I am the Lorax, I speak for the Trees

Ok so all the chatter about global warming and polar ice cap melting and Hummer's single handedly destroying our ozone makes environmental stewardship seem like this huge insurmountable problem. Something befitting a title like 'Saving the World'. It is of course a big, complicated, daunting issue made more so by the political rhetoric denying any problem and the doomsday predictions calling for radical changes in life as we know it.

The truth of course is somewhere in between and likely will never really be fully understood or explained to us. However that shouldn't stop us from doing things that we know are good for the earth - whether its warming or not, its our earth and we might as well take care of it as best we can.

Now, logging is necessary so long as we would all like to live in houses and not thatched roof huts so I am not opposed to cutting down trees. However, trees are good for so many reasons: tree swings, tree forts, shade, gobbling up CO2, and the list goes on and on. Ergo, I figure anything we can do to minimize the number of trees that need to be cut down to support our lifestyles is a good thing.

I am going to go out on a limb (ugh, just for you Dave) and assume that you're all with me and prefer a good wood built house to one fashioned out of mud clay and pond fronds. Therefore you would much rather save a tree in other ways. So, here is a bite sized thing you might consider doing to help preserve our forests:

http://nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

This link will provide you with an easy guide to certain brands of paper products (paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, tissues) that are made with recycled materials and using clean manufacturing processes. The site doesn't include prices, which I am sure are a bit higher for the tree friendly alternatives but it typically isn't more than .75 or so. Not that .75 is pennies but here is what your extra money could buy. . .

"If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees. "

544,000 trees for .75, seems like a bargain to me ; )

Anyway, I know we all do what we can but I thought this was a useful bit of information and a potentially easy way to cut down on our need for fresh cut timber. I mean wouldn't you rather have a tree fort then blow your nose on a Giant Birch?

Memorial Day

Its not just about a 3 day week-end, glorious trips to the beach, hideous traffic, and BBQ's. Those are just the things we get to enjoy as a result of the efforts of those we are to remember on Memorial Day.

Now I personally will be spending this Memorial Day on a glorious trip to the beach, hopefully avoiding hideous traffic, and definitely having some BBQ'd treats so I'm not casting stones or soap boxing it or even assuming that you're not totally into the spirit of Memorial Day. I'm merely sharing something that I'm not sure is widely known.

There is an independent government agency called The White House Commission on Remembrance (for real, there is) and their primary responsibilities are:

Promoting the spirit of unity and remembrance through observance of The National Moment of Remembrance at 3 PM local time on Memorial Day;

Ensuring the nation remembers the sacrifices of America's fallen from the Revolutionary War to the present;

Recognizing those who served and those who continue to serve our great nation and reminding all Americans of their common heritage.

(http://www.remember.gov/)

So, at 3PM this Monday push pause, find some stillness, and spend a moment in remembrance and thanksgiving.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

It is growing quite well actually. Thanks for asking.

Despite the fact that in 2 short weeks giant baskets of farm fresh veggies are going to be appearing at Casa de Lexington I still decided to undertake a garden of my very own . . . well of my own and Kelly's as she's done this before and I am but a neophyte. Also, I have hired my mom as our Gardening Consultant, I'll be paying her in yellow squash. Anyway, so far I love it. I now own gardening tools and I know what peat moss is. I do think I need to get a big floppy hat and some galoshes (my running shoes are covered in dirt) but other than that I think we're all set. I planted the last of the veggies last night and now we're off to the races.

Garden inventory:
variety of red peppers
jalapeno peppers
chocolate peppers
variety of basil plants
tomatoes
yellow squash
birdhouse gourds
burpless cucumber (yes that is a real variety, apparently it is the seeds of a cucumber that make you burp so burpless cucumbers have smaller seeds - personally cucumbers don't make me burp but apparently they do have that effect on enough people that it called for creating a burpless variety)

Sadly there are no silver bells, and cockle shells, or pretty maids all in a row but I think its a pretty little patch none the less.

Food For Thought

Irregardless is not a word. Unless of course by irregardless you actually mean full of regard then go ahead with your double negative self.

Remaining in the realm of the American Lexicon, I learned a new word today:

Bravura:
1: a musical passage requiring exceptional agility and technical skill in execution 2 : a florid brilliant style 3 : a show of daring or brilliance.

Why is it that words like bravura, describing exceptional brilliance, are so seldom used but I hear the "word" irregardless at least 3 times a week. To be fair I didn't actually hear 'bravura', I read, it in an movie review for Indiana Jones. Apparently bravura only happens in the movies.

Now perhaps I am being myopic in assuming that my day to day vocab exposure is somehow representative of larger society (I was raised by a mom who referred to large books as tomes so there is room for bias here). So how about this, count up how many times you hear words like irregardless or see a lot spelled 'alot' (by people older than 12) and then count how many times you heard words like bravura or pablum.

