Pi Girl

Technically, Janice and Serkan were married in December of 2006. Or April 2007 if you’re Turkish and got to go to the first celebration. But we finally got to celebrate here in the States on Saturday. Jason has the photos and I have no idea what they look like but if they’re good, I’ll post a gallery. I danced to an interesting mix of music, drank lots of wine and managed to not get any of the chocolate fountain on my dress. And it was so nice to see the Ithaca group again, I don’t get to see them nearly enough.

So, last night was the Emmys. And the only really enjoyable parts were Ricky Gervais, Stephan Colbert and Jon Stewart. Oh, and this brilliant piece. It’s not so much that I think a medley of 30 tv theme songs needs to be done or is all that great itself. But it makes me think I should move Josh Groban higher on my list of awesome people. After all, he did that Jimmy Kimmel bit.

1. If you like campy musicals, ABBA, men looking so good it’s ok they can’t sing and/or Meryl Streep, I urge you to go see Mamma Mia! It is fun and funny and have I mentioned Meryl Streep? It’s definitely the flick to go see if you suddenly find yourself with a major life change and need to get your head out of reality for a while.

2. Thank you to everyone who commented or emailed with Chicago/Ohio suggestions. I am now very excited about my trip and Jason is bringing some fancy new camera that he’s testing so we’ll post photos from the trip. I know I said I’d have the laptop, but I don’t have the laptop anymore so it will just be me and my iPhone twittering away.

3. I’m on vacation!

I feel like I’ve been full of random postings lately but it seems that all the good stuff happens at once.

- We saw the Hangovers Saturday night. They are Cornell’s a cappella group and they are awesome! They performed in Trinity Church in Elmira, where the sound was so awesomely fantastic for their first set, which was all Glee Club traditional songs - old stuff, church songs, etc. I must have a copy of their Ave Maria, it was so beautiful. For the second set, they did the fave a cappella stuff, which was also good. However, I think most a cappella groups are used to using mikes for those songs and they didn’t at Trinity so some of the solos got drowned out by the rhythm and chords from the rest of the group. I know for one kid, both Desra and I were screaming mental thoughts at him to “use your diaphragm, dammit!” But their energy was infectious and we got them to sing us an encore, which was very cool.

- In Sunday School yesterday morning, one of my kids asked the best question I’ve heard in a long time. We were discussing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how they ate the forbidden fruit and suddenly they knew they were naked and covered up. That’s when Chad asked, “so do you think animals don’t realize they’re naked because they didn’t eat the fruit from the tree?” I said, sure, we’ll go with that and then awarded Chad mad originality points.

- The roads yesterday were nasty with all the wind and snow. So much so that the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile crashed on Rt 15 in Mansfield, PA. Fortunately, everyone is alright, which allowed the Star-Gazette reporter to write one of the better articles I’ve ever seen about a weinermobile accident. I’m not sure which is punnier - the story or the comments.

I always like to see January end and February begin. Mostly because it’s actually light now when I leave work. And it’s not even twilighty until almost 6. That makes me happy. Like spring is almost here. Maybe that’s why the groundhog comes out on the 2nd.

Anyhoo….

Sorry for the lack of posts. Work has been busy and I’ve been unmotivated to blog.

I should mention I saw Juno last week. Quality movie. Go see it. Seriously. You will love it. I figure if Desra, Jason and I, who have 3 completely different movie tastes, all agree that this is a must-see movie, you really can’t go wrong. I bought the soundtrack off of iTunes that same night.

Also, I learned something new this week. Back around New Year’s time, Mumsy and I were watching the commercials for the Green Bags. They are the miracle bags that keep your fruits and vegetables fresher for longer. Now, I’m not one to go immediately buying everything I saw on TV, but I simply had to have them. But, it seemed a little pricey to go online and spend like $10 for 5 bags. So, I did some research. Turns out, the Wall Street Journal did a consumer report type thing on those bags and compared them to some other expensive mail-order bag and also regular Ziploc bags from the grocer. And wouldn’t you know, the Ziploc bag kept the fruit fresher longest?

So, I tried it myself this week with a bunch of bananas. I love bananas but I am extremely picky that they can only be eaten at the exact right moment of just under-green yellow with no spots. I don’t buy bananas because it usually means I have to eat them all in one day or they’ll go bad (well, Erin bad). So, I tried a bunch of perfect bananas in the Ziploc bag and I’m telling you, they stayed Erin-perfect for 5 days!!!!! The 5th day was just starting to go more yellow but that was my last banana anyway. So, yea for saving money and eating bananas for a week!

