Lunch Conversations

I work with a bunch of crazies.

We go out to lunch as a group (normally between 6-10 people) on Fridays, and this is the stuff we talked about on our last outing to a Mexican restaurant:

1) chips "mating" - Yes, the tortilla chips that they hand out as an appetizer.  Two chips were stuck together, and we had a good 10-minute discussion on how chips came about, and why they didn't mate in front of us.

2) "double dog dare" - another 10-minute discussion on the expression, what it means, and where it came from.  In the end, it was pretty hard to convince the others of the dire consequences if you backed down from one of these.. the others consisting of one Canadian, one guy who grew up "all over the United States" (and considers Arizona part of the South) and a couple of Romanians.

3) how the smoke from fajitas is similar to war - this "discussion" took about 10-minutes too, but mostly because we couldn't understand what our co-worker was saying (he has a thick Romanian accent).  First, we thought he said "work", which didn't make any sense.  Then, we thought he said "world," but that was too vague and also didn't make sense.  Finally, he made the universal machine-gun motion to signal "war."  Ohh! War!  Wait, that still doesn't make sense.  How are fajitas like war?

Just your typical lunch conversations..
"So what are you doing over the weekend?"
"The smoke from the fajitas are like war!"
"Uh.. that's cool. I'm probably going to do some shopping.."

Memories

I'm always amazed by the things that people remember.  You can completely lose contact with someone for over an year, and then the next time you see them, they'll still remember mundane details about your last meeting. People who you think could care less about what you're talking about will come around the next day and say that they've been thinking about what you've said.

Even more interesting, and perhaps even a little frightening, is when people remember things that you've said or done that you don't remember.  And no, i'm not talking about when you're passed out or wasted and aren't supposed to remember anything.  I'm referring to situations where you may have casually commented about something, not realizing the impact that it would have later.

Random events/conversations for one person may hold an entirely different significance for someone else.  The crazy thing is that neither person really gets to decide what they remember. 

My friend, who's a psych major, said that we remember things that are either really important to us or that are highly unusual.

Yeah, I'm guessing most of the memories people have of me are because of the latter ;)

Happy Rakhi!

What? You've never heard of the age-old, tradition-riddled, most sexist holiday on the Indian calendar?

The idea is to strengthen the bond between a brother and sister.  The sister ties a cheap-ass string around her brother's wrist, and promises to "pray" for him.  In return, the brother is expected to bestow lavish gifts and money on his sister on the spot and promise to protect her.  The string, called the 'rakhi', is supposed to be a reminder of that promise.

Most holidays either honor one person (Mother's Day, a birthday, Father's Day) or at least have the illusion of equality, where everyone celebrates and reaps the rewards in the same way.  Rakhi seems to destroy that notion of a holiday, and unabashedly skews the day in favor of the sister.  She is able to enjoy material wealth as well as a promise of protection, whereas the brother just gets a string and maybe a couple of sweets.

Don't get me wrong, I think the holiday itself is a great idea, and helps bring siblings closer.  I just think the way it's celebrated is outdated and has contributed to the inferior status of women in Indian society.

Surf's Up!

I went grocery shopping today at Wal-Mart in Garland.

So, I'm gettin' my food, and as I pass by the beverage section, I notice something I've never seen in that Wal-Mart before: beer! A little further down, there's an entire aisle of wine (not the good stuff though, cause this is Wal-Mart).

Huh? I thought that Garland was dry...

I'm quite confused, so I look it up online, and what do you know:

Garland Gets Wet

"Since Garland voters passed two ballot measures May 7, businesses have filed 114 applications for alcohol sales permits, according to the Dallas office of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Some are to sell beer and wine in stores; others are to sell alcohol at restaurants without requiring club memberships.

Voters overwhelmingly approved measures allowing both."

Woohoo, no need to drive to Plano to get the goods anymore...

Another Great Job

I'm shocked.

If you'll look back at my Guilty Pleasures post, you'll notice my mention of "the hot blonde FBI agent" on the show "The Inside." Well, lo and behold, apparantly Rachel Nichols is trading in her badge for a CIA post in "Alias" (replacing Jennifer Garner).

I should be a TV producer. The meeting probably went something like this:

"Hey, we should get that hot chick on that FOX show that nobody watches. She's really hot, and she already plays a detective. And did you see that one episode where she broke down talking about how she was kidnapped? ... Yeah, not many people did. But, I'm telling ya, she has great emotional range! Plus, did I mention the fact that she was hot? Possibly even hotter than JG."

Greatest Job

Supreme Court Justice has got to be the sweetest job you can get.

You only work a few months out of the year, it's a lifetime appointment so you can't get fired, and by the time you're nominated you pretty much already know everything about the law, so there isn't much outside work.

You just come to court when it's in session, hear the lawyers argue their side, ask a couple of questions, and then get together with the other justices and write a paper explaining the decision of the court.

The great thing is that the court doesn't even hear every case. If you think it's not important enough for your attention, you can vote to not hear it at all.

Why can't more jobs be like this?

Austin

I went to Austin this past weekend to visit a friend who had spent the last year in Japan, teaching English to grade-school Japanese students.

It was a pretty fun trip.  I think it's good to get out of the city every once in awhile, to clear your head and get a change of scenery.

Unfortunately, I don't get enough vacation time to go much further than Austin or Shreveport.  He saw a good part of Asia (Kuala Lampur, Singapore, Bali, Indonesia, Thailand), and a good part of Europe (Spain, Denmark, Italy, Amsterdam, Russia, Turkey) when he studied abroad in Europe in college.  I'm so jealous; compared to the adventures he had this past year, I haven't done anything.

The city has definitely changed a lot.  The Drag is completely different -- no Barnes & Noble, no Tower Records -- and most of the people who used to live there seem to have moved out.  I don't know when/if I'll be going back.  It's weird, cause when people ask me which one I like better, I always say Austin.  But after this last visit, the Austin that I liked better isn't really there any more.