The Best Things in Life are Free

Lucky you, I'm probably going to write a ton because I'm in a rambling mood and I'm feeling pretty random, so crazy things will happen. Look, I'm already rambling, and I'm only on the second sentence.

Well, yesterday went off pretty well - every that needed to be stored was stored, everything that needed to be shipped was shipped, and all the luggage we were bringing on the plane (we checked 6 items, including my massive computer box and my guitar) was packed and loaded into my dad's rental car (he got a Taurus instead of like a minivan. The boxes we packed stuff in didn't even fit in the trunk! I was like, how is this part of the plan? But it wasn't a big deal).

I convinced him to take me to the Greek restaurant, so that was excellent. Hummus, tzatziki, babakanouj, falafels...mmmm. Alas, no wine for me because the waitress actually carded me this time (I guess that's a good thing...) but behold! The return of Happy Water! For those of you that have no clue what I'm talking about, this is the name that I have given sparkling water (like the kind they serve a lot in Europe). In my opinion, sparkling water leaves a strange aftertaste reminiscent of feet, but if you can get past this, it inexplicably makes you very happy. Maybe it's all the bubbles. My first encounter with Happy Water was in an Italian restaurant in England, and in my blissful state I grinned at the waiter, who was pretty cute and Italian. So that was memorable. Anyway, back to the restaurant.

We talked a lot about the trip that my family is taking to Sweden. Apparently, we're leaving Helsinki on a cruise ship (which my dad described as an ongoing party with drunken Swedes and Finns) and we're stopping at some weird islands in between the two countries. I say weird, because the islands technically belong to Finland, but everyone on them is Swedish. That sounds fishy to me... Anyway, then we get back on another ship that takes us to Stockholm, and from there a few trains headed north and more north. At one point, we're going to be above the Arctic Circle, and since it will be July, we're going to see the "midnight sun" and all that jazz. So that's exciting. Apparently the mosquitoes will be massive, though, so that'll be an experience. I'm like, "We're going to Sweden, not Costa Rica - why are there tons of mosquitoes?" Dad: "Water." Makes sense.

Then he talked about December, and how he wants to take my sister and me to New York City for a few days to see some Broadway shows. I've been to NYC once, for all of maybe 24 hours, and we didn't see any shows, so this is exciting. He wants to go see "Spamalot" (yay for Monty Python), and he mentioned how Tim Curry was playing King Arthur (which I knew, but whatever). Anyway, that reminded me of my plans to go see "Guys and Dolls" in London, which Ewan McGregor is starring in, and my overjoyedness (I love how I just make up words) combined with the effects of Happy Water left me grinning like an idiot for a minute or so, but then my spanakopita decided to die, so I recovered.

After dinner, we walked over to Riverfront Park to look at the rapids (which are pretty amazing, if I may say so). It was crazy to see such a huge mass of water moving so rapidly. The spray was flying up at us like when you stand on the bridge over a logger ride. I was still in my euphoric state, so I was thinking some pretty random stuff. I'm wondering, "How much of this water has already gone over these falls and came back? There's only so much water on the planet, and it keeps moving around like Earth swishing mouthwash, so how often does it come to the same spot?" Then I realized that I was being crazy, so I stopped.

Then we went on the carousel at the park, which I've walked by a few times but never stopped to go in. I guess it's pretty little-kiddish, but there were mostly adults anyway. It's one of those where you grab the little rings and try to throw it into the hole in the wall or whatever. My hand-eye coordination is relatively decent, but not when I'm on a moving object, so let's just say I didn't make it in. Actually, it was lucky if I grabbed a ring at all! You had to reach out uberfar just to get one, and sometimes I'd touch one but not be able to grab it. Oh well. Fun times anyway. I had a pretty sweet horse, if I may say so myself.

Superearly morning this morning. We woke up at 5am to get ready for a 7am flight. It wasn't too bad though, and I definitely had one last Starbucks doubleshot with me. Now that I've finished that, I'm swearing off caffeine for the rest of whatever. Actually, I'm not really a huge coffee or soda drinker anyway, so there's not really a point to me swearing it off. It just sounds cooler than taking a break.

Darth Vader is on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, so I got it for some nice inflight reading. I've never actually read Rolling Stone before, so that was interesting. Cool stuff though. Yay for music.

So I get home, and my mom recently dug up some of the stories I wrote from before I could write (I used to draw pictures and dictate the stories to my parents, who wrote them down). The stories are, of course, genius. However, I must say that I hope I've improved over the last decade or so. Let me share them with you.

The first one has no title, so I will just call it "The Witch." Once upon a time in a faraway land where it was dark and haunted there was no place to live. The witch had a scary potion and it was a stormy night. It was so scary she had to go away! Brilliant.

My second story not only has a title but a date (June 1991 - let's see, I was five years old?). "The Unicorn Was a Hero" Once upon a time there was a car with a princess inside and a unicorn on the freeway. They got closer and closer to a castle. They rode inside the castle. They got inside the castle and into the room where the prince was. They got married together. The end. I'm not exactly sure how the unicorn was the hero, but I will let that slide. Oh, this one also had a dedication: "For Becky and for Caroline." I love how I dedicated it to myself.

Anyway, I hope those were inspiring to you. They definitely made me a better person. I'll leave you with a random fact: There are four cars and eleven lightposts on the back of a ten dollar bill. I wish I was rich enough to verify this for you, but alas. Anyway, I hope you have an excellent day. I have to go play with my parakeet before he explodes. Adiós.