my sink finally met his match, and I now have a pleasant, spic and span clean kitchen.

Carribean Color

So I've always been inspired by a coffee table book my mom has of Carribean architecture, and I just realized today that I have some pictures of my own that match. What's the point of taking hundreds of photos on vacation if I don't ever do anything with them? So I might as well post them here, because the chances of me ever finishing my photo album are looking mighty slim at the moment.

Musical Musings

So, I was running along yesterday, be-bopping along with my ipod, and a song came on that got me thinking. The song in particular was “Never Let You Down” by the Verve Pipe. Whenever any songs from that album come up on my ipod, I am immediately transported to running through East Grand Rapids, primarily because that CD never left my discman for sophomore through senior years of college, and consequently, that’s what I listened to for the vast majority of my running in college. So this got me thinking about music and its power of association. There are several songs that will bring to mind memories, like any time I hear Garbage, which isn’t very often, granted, I remember the SS Badger, the ferry across Lake Michigan as we started our family road trip out west Freshman year of high school. Or Brushfire Fairytales takes me even further away, to my interim trip to the Netherlands, riding around in the vans on our daily excursions. Fields of Gold, my favorite song ever, reminds me of grocery shopping in Meijer at Christmas time, for some inexplicable reason. I can instantly picture the big red bulbs they would hang from the ceiling, but I’m not quite sure why that association is there. Bob Marley is a reminder of all-nighters pulled in the SE basement for no reason whatsoever freshman year.

To further my musical contemplations, the next song to come up on my ipod was Get Free, by the Vines. This was my angry music for the summer after sophomore year, when my car continually decided to have problems (some of which I inflicted, I will admit), I had the crappiest job ever (opening word files and saving them under a different name for 8 hours a day, anyone?), and my first serious relationship was disintegrating. Another summer which had its own soundtrack was the summer after junior year, when I was in Germany. I happened to hear Mad World last weekend, and it reminded me of the bus station in London, after we had just arrived from our second all-night bus ride in a row. Unfortunately, my CD I burnt with all of my memorable songs was stolen the first time my car stereo got stolen in Austin, so I don’t get to listen to them as much, but if I happen to hear any of the songs I instantly think of Germany.

As I was wrapping up my run, I was feeling exhausted and was contemplating walking the last 2 or 3 blocks, when what happens to pop up next but Wonderful Waste, another song from the Verve Pipe, which keeps me going until I get home. Ah, the power of music.

Down It Goes

So, I've already done a post on DC demolition here, but the heavy machinery has just moved on down the street.


I know these next two pictures aren't technically demolition, as the building has been this way the entire time I've lived in DC (1.5 years), but it still makes for interesting photos. It's basically just a facade propped up, which is for sale, in case anyone wants it.

Grande?

So, I know 3 posts in a morning is a bit excessive, but hear me out. I was looking through pictures, and this one reminded me of a great story, so since I have no exciting stories in my life at the moment, here goes.

I have always professed my deep love for Meijer grocery stores, but unfortunately I have had to stray, as they don't exist in DC. When I was about 8, I found out they were only in Michigan, and a few surrounding areas, and I was dumbstruck, as I had no idea where I would buy my groceries if I moved away. Well, I did move away, and now I have switched some of my loyalty over to Giant. It's nowhere near as good as Meijer, but it is a heck of a lot cheaper than the Whole Foods, which is my other viable option. So, to sum up that part of the story, Giant is a common grocery store in DC.

The next portion involves our trip to Puerto Rico. So John and I were driving along, and, lo and behold, there is a grocery store called Grande on the side of the road. John just thinks that's the greatest thing ever. "I want to shop at a grocery store named big!" he says. I then, not so gently, remind him that he shops at the Giant.

Don't be a Pansy

So I took these pictures of pansies after it rained one day, and I can't decide if I actually like them or not. What do you think?

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

So I lied, just a little. I decided I could post some pictures, even though my organization is still in chaos. These are from a trip up to Pennsylvania a couple of months ago.

Herbert Hoovers

So I'm currently in the process of totally overhauling my photo storage file structure system, so I can't post any pictures, as that would just completely throw me into chaos. So instead, I will fill you in on my wonderful little pets, all 78 of which are named Herbert Hoover. This is my fifth foray into the world of sea monkey raising, and so far it's going OK. The first 3 trys failed because I didn't read the instructions good enough and I neglected to aerate their water daily. I was determined though, so I read every tidbit of information on the sea monkeys website and purchased all kinds of doo dads and treats for them, and the fourth time, I really thought they were going to make it. Unfortunately, I was a little too zealous of a pet owner, and I decided their water was too dirty and they needed a change of water. Sea monkeys are delicate creatures, and they need filtered water, so I made sure to let my Brita pitcher warm up to room temperature and I carefully used my aqua leash/water aerator to transfer them all to a bowl of purified water, while I washed their bowl and refilled it. I thought all was well, but it was not to be. Within a few days, no more sea monkeys. But every time I learn from my mistakes, and it's going good so far. They are in Day 8 of their existance, and are happily swimming around. The pictures aren't the greatest I know, but I'm not advanced enough to a good picture of an 1/8" long thing that swims really fast.

Surprise, Surprise, More Flowers!

So I didn't post all of my favorites from the San Francisco Botanical Gardens yesterday, so today's theme is Alien Man-Eating Snake Plants. At least, that's what they kinda looked like to me.

The first three are the same plant in various stages of opening, and is a little more innocent-looking than the other one.

This guy, on the other hand, is ready to devour any unsuspecting tourist that may come too close. It starts out innocently enough, all tightly curled up.

It's carnivorous-like nature is starting to show through, as it becomes a little furry.

Little snake tounges pop out, to attract it's prey to the waiting 72 million tongues in the center.And then it all breaks loose, and the alien man-eating snake plant shows its true wild nature, as it searched voraciously for prey.
The joke is on the alien man-eating snake plant in the end though, as it wastes away to a tiny stub.

More Flowers

So to continue yesterday's theme of botanical gardens, here are some pictures from San Francisco's Botanical Garden, which I took in June.

Happy Day

So when my multiple computers were stolen, I lost a lot more than just the hardware, I lost a lot of my photos, files, and so forth, which made me a very unhappy girl. But today turned out to have a wonderful surprise, as some of my favorite pictures from the US Botanical Gardens happened to be on John's external hard drive, and I got them back! I know I probably already posted these on my other blog, but I'm just so happy to have them back, I have to post my favorites again.

My New Anti-Burglary Plan

So John and I were wandering around down by the mall this weekend, and I happened upon a great anti-burglary idea. I just place this plant at any entrance to my apartment, and the unlucky burglar will end up with an unpleasant surprise. :) Notice the spikes on both the top and the bottom of the leaves, which are about 1/2" long.

Sometimes, you just have to shake your head and laugh at the tourists....this crowd of asian tourists was having a great photo moment with an "albino" squirrel. Notice it is not actually an albino squirrel at all.

In the courtyard of the American Art Musum/Potrait Museum.

I know round mirror pictures are totally cliche, but I still like it anyway.