Camping Memories

Yesterday I went on a hike in Bowdoin Park with a friend.  I've been to the park several times, but something about hiking through the woods made me think back to my days as a Girl Scout.  We had some interesting camping experiences, one of which was at this particular park.

My mother was one of my troop leaders, and our troop was together pretty much from day one of Brownies until we all moved on to other things in high school.  We had a lot of good times, but several camping experiences are memorable for the things that went wrong.

For example, I vividly remember one time when we were camping in Bowdoin Park.  We were staying in the lodge there, thankfully, because the weather was most uncooperative.  It rained the entire time.  I don't mean a little sprinkle -- more like Noah should have been building the f#$king ark behind the building. A homeless man tried to climb into the building through a window.  I'm sure he had probably been staying there all along and was just as surprised to see a bunch of Girl Scouts as we were scared shitless to see him. I also remember the board path through the marsh area, as we walked through that several times. By the end of the weekend everyone had to hike back out to the main road because the road to the cabin was such a spectacularly muddy mess that no vehicles could get in.  Fun times!

There was also the Camp Out With the Caterpillars.  I think we were at Sharpe Reservation for that fantastic adventure.  It was supposed to be a regular camp out, but it is memorable for the tent caterpillars.  They were incredibly bad in this area for a few years.  On that camping experience they were so bad that we had to wear a bandana or a hat whenever we were outside because it was literally raining caterpillars down from the trees.   I remember when we were leaving that we turned up the radio in the car because the caterpillars were so thick on the ground that we could hear them squishing as the car drove over them.  Did you know it is possible for squashed caterpillars to make the road slick enough that a car will lose traction, and roll back down a hill?  Totally happened.  I was in the car and my mother was driving.

A third awesome camping experience was at the Jubilee held at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds.  That was really interesting because there were so many troops there.  I remember all of my troop being incredibly jealous that a troop of older girls got to order pizza for dinner, and we had to cook ours over the fire -- you know, like Girl Scouts are supposed to do.  There was also supposed to be bad thunderstorms and lightning, so the organizers made everyone go and sit in the permanent exhibition halls that are on the fairgrounds.  We diligently went up into the hall, and the people in charge kept telling us to move back and sit against the walls so that everyone could fit inside.  My mother took one look at what was going on and told all of us to move away from the wall.  Why?  The fairgrounds are pretty flat, until you get to the area with the halls which are up on a hill, and the halls happen to be made out of metal.  They had moved everyone into big metal buildings on the highest point around, and then told us all to sit back against the big lightning rod.

We had other camp outs that went much better, of course.  Those stand out in my memory simply for the extraordinary circumstances we found ourselves in.

Shout Out to Troop 154!  We were awesome!

An Eggscellent Find

So I was in the store the other day, and I came across the oddest candy:

Yeah, that's right:  Gummi Fried Eggs!  Who comes up with these ideas?  I can understand the cola bottles, cherries, peach rings -- those are all things that are already sweet.  The traditional bear shape makes sense if you think teddy bears and trying to appeal to children.  I'm even down the with gummi severed body parts they sell around Halloween.  They are macabre, a little twisted, and I buy them every year.  

Of course I had to buy these immediately.  Who knows when I will see gummi fried eggs again?  I'm not sure why they are out now.  I'm guessing anything egg related is supposed to be associated with Easter.  They were strangely alluring in their weirdness.  

I decided the best way to showcase my special find was to make cupcakes.  I have no good reason to make them; they are purely to celebrate the magnificence of the candy.  I'm taking them to work tomorrow because what the heck am I going to do with that many cupcakes?  They would petrify into little cupcake paperweights.

Behold!

For the record (and to keep my coworkers from being grossed out at the idea of what they might be asked to ingest): the gummi fried eggs taste vaguely like vanilla, or marshmallow.  I can't really put my finger on it.  

While awesome, it still seems like a strange choice of food to recreate in gummi form.

In Which I Continue to Watch the Marvel Movies In The Wrong Order

In case you are just joining us, I watched Thor for the first time last week.  I kind of latched onto Loki as my favorite character (don't know what that says about me).  I finished and had to watch The Dark World immediately afterward.  I was not happy with Loki falling off of Asgard at the end of the first movie.

I did not find out until after the fact that I needed to watch The Avengers as well.  I had been sucked into the whole Marvel Universe thanks to Loki.  I don't know that much about superheros -- don't watch most of the movies, haven't read the comics.  It's a whole new world to me.

Last night I decided to watch The Avengers -- or Part II of the Loki trilogy, as I considered it.  Joss Whedon is involved with this?  Awesome!  I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I knew who Thor and Loki were, obviously, so I wasn't going in completely clueless.  Oh look!  Iron Man is in this, too.  I've actually seen the first Iron Man movie because Robert Downey Jr. was in it.   Captain America! Holy cow, I remember watching a cartoon version of Captain America when I was little.  I remember the theme song and everything!