And in other, less exciting news, I have another column this week that you’ve already read here on the blog. Since I like to think of myself as someone who can share information by telling my story, I figured I would tell the newspaper readers about tudiabetes.com in case anyone was looking for diabetes resources.

So, apparently, when I blog about tv shows, my traffic goes up. Ah, who am I kidding, all I have to do is type the word “naked” and I get all kinds of traffic. And if that’s how you found me, I’m sorry to disappoint you, there is no nakedness here.

So, I was in deep discussion with Eileen on Facebook about last night’s Top Chef finale and I realized I have a lot to say about it. Oh, and spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it yet.

I was a die-hard Casey fan from the beginning. She’s smart, she’s articulate and her food gets the best kinds of comments. However, after last week, it seemed that had they cut the traditional 2 people instead of 1, she would have gone home. But she got to stay. And she screwed up. It was obvious by the 2nd course that she would not win this competition. But, as Jason and I discussed, she is very marketable; Jason says he sees dollar signs when she’s on camera. He’s right and I’m sure we have not seen the last of Casey. In meantime, I would love to get to her restaurant sometime in my life to try her food.

When I came to terms with Casey not winning, I looked at Dale and Hung. I like Dale much more than Hung, but mostly that’s personality. I think Dale had all the potential to win the competition but he can be inconsistent at times which is where Hung had the edge. Hung may have won overall, but I would be more likely to try Dale’s food because he uses more ingredients that I can pronounce or at least have some grasp of understanding what it even is and I usually find myself thinking, yes I would try that and probably even like it.

Is this the part where I mention that I am most un-adventurous person when it comes to food? I like my food bland and familiar. It drives Jason up a wall but I’m sorry, I’m just not willing to try sushi 7 horrible times to see if maybe I’ll really like it on the 8th try. It’s actually because of my lack of knowledge about food that I missed the first 2 seasons of Top Chef, thinking I wouldn’t really like or understand it; this is also why I’m not obsessed with the Food Network. But I happened to catch a marathon on Bravo when they had the challenge to take family favorites (pork and beans! mac and cheese! tuna casserole!) and turn them into healthy alternatives. Now that’s when you start speaking my language. And because it’s a Bravo series, I got sucked in. What can I say? They know how to produce good reality tv.

Anyway, back to the finale. Now, Jason was pulling for Hung. They have the same attitudes about their craft (aka arrogance), so that’s probably why. I liked that in the last 2 episodes, the producers showed more of Hung’s human side so I at least wasn’t mad that he won. We got to see him appreciate his Vietnamese roots and the sacrifices that his family made for him and that’s what drives him to succeed. I still wouldn’t try his food but I congratulate him on winning Top Chef.

Ok, I’m going to admit something. I love Rock of Love on VH1. I have only watched the last 5 episodes so I missed out on the beginning of the show but managed to get sucked in in time to see it through to last night’s finale.

I was actually going to blog this confession a few weeks ago but refrained because, without ever having talked about Rock of Love, I get lots of traffic from weirdos searching for Erin Rock of Love Naked. So, instead, I just got Jason hooked and we’ve been rooting for Jes to win.

Basically, the show is your typical “I’m a single rock star who’s going to date a ton of girls looking for fame by partying 24/7.” I hated Flavor of Love for that reason and didn’t watch it. Jason and I totally predicted the last 15 minutes of the show, it was that obvious.

But Jes won me over because she is close to the sanest girl I have ever seen on a reality dating show. Her commentary of the other girls was awesome, mostly because she said exactly what I was thinking. She played the game well and that’s why she won.

The other reason I was curious is because I have a secret crush on Bret Michaels. I wouldn’t say he’s high on my list of celebrities I’d like to meet but if I was forced to choose my favorite 80’s hair band to listen to forever, it would be Poison. And it’s all because Bret appeared on the cover of Diabetes Forecast, which I subscribed back when I was first diagnosed. So, as an impressionable 13-year-old, I was smitten because Bret and I shared the same disease. I was also highly amused that they spent most of the article about him advising diabetics NOT to model Bret’s behavior of all-night partying and drinking and tattooing.

So, it was extremely interesting to me that Rock of Love played the diabetes card for the finale. Basically, the show’s schedule and events caught up with Bret and he started to get really sick during both of his dates with Heather and Jes. And to me, it was a no-brainer that their reaction to his illness would be a huge factor in deciding who is the better woman for him.

