Friday 7 Quick Little Takes (vol 11)

Brenda if you’re reading this and haven’t yet received my letter, don’t read take No. 7.

1.

I’ve been getting a little soft around my belly. I’m not complaining. I know if I get big, it’s A. my own doing and B. been a long time coming. I hate working out. I used to have a 3-5 times a week work out buddy that made working out tolerable. If you throw in socializing and someone to share the misery with, I’m all about it! Yesterday, I stuffed my face at a churrascaria and a few hours later, had a midnight phone date with my college roommate while I ate warm chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies at midnight.

I need to put on my big girl pants and start working out regularly again. Even if I have to do it without a buddy. (The horror!)

2.

That midnight phone date was wonderful. With the majority of my closest friends being long distance, I try to schedule at least quarterly phone dates with them. It rejuvenates me to catch up with a friend who lives in a different city. Grounds me. I love that we’re off busy in our own life and daily routines, and yet they can recognize that I’m still essentially the same person they met 10 years ago and I can see they too are essentially the same. So comforting to know that despite time, growing pains, life’s dramas, we are basically still who we are. That’s some good shit.

3.

Facebook has been suggesting friends I might know on the sidebar when I log in. Under the name of suggested possible friend is a tally of how many mutual friends we have. It tickles me when they suggest people with greater than 10 mutual acquaintances/friends. Right now I have Erica and Stephanie suggested to me and we have 23 and 20 mutual acquaintances. 23 and 20! I wonder if I ever rubbed elbows with some of these people and not know it. I love stumbling /finding these kind of coincidences on my own without the help of Facebook.

For instance, I once had a class buddy in college in my Medical Terminology class. We sat next to each other for almost a full semester before somehow figuring out that we literally sat by each other at a dinner party 2 years prior. Then there’s the story of Cindy. We didn’t meet til 2005. It wasn’t til maybe a year or two ago when it clicked that she was the lucky bitch who sat way on the other side of the auditorium of a class who got flowers delivered to her on Valentine’s day in 2002 while class was going on. Within in the last couple of years, I had a flashback to a time when we hadn’t even met, of her surprised face and flowers being delivered to her. Oi. Crazy!

Doesn’t it make you wonder how many times the people in your life have crossed paths with you before establishing significant presences? Do you have any relevant stories to share?

Blows my mind.

4.

Another thing that blows my mind is this flower about to bloom in Houston. It’s called a corpse flower and only 28 have been known to bloom in the United States. Houston is about to give way to the 29th bloom. From my understanding, it stands at 10 ft tall, is in bloom for 12 hours? and finally, it smells like rotting flesh! If I didn’t have plans in Austin, I’d totally make a drive down to Houston and drag a Houston friend to go see it with me. Cindy? Kim? Go anyway? Here’s the link.

5.


I love me some cheesy jokes. I have about 20 jokes I cycle through for years now. All stolen from friends (Thanks Cindy! Thanks Kim!). Well, I’ve run out of new people to share the same tired jokes and my amigos literally want to crawl into a hole when they see that I’m about to share a joke they’ve heard from me at least 10 times already. This means, I need more material to share. Will you tell me a joke? You can leave it as a voicemail. I’ve recorded one of my favorite jokes to greet you when you call in. It’s a trade! My friends will appreciate the new material. Use the widget below to leave a voicemail.

You need a phone. Google gives you an option to be anonymous. So go ahead. It’s safe. Tell me a joke.

Also, if you’re reading in a reader you won’t see the widget. :)

6.

Life is good. I am happy.

7.

I sent a letter out to France this week. Brenda‘ s off traveling Europe and I’m in Texas envious. It’s been over ten years since I’ve been overseas. Here’s a cellphone picture of the quote I scribbled on the back of the envelope.

quotation on Travel