Category: Cities

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Gas & Tatas

A couple days ago, I pulled out of my local coffee house, which just happens to be in a relatively upper middle class area of Suburban Detroit. As I’m driving towards the exit, I happen to glance at the L.and Ro.ver that was parked next to me and saw this bumper sticker on the rear window:

So yet again … does anyone else see the irony in this picture?

Okay … let’s see. Hmmm …. the fact that this person is driving a gas-guzzling SUV that probably requires the premium, high octane fuel probably gives insight as to why he/she is for war. But the irony of this, is that L.and Ro.ver, while once owned by one of the “Big Three” US auto companies, was recently sold to … da da da dum … an Indian car company, which …. wait for it … is called Tata Motors. (God, I just love writing the word “tata” and not have it be in reference to my b**bies!)

Yeah, I’m lame. But TGIF and hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Snow Day

Apparently the southeastern portion of Michigan is supposed to be slammed with a major winter storm tonight. It’s supposed to start around midnight and last until 7 pm tomorrow night. It’s about 7:30 pm and as I look outside the window, there’s not a snowflake to be seen.

What gets me is that I wish this storm could have happened on Sunday night for Monday. This year, it seems like Mother Nature gets her kicks in sending a wintery blast our way just before or right on the weekend. I just wish for once that a storm would happen during the first half of the week so that I could have a work “snow day.”

Remember snow days in school? It was so exciting to stay up the night before hoping and praying that it would snow enough so that they would cancel school. I do recall doing the “Snow Dance” with my brother in the middle of our living room to help bring on a storm. And then we’d wake up earlier than normal just so we could turn on the TV to see if our school was listed on the morning newscast as being closed. There was only a handful of times we were disappointed to see that the surrounding school districts were closed except for us … but the majority of the time we were rewarded with the day off.

I miss those days. I miss that feeling of elation when you are rewarded an unexpected day off. And as a child, it wasn’t your responsibility to figure out how to “make the time up.” We just relied on our teachers to rearrange their lesson plans in order to fit everything that was needed.

But now, we’re the ones that have to be responsible. We have to find a way to adjust our schedules so that we can take time off from work, whether it’s planned or unplanned. We have to be ADULTS (gasp!) …

So as I left work for the day, the child in me turned and whispered to my co-worker, “If anyone finds a way to shut down the power and heat to this building, let me know. I’m all for a snow day!”

Alright, I am off now to climb into my jammies and do the “Snow Dance” …

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Tagged

So I was officially “Tagged” by kcmarie waaaay back at the end of December. I figured I probably should finally get around to doing it. Apparently there has been some “rules” that have been posted since I initially got tagged, so I figured I would add it to my post as well.

The Rules:

  1. Link to the person that tagged you.
  2. Post the rules on your blog.
  3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
  4. Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
  5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
  6. Let the fun begin!

Ummmm … Let’s see. Six non-important quirks about me.

  1. I brush my teeth with my left hand. Which would not be any big deal except that I’m right-handed in everything else. I’ve tried switching hands many times, but for some reason I always revert subconsciously to my left hand.
  2. I always have to sleep with one foot, preferably the right (told you I was a righty), outside of the blanket. Even if I’m lying on the side, I always have to have a foot out. It could be freezing cold in our bedroom to the point that my head is even under the covers, but I absolutely have to keep one foot on the outside. I’m not quite sure the reason why, but it’s just something I have always done. Sometimes I think that my mind is telling me that I must always be ready to move or get up at the spur of the moment.
  3. Back in high school, I was nicknamed the “Human Jukebox” because I would always know the words to any song. Friends would spit out two words to a song and I would literally know what song they were talking about. Unfortunately, that “talent” faded once I got into college because suddenly my mind had to be filled with the other “useful” knowledge it was supposed to contain in order for me to graduate with my Nursing degree. Apparently though, my “talent” has started to resurface because I’m suddenly being approached by co-workers who say I should be on that new TV show where I’m supposed to complete the lyrics. Yikes! I’d have too much stage fright!
  4. Speaking of high school, I was voted “Class New-Waver.” I mean, come ON! How 80’s could that get?! Personally, I would have thought that I would have been “Class Goth” if there was ever that category back then. But then again, we’re talking Catholic school here. I guess it was because even back then, I only wore black (Thank God no uniforms in high school at that time!) and supposedly listened to what was considered “alternative music” back then. Seriously though, I think God got back at me for wearing all that black in high school, because once I got into the Nursing program in college all I was allowed to wear was white. Grrr …
  5. I took piano lessons for close to ten years when I was young. I loved playing the piano, but I hated the lessons. Probably because I never was able to really “read” the notes as quickly as you would think someone taking lessons for that long would. Instead, I had a tendency to read the notes slowly, learn the “melody,” and then memorize it so I knew when something “sounded” wrong when I played it. It used to drive my piano teacher INSANE. What I wish I would have known then was that there was a specific method of teaching piano, called the Suzuki Method, that relied mostly on listening to a song over and over again in order to learn the tune. Then I might have found another instructor and might have continued taking lessons.
  6. I’m not a particularly active or “fit” person, but I love watching any type of sports. I think it comes from living in a city that has all the major pro-sports teams (hockey, baseball, basketball, football) and great universities with good sports programs. Hubby & I are BIG University of Michigan Football Fans and are actually pretty lucky to have season tickets every year. The funny thing is that Hubby actually is a U of M alumni, but do you think that we EVER went to any of the football games when he actually attended the university? Nope.  In fact, I never had any inkling that Hubby was a sports nut until after we were married. Which is when I really started getting into sports. Never thought I’d see the day when I actually knew what the referee’s hand signals actually meant …

So that’s it about me. Six quirky things you never wanted to know.