In re-runs, people.  I was not around in 1966.

The Hulk?  Totally know who he is as well!  This is going so much better than I had hoped.  I watched that on television too, when it was Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.  

No clue on the rest of them.  Never heard of anyone named Hawkeye or Black Widow.  I have only heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. because of the commercials for the television series.

This should be good!  At least I wasn't completely clueless.

I realized immediately that I was going to have to go back now and watch Captain America starring Chris Evans.  Add that to my list of movies to catch up on.  Apparently he already knows what the Tesseract is, and he was a popsicle for many years.  I remember none of that from watching the cartoon series.

Ah, Loki.  You are still chockablock with issues: Daddy problems, Brother problems, power hungry, jealous, vindictive, hurt.  I love the complexity, your warped brain and world outlook.  You are so damaged. That being said, I have a problem with your plan right from the get-go.  Loki, my lamb, what are you doing cutting such a bad deal with these creepy-ass alien dudes?  I get that they gave you a cool scepter, and knowledge of the Tesseract.  However, for someone so smart and cunning who usually looks out for himself, I think your plan is a bit short-sighted.  You want to take over the Earth and be King, and piss off your brother, I get that.  I understand that you may need an army to take over the Earth, but you are going to give them the Tesseract in exchange?  Really?  That's the part I have a problem with.  You should really consider reneging on that part of the deal.  You might be King of the Earth, but you will still be their bitch when they have unlimited power.  Keep that Tesseract for yourself, honey.  I'm sure you can come up with a way to use it to take over the Earth without these other guys.

I absolutely loved this movie!  I watched it again directly after finishing, just to catch bits I missed the first time -- like Captain America giving Fury the $10.  I love that Loki just kind of kicked back and watched Thor and Iron Man beat the stuffing out of each other in the woods.  I probably would have been much more upset about Agent Coulson if I hadn't already watched The Dark World and spoiled that part for myself.  I feel like I am missing a lot of back-story with Hawkeye and the Black Widow.  

The writing was great as well.  There were some terrific lines in the movie.  A few of my favorites:

-- Hawkeye: "Doors open from both sides."  So deadpan, like everyone should have figured that out already.

--Stark: "Loki, he's a full-tilt diva." 

--Loki: "I don't threaten...You are but words" when talking to the creepy alien leader.  So perfect.

--Fury: "I recognize the Council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision I've elected to ignore it."  Rock on, man!

I was left with one big question after watching the movie, and it is probably due to my lack of familiarity with the Marvel Universe:  Who the hell is The Council?  I get that Fury answers to them, but who are they?  Are they supposed to be world leaders?  

I have so many more movies I have to watch now.

March Madness? More Like March Confusion

Normally I pay zero attention to basketball, and I could care less about the whole March Madness thing.  This year, however, I have entered a pool and I need to pick brackets.  I have no idea how any of this works. 

I watched the match-ups get announced on CBS, hoping that would give me some clue as to what to do.  There is so much I do not understand about all of this!  For example, how is Syracuse in the "South" part of this?  There are North, South, East, and West sections -- shouldn't Syracuse be in the North?  Why are the teams not in the proper parts of the country?  

Whatever.  At least they have rankings on the side, and the record for wins and losses throughout the season.  Surely I could go by that, right?  No.  From what I have read so far it appears that the seeds are somewhat subjective?  "The defending champion Louisville Cardinals didn't get a No. 1 seed this time, and actually may be undervalued as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest."    What?  Okay, forget the seeds.  I can go by their win-loss record. I called my father, as my "go to" sports friend doesn't follow college sports and told me to flip a coin.  My father then explained that the win-loss could be misleading as well, as some teams may have played easier opponents to get to this point.  They weren't all playing each other all year long.

Forget it!  Forget it all.  I'm going to use my own method of choosing my teams for these brackets.

-- I'm definitely going to pick Delaware.  Why?  My coworker's daughter goes there.  That's my sole reason.  Statistics be damned.

-- I may choose some teams simply because I have heard of them before watching the CBS show tonight.  

-- A couple of the schools had cute little mascots.  That's all it takes, people!  I have no idea what I am doing and may chose based on how much I like the mascot.

--One of the teams has my nephew's name in it.  SF Austin, you're in.  I never heard of you or VCU before, so it really makes no difference to me.

I don't care about winning this thing, obviously. I'm only in it to support my friend's fundraiser. I'm probably not even going to watch any of the games.  A win for me should horrify the die-hard sports fans.