During his date with Heather, he kept saying, “We need to eat, let’s go eat.” But Heather wasn’t done proving how committed and fun-loving she is so she made Bret stay in the dune buggy while she raced around, meanwhile delaying getting Bret help. He didn’t seem to push the issue (hard to tell when the editors only show what they want to for high drama) but if she was a true fan, she would know that Bret is diabetic and be aware that he may need to chill out once in a while.

With Jes, he started to have a reaction before dinner even started and Jes picked up on it immediately. That’s when the editors showed Bret explaining his disease to her and what her responsibility would be if he needed serious help. So, of course, Jes took this very seriously and used the opportunity to show she would care about Bret whether he was rocking out or needed to take it easy. Which is why Jes rocks.

Anyway, that element is something new I haven’t seen on the dating shows. It showed that diabetes is serious, that partying all the time can affect you, and that relationships have to be about more than how much fun you have. Who knew Rock of Love could teach us a lesson?

We actually ventured out and away from the hotel Saturday and yesterday.

Saturday night

As we took our cab over to the Excalibur I got to see more hotels designed to look like cities. Which got me thinking about why Las Vegas even exists. Basically, noone is coming to the desert unless there’s lots of fun and gambling. So, instead of pretty nature to look at, you have these giant buildings with gimmicks to lure you in. New York, Paris, Venice, Rome, Egypt, all on a strip of road with ornately designed casinos, restaurants, shows, and shops. It’s like EPCOT on crack.

So over at the Excalibur, we ate dinner at Dick’s Last Resort, where the waiters have attitude and we all yell at everyone else in the restaurant to tell them they suck. I had to wear a bib and some people got hats. The photos may be deemed too inappropriate to show. Let’s just say Mom had a lot of fun.

Then we went to the Mirage to see the Cirque du Soleil:Love, which features all Beatles music. It was breathtaking and so superbly awesome. I spent most of the show with my jaw on the floor. The theater was round so there was action all over the place and the flow and the music were put together so well. Of course the performers were outstanding. And now, I have all the music stuck in my head, which is a-ok with me.

Sunday

Yesterday, we took the day to sightsee the city. We went back to the Mirage and saw the white tiger on display, then went to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. It was so cool because they had a baby dolphin! Sgt Pepper was born a month ago and he was so cute. We even saw him nurse of Mommy. The facility is an educational and research pool so there are no shows. The trainers work with the dolphins to exercise them but it’s random when it happens. Fortunately, we got to see them play and also eat. You can go underground to see the pool underwater where the dolphins would come right up to the glass to ham it up and say hello. The Garden was cool too, full of tigers and lions and panthers and alpacas, but most of them were sleeping so we didn’t stay long.

After the Mirage, we headed over to the Hard Rock Las Vegas Hotel to pick up obligatory t-shirts. We played an Elvis slot machine there; he liked Mom but not me. The Hard Rock is a hotel and casino, but still has the coolness of the restaurants everywhere else. And that includes drunk hotties who only wear bathing suits.

Then it was on to the Bellagio, with the Picasso ceramic flowers all over the ceiling and beautiful gardens all over the hotel. We went for the fountain show, which was amazing. The show changes each time, and is set to music; we heard All That Jazz from Chicago. The cab ride was more interesting though, only because I literally fell out of my seat when we went around a corner. Apparently, the seat in the minivan cab wasn’t secured because I went flying. The driver freaked out and I just made sure I moved to the middle of the seat and braced myself for every turn, even though the driver decided to calm his driving down (imagine that!).

After that, the heat had us beat, so we chilled back at our hotel. Then we ate dinner at Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse, one of those mega-fancy places where they place the napkin on your lap for you. I got filet mignon, only because I had never ordered it in a restaurant before and thought it would sound fancy. Except when the waiter asked how I wanted my steak, I said, “the rarest you can do” because back in NY, no restaurant will cook meat less than medium. My waitress took that to mean blue, so I backed that up and ordered it as rare. I think we saw someone famous in the restaurant; I didn’t recognize him but he was easily the tallest man I had ever seen in my life and Mom thought she knew who he was. Anyone know of any white basketball players maybe from LA?

After that, we gambled a bit then called it a night. This morning, Mom took off and my plane doesn’t leave until 11:30 tonight! So, I’m in an Internet cafe to get this blog posted and then I’m going to explore some more of the city until it’s time to head to the airport.