Now despite my ire at lazy, incorrect English, I do love love love idioms. Idioms and movie quotes are linguistic heaven to me. So when I came upon this web site (and by came upon it, i mean Liz sent it to me to explain her father's term Frog Strangler) I was giddy with new word joy:

http://www.jargondatabase.com/default.aspx

Its a virtual treasure trove of nutty words and sayings. Sean you'll be happy to know that 'Value Add', 'Take Away', and 'Level Set' are all in there but sadly no 'Paradigm Shift'. One of my personal favorites is Catty Whompus, which means: something that is very out of place in it's location. Can also mean a situation that is messed up.

I have been trying to work it into daily conversation but I haven't had much luck. Let me know if you can.

In case you were wondering, a Frog Strangler is how you describe a large amount of rain in a small amount of time.

Fast Fact Friday

I had dinner with Anna last night and aside from just general catching up I also learned a few quite interesting tidbits that I thought I would share. . .

1. Coriander is actually the seed of the Cilantro plant. Maybe you knew this but I sure didn't.

2. There is a drink called: Hop, Skip, & Go Naked. The primary recipe is as follows:

1 bag ice
1 can limeade
1 can lemonade
2 liters Sprite® soda
1/2 gal vodka
1 case beer

Empty a bag of ice into a large cooler. Add the cans of limeade and lemonade, then the 2 liter bottle of sprite. Add 1/2 gallon of vodka and 20-24 cans of beer.

It sounds like a classed up version of the jungle juice that they used to serve during beach week in college. I find things like this rather intriguing. I mean what would ever make anyone think that mixing malt beverage and alcohol would be a good idea . .. ooh right frat boys. Also, what is lime ade?

Oh and as a preemptive strike against any sort of law suit let me make myself very very clear, I am not recommending that anyone make or drink or serve this concoction. If you're not 21 you should not be drinking Hop, Skip, & Go Naked . . . in fact you should be drinking nothing but milk, water, and hot cocoa. Even if you're 21 you might not want to drink something that combines beer and vodka, I can't really say how that will go down . . . or come back up. If you are the parent of a teen ager who has recently imbibed a Hop, Skip, & Go Naked its not my fault don't sue me. Also if you are under 21 or over 21 and not smok'n hot, you should refrain from Hopping & Skipping while Naked.

Hmmm, ok that is actually all I learned from Anna last night. Hope you enjoyed it.

If you're looking to be further entertained here is a completely odd "game" that I came across:
http://ajax.sayitaintslow.com/fontgame/

If you are good at this I want to know b/c I am not and I spend A LOT of time producing boring and mostly worthless documents in MS Word. Copious amounts of such documents and I really can only identify Time New Romans and Arial . . . oh and Wingdings, I know that one.


Here is a YouTube clip of someone who has totally lost they dang mind:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0fsgmktOY

It is a rainy Friday morning, that's all I got folks.

Off Color Friday

Today's post is about farting. Some of you might find this to be inappropriate or uncouth or just plain rude. And for you all I say read no further and I offer up this as an alternative:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0fsgmktOY

For those of you undeterred by the fart topic, here we go. A while ago my brother and one of his friends engaged in a great theological discussion of the humor potential inherent in the different types of farts. By different types, they mean smelly and loud. The discussion was distilled into the following question:

If you could only produce one type of flatulence for the rest of your life, which would you choose? Smelly or Loud?

The two of them went on to discuss the comic merits of the SBD vs audible cheek flapping and they came to the conclusion that if limited to one variety of farting they would both choose SBD b/c of its greater potential for hilarity. I am not sure I agree with their selection b/c I personally find the toot sound to be far more entertaining than the toot smell. In fact I don't really find the toot smell at all entertaining. When I told my brother as much he said "whatever you're a girl" I will concede that farting as entertainment is for the most part a male pastime however I still think the sound is funnier than the smell.

But more interesting to me is the fact that I believe guys will approach the question of which type of fart they would prefer to produce from the standpoint of comedic potential where girls will approach it from the standpoint of easiest to disguise. Although pure conjecture, I believe that for a girl, which type of fart they would choose to produce will directly relate to which type of fart they can get away with producing without being Id's at the tooter.

Now I know not all girls are the same and not all boys are the same and that some girls out there love to fart for the laughs and some boys out there just want their toots to go unnoticed. But all in all I still believe that boys are going to select the type of toot based on hilarity factor and girls are going to select based on humiliation factor.

Go ahead, prove me wrong.

In case you were wondering which type I would choose, you'll have to keep on wondering.

If an earthquake happens in DC and no one feels it

did it actually happen?