I guess this is where I’m supposed to tag other people. Oh geez, I don’t have THAT big a circle of friends, but I’ll tag hope548, courtney rose, and sheila. Good luck, gals!!

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VHS or BETA

There are few bands out there that completely surprise me any more these days. I don’t know if it’s the fact that the older I get, the more music starts to sound the same or similar to another song that’s out there now. Or perhaps there aren’t many original bands out there this day.

I usually leave the task of updating my iPod with music to my husband. He’s pretty good at picking up music he knows I’d enjoy. A couple years ago, my Hubby downloaded the album “Night on Fire” by VHS or BETA. I had never heard of them before, but they instantly became a favorite of mine. Their sound reminded me of bands that I loved back in the 80’s. To me, without reading any previous reviews on them, they sounded like a cross between Duran Duran during their “New Romantic” era and Robert Smith from The Cure. It was the type of music that made me want to roll down my car window and sing at the top of my lungs, like I used to in high school.

A few weeks ago, Hubby and I were listening to them in the car (and yes, I was singing along). I turned to him and said, “If these guys ever come in concert, I would love to check them out.” Imagine my surprise when last week, he told me they were coming to Detroit. Yeah, we definitely had to go.

So last night, we drove to the Magic Stick to check the band out. I was taken back by how relatively empty the place was. I would have thought that more people would have dug their sound as well. It wasn’t until VHS or BETA actually came on and said that they were happy that anyone showed up at all as Morrissey was also in town, that I remembered that bit of news. Regardless, the band totally ROCKED! (How 80’s sounding is that?) And since it was such an “intimate” atmosphere, that made it all the better.

But going back to the whole “surprised” part of it. The band itself, was not at all what I would have thought they would look like. I pictured tailored Durannie-looking outfits and a mostly synth-based, drum and bass-loaded band. What stood in front of me was a skinny better-than-early-Axl Rose-without-the-big-hair-looking band. And what I thought would be mostly pre-recorded tracks on a Mac laptop that was hooked up to the keyboards was really a full-out band. And the way they played together, it was just a perfectly engineered sound. A very very tight sound. (And on a completely different note, I was totally floored by the fact that the lead singer was Asian… Represent!!)

So there you have it. A big thumbs up for VHS or BETA from me. If you guys ever get a chance to see them, I recommend that you do. In the mean time, check out the video for “Night on Fire” which has got to be my favorite tune from them. And let me know what you think … you be the judge.

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Cruisin' Away

This past weekend was the annual Woodward Dream Cruise weekend here in Detroit. It’s an event that combines classic cars with the 50’s and 60’s pastime of cruising. Now being a native of Detroit, I have to admit that the concept behind this event is excellent. Not only does it celebrate the history of Detroit as the Motor City, but it certainly gives the surrounding cities a nice economic boost.

The part that bothers me, though … is although the official Woodward Dream Cruise day typically falls on the third Saturday of August every year, people start cruising (or even just sitting on the side of the road) at least one week beforehand. And since I live less than a mile away from that famed Woodward Avenue (aka M-1), by the time the official event starts I am completely sick of the traffic, the noise, and the general hassle that comes with even attempting to cross Woodward.

So this year, hubby and I decided to “skip town.” At the last minute, we decided to head up to Traverse City and enjoy some well-deserved quality time together.

You might think, when don’t the two of you have quality time together? No kids, no other responsibilities except for work and keeping up with our daily activities. Well for hubby and I, sometimes it’s the every day things that keep us from spending time together. Hubby commutes approximately 160 miles roundtrip at least four days a week. This means he spends about three hours of driving a day and then typically doesn’t get home until almost 7 pm every evening. Luckily, I don’t have to deal with such a commute. However, my work schedule consists of 10 hour days. This also means I don’t get home until late as well. Our evenings after work consist of eating dinner, unwinding for about an hour and then off to bed so we can get up early and start our work day again.

Anyway, we decided to leave early Saturday morning and stay overnight at the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City. Yes, I know … why would two adults want to spend time at a family and kids’ play place? Well, let me tell you … it was FUN! We spent the afternoon playing mini-golf while waiting for our room to be ready. And then once we got settled into our room, we changed into our bathing suits and hit the water park. We splashed at each other, rode on the waterslides together, played water basketball, and relaxed in their whirlpool. Being the typical Cancer water-sign, I loved being in my element. The rest of the evening was spent wandering about town. We had dinner at a quaint Italian restaurant downtown and then headed to the local movie theatre to watch “Superbad,” where we laughed our behinds off. After all the activity of the day, it’s no wonder we just crashed the minute our heads hit the pillow.

Even better that the water park adventure was our full body hour massage at the Elements Spa within the resort the next morning. (I have to add that the massage was a result of a bet that I won in regards to our trip to Chicago.) If you ever head up that way and decide to partake in a massage, make sure you ask for Theresa as she was excellent on working out the kinks in my neck, back and shoulders.

Then it was time to return home. But not without our quest to find the Wendy’s that specifically made Cherry Frosties in the midst of the Cherry Capital of the World. Any time we headed up to Traverse City, we made it a point to get one of them Frosties. But wouldn’t you know it … just like the Virgin Megastore in Chicago, the Cherry Frosty was no where to be found. Oh, the humanity ….

I’d love to tell you more about our lunch at Hooter’s (which was an adventure in itself), but I suppose I should quit rambling for now. If you’d like to see more pictures, feel free to click on the album below.

Dream Cruise Getaway