EE-YAR I'm a Pirate!

No, the title has absolutely nothing to do with the post. There's no deep meaning here. It was just in my head.

More entertaining things that I have brought back from my travels... from Madison, WI:

a delphinum plant to replace the oft-mourned cilantro
about 8,000 InterVarsity Press books... each day, there was a free book o' the day--whoo hoo!
flip-flop air fresheners, brownies, root beer, t-shirts, and mugs as souvenirs
bratwurst (soooo yummy)
cheese (also good)

Thank God for expandable luggage and styrofoam coolers.

and from Centennial Olympic Park on the 4th of July:

soggy, soggy clothes

Yup, it rained on us. How rude. It was also depressing to hear them set the fireworks off on the 5th of July. But other than getting soaked, the 4th was good. We had some friends over, and we grilled out. (We grilled hamburgers & hot dogs, not our friends). Those friends included some new folks that I met at my part-time job and just randomly invited over. What a hoot. Their 3rd day in Atlanta, they get invited over to someone's house that they don't know and bond with a bunch of strangers by getting drenched in the rain. (If you wear a GT shirt around me, I'll feel that we have a true connection and I may try to become your friend. Just a warning.) We also pranked one of our friends who is an avid carnivore by telling him that all the dogs and such were tofu. I can tell the caliber of someone by whether or not they are willing to tease a person they just met. Good stuff.

In addition to making new friends, it's been a week down memory lane. On Sunday, we were standing around talking before the service, when in walks someone I haven't seen in 11 years, since he graduated from High School the class before mine. I definitely did a double-take! What are the odds? I know it's dangerous to go to our hometown WalMart, because you're bound to see someone there. But here in Atlanta, I certainly don't expect to bump into folks from New Mexico. Weird.

And then there's MySpace. I expect to see old friends there, but it's still strange to find out they have indeed aged the same amount of years that I have, instead of being in stasis. When did I get old? Don't answer that.

While we're asking questions (I love non-sequitors), here's an interesting article about the evolution of dictionaries. I had no idea that the word "nice" used to be negative... and to think of all the people that I have called nice! It's also interesting to hear that the Scrabble dictionary no longer contains offensive slurs. I applaud that. Although, the quote from the Anti-Defamation League (who the heck is that? I'm afraid to click the link!) was amusing. While there is indeed "no room on the board for prejudice," sometimes all you have is two C's, two R's, an A, a K and an E.

And here's another question: If you addecimate regularly & give traboccantly, are a sacricolist, and aren't paterophobic, does that make up for being an agonyclite? Hmmm... My favorite word in the Phrontistery's collection of lost words was flosculation. The entire site was pretty cool, actually. Although the phrase "International House of Loghorrea" makes me feel a little nauseated.

I love being a nerd.