Apparently, yes: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/06/AR2008050601840.html

There was an earthquake in the DC metro area yesterday. It registered 1.8 on the Richter scale, which apparently means that it is virtually imperceptible. I likely would not have even known about our earthquake if Liz called to check in on me. I apparently get my local geological data from Atlanta, Ga.

After talking to Liz I called my brother to see if he had any knowledge of our seismic event and he was as in the dark as I. Since then I have polled a few fellow DC locals and no one had any idea that we had had an earthquake. It was such a non event that I actually had to do a key word search on the Washington post web site to find the article above.

Anyway, I think it is pretty odd that we had an earthquake in Annandale and perhaps even more odd that it is barely newsworthy. I mean just because giant buildings didn't collapse and scores of people weren't rattled about doesn't mean it isn't news. I mean if

"60-lb. pit bull found wedged in engine "

can be a cnn.com headline, I would think "Small Earthquake Shakes DC" could be too.

In case you were wondering, the last earthquake to hit DC did so in 2003. It measured 4.5 on the Richter scale and was equally unnoted by major news sources.

Roving reporter Liz, reporting for duty

As promised, Liz chronicled her visit to the Shrimp Festival and has returned with some color commentary and photo journalistic delight that is sure to make you drool. Enjoy . . .


Always the first weekend in May, the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival held on lovely Amelia Island, in downtown Fernandina Beach is a must see destination for shrimp and pirate loving aficionados. This was not my first Shrimp Boat Festival....since I grew up in Fernandina....but it was probably the best in recent memory. Friday night is usually the Pirate Invasion with fireworks, fake pirate ship, fake shots fired from the cannon, and fake pirates running through the cobbled downtown streets of Fernandina. Emphasis on fake. We skipped that in lieu of a bushel of crabs, and my Dad's infamous garlic crabs. Yum. We ventured downtown on Saturday, on the prowl for pirates and shrimp. The weather was perfect, approximately 78 degrees with a light sea breeze, and beautiful sunshine. I think my last SBF, it was 50 degrees and drizzling. Blech. After securing a parking spot not too far from the festival, we started to comb our way through the crowds. I say there was probably a million people there. My Dad says it is probably more like 100,000. Whatever, same difference. It was crowded regardless...given there are only normally about 12,000 inhabitants of the tiny isle. Matt and I weaved in and out of streets, looking at the art, antiques and pirate freak shows - and totally unrelated, saw our friend Eric who just moved to FB from ATL, and he's surviving the cultural differences and was wearing his going out flip flops, as I had recommended - when in Rome...... Finally made our way to the food booths. Here's how you determine who has the best food. Church of God booth - no line. Shrimpers of America - line around the block. Shrimp is shrimp, and we were impatient, so ordered a low country boil box lunch from the nice ladies at the Church of God booth and found a seat on the railway ties....AND found out why there was no line at the Church of God booth - not particularly tasty. So got a funnel cake to tie us over (fresh out of the boiling vat of grease), as we watched the lady pirates throw beads from the pirate ship, Mardi Gras style. We headed back to the car around 3pm, so we could make it home for customary island nap time on Saturdays. ; )



So, in case you were wondering, the Church of God shrimp did come in a distant second to the pirates.

Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. . .

Liz isn't in the office today, which is good for her and not so good for me. When she's not around my daily level of entertain distraction drops off precipitously. But hey, its not all about me. She is headed south this week-end to visit her family, lay around on the beach, and go to the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival - it is know by the locals as the Fernandina Beach Shrimp Festival so we'll cal it that so we can blend in.

The festival takes place on Amelia Island, FL and is a 3 day event that boast fireworks, boat races, competitions, pirates, live bands, kids rides, and lots of venders selling antique and collectible merchandise. However, despite the name, and I quote

"One thing you should be aware of when coming to the Fernandina Beach Shrimp Festival, the pirates and art show treasures outdo the shrimp."

I'm not sure that's such a great selling point for a SHRIMP festival. Maybe it should be renamed the Fernandina Pirate Festival Featuring Mediocre Shrimp. Or maybe I am just underestimating the allure of adults dressed up like Pirates. Perhaps no food has a snowballs chance against such live action festivity. Fortunately for you (and me) Liz has agreed to be a traveling correspondent for the In Case You Were Wondering blog. She's down there right now snapping photos, sampling the food and drink, and assessing the joy ratio of Shrimp to Pirate.

So, stay tuned for some 'from the front line' reporting of the Fernandina Beach Shrimp Festival. Until then, have a great week-end.

In case you were wondering, Club NII donated 150lbs of food (equaling a $150 match from Mr. Feinstein) and $650 in cash (which will also be matched). Hip hip hooray.