More Vegas fun …

Last night we saw the Blue Man Group and I can honestly say it was one of the coolest shows I have ever seen. It was different, smart, fun and awesome! I actually learned stuff too. There was a bunch of facts thrown at us throughout the show. Like how your eye reacts to different kinds of light. It was very interactive too. Like giving headache advice to an audience member over a prompter the whole audience had to read. The Blue people were actually available for photos after the show, but I couldn’t get close enough. But, I did get a photo with their backup band, who were equally awesome. If you ever get the opportunity to see them, GO SEE THEM! You will love it. Well, unless you are prone to seizures from strobelights. I think you might even have to sign a waiver saying that too.

I finally hit the casino last night too. I didn’t do much, just played on the slots and lost $10, but I played Jason’s money on roulette and won him $10.

Today was low key. I laid in the sun for a bit, just to feel real 101 degree heat. That lasted all of 45 minutes. But I slathered on the 45 spf so no burning for me. Mom and I hit up the oxygen bar, which was so cool and so refreshing. You get oxygen, oils, a massage, totally worth the money. We need oxygen bars on the east coast. Of course, I followed that up with a purple rain from the Lime Ice bar and now I’m a bit loopy.

Vegas rules.

When I heard they were making a live-action Transformers movie, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Then Jason asked me if I’d see it with him when it came out. Since I was curious, I said yes and did my best to avoid all news about the movie so I wouldn’t be disappointed.

Yesterday, in an effort to spend quality time in air conditioning, we went to go see the movie. And I have to admit, I was very impressed.

Now, I’m not a big action fan. I’m not even the massively obsessed Transformers fan that Jason is. But it was one of the few cartoons Jimmy and I could both agree on when we were kids. I certainly liked it alot better than Thundercats or G.I. Joe. I don’t even remember most of the characters beyond Optimus Prime; fortunately you didn’t need any of that knowledge to enjoy the film. In fact, it probably helped me because I wasn’t constantly comparing the story to the original series (*cough, Jason, cough*).

I’ve read complaints that there was more human interaction than robot fighting, which is true, but not being an action fan, I was cool with that. It was kind of hard to follow the robot fighting and figuring out who was kicking who’s butt. Plus, I liked that the hot chickees in the movie were super smart and fight-savvy even though the men around them gave them no credit whatsoever and they ended up proving they were just as capable of saving the earth.

Mostly, I just left the theater wondering if my Subaru was an Autobot (good) or a Decepticon (evil) and if it would protect me in a robot war. And Jason, don’t be trying to tell me that of course my car is an Autobot because everyone knows all the Autobots are cars and the Decepticons are flight vehicles. I can only pay so much attention to that crap before I go into a geek coma.

Ok, I realize I’m jumping on this bandwagon way too late but maybe if my crappy local movie theater had shown Dreamgirls when it was released on Christmas Day last year instead of waiting until I was too busy to get there, I may have written this 6 months ago.

Yeah, so I watched Dreamgirls last night. And it was awesome! Jennifer Hudson completely blew me away. I followed her back when she was on Idol, but this part was so perfect for her and showcased her talents more than Idol ever did.

Since I’ve been singing with Affinity, I know I’ve worked harder on my own singing that I ever have before. I’m to the point where I get like Jason watching a film or tv show - for those who have never watched anything with him, he gets so involved in the production and quality of the film, he forgets the rest of the audience might only be interested in the plot and the characters. My point is I’m getting like that whenever I watch anyone perform, especially if they’re singing. Depending on who it is, I’m either critiquing or taking notes. And with Jennifer, I was writing a whole pad of notes.

In the beginning of the film Jennifer’s character, Effie, is the lead of the Dreamettes. And holy cow, it was obvious she was the true lead of a group. And not just in her incredible voice, but in her actions, her dancing and presence. Even when she was ousted as the lead and told to sing backup, you still only wanted to watch her when the Dreams took the stage.

When Jennifer is not on screen, the movie is still good. I loved the performances given by Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx and Beyonce. I know Beyonce also has a good voice, but she really held it back through most of the film so we believed she was simply a product of good marketing. But then she belts out her own pay-attention-to-me song and you realize she has that awesome presence as well but it waited the whole movie to come out.

Anyway, I realize I’m probably the last person to see Dreamgirls and there is no point in me telling you to see this movie, but I really loved this movie and if you haven’t seen it, you really need to.