**Basketball fans:  No disrespect intended.  I admire your passion.  If it makes you feel better, I also had squares in Super Bowl pools, and I had no idea until about two weeks prior that Seattle even had a football team.**

In Which I Am Late to The Thor Movies

I should start by explaining that superhero movies are not generally my cup of tea.  I rarely watch them.  I actually fell asleep in the theater during a Batman movie.  I know that lots of people adore the genre.  I think part of my problem is that you already know the major plot line before the movie even starts:  Good Guy is going to meet a villain, he will meet his love interest, the villain will be defeated, and Good Guy will get the girl. Happy ending all around.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I understand why people would enjoy good conquering evil.  I really do get it -- I have watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy repeatedly.  For some reason it just does not translate to superhero movies for me.  It seems like the superhero wins through brawn, not smarts.

Last evening, after I got home from work, I noticed that Thor (the first one) was on television.  I have had numerous people tell me that I have to watch this movie, I will love it, it is so good, etc and so forth. I haven't read any of the comics, but I have a passing familiarity with Norse mythology, so I decided to give it a go.

I missed the first bit, and Thor was already exiled to Earth when I tuned in.  He definitely had some problems, and presumably there was a villain somewhere, and here comes Natalie Portman as the love interest. The actors are great, but I am not getting why people have been telling me that I have to see this.

And then came Loki.

Well hello there, shape-shifter, trickster God!  Now the movie has my attention, and I might just be rooting for the "bad guy".  He's smart, witty, and  you never really know which side his loyalty is going to lie with at any given time.  I'm intrigued.  Maybe I was overly tired, maybe my brain just makes odd connections between things, but Loki made me think of The Prince by Machiavelli. (To think that people told me my degree in English was pointless.  Look at the wonderful use I put it to in my own head!)

I was hooked by the end of the movie.  Odin was awake, Thor had saved the day but lost the girl, and Loki fell into space.  I was not best pleased by that last part, as Loki had quickly become my favorite character.  Hang on -- didn't another movie just come out last year?  Bless you, Verizon Fios, for having Thor: The Dark World available On Demand!  I had to watch it.  Immediately.

**You might want to skip this next section if you have not watched Thor: The Dark World yet.  There are going to be some spoilers.  Just scroll down the page until you see more red text.  Or go watch the movie now.  This will still be here when you are finished.**

First off -- the Dark Elves are just creepy.  I don't like their faces.  They are nightmare fodder.

Secondly, why is Loki in jail?   Last I saw he fell out of Asgard.  He was naughty and caused some problems, apparently.  I'm not sure why locking him up in solitary confinement was the solution, as that is just going to tick him off even more.  Mistake, good guys, mistake.  That's a lot of free time for him to think, and thinking is his strong point, not yours.

Let's jump ahead to the part where I almost turned off the movie, shall we?

Did Loki just die?  Unacceptable!  There had best be some illusions going on right here.  And Thor -- really?  You're going to leave your dead brother who just saved your life lying on the ground?  Your Mom just got a fire boat, and lights, and became a star.  You just left Loki dead on the ground and promised to tell your Dad that he had died nobly?  I'm disappointed in you, Thor.

Of course I could not stop watching at that point.  I'm invested in defeating the creepy Dark Elves now.  So let's just skip to the end.  Thor goes to have a chat with Odin.  Odin wants him to be King.  Thor is all, "I don't want to be King.  It's too hard and you have to make tough decisions.  Loki would have been better at it.  BTW -- he died nobly."  Thor leaves, and OMG Odin is really Loki!  I cheered, by myself, in the middle of the night.  I'm a tad concerned about what might have happened to Odin, but Loki isn't dead!

Somebody start working on a third movie, please!

**You can start reading again below this point.  No more spoilers from here.  Just don't look up the page or you will ruin it for yourself.**

So today I did the Heart Walk, and the friend I was walking with happens to be a big fan of all of the superhero movies.  I told her that I had finally gotten around to watching Thor, but that I had preferred Loki to the good guys.  Her response?  "Oh, I'm so glad you discovered Loki!  I knew you would love him! *pause* Not that you are evil or anything, but he seems like your type of character."  Yes, yes he is. We went on to discuss the movie, and I explained how I immediately had to watch the second movie, and how distressing I had found parts of it.

She asked if I had seen The Avengers.  No, obviously I had not.  That is about multiple superheroes, so why would I ever have watched that?  I had looked up the movies on IMDB last night, so I knew Thor and Loki were listed as being in The Avengers, but I assumed that with all of those superheroes crammed into one movie the main focus would be on all of them, and Loki must just be a tiny part.

I was informed that my assumption was incredibly wrong.  Turns out that Loki is a big part of that movie, as he is the villain that all of the superheroes are fighting.  Who knew?  It actually explains quite a bit of context that I missed in the second movie, like the whole "This is for New York" face-slap.  I did think it was a bit odd that they kept referencing all of this chaos that Loki had caused, yet they weren't showing any of it.  Apparently it rates its own movie, which I now have to watch.  (I'm not counting the face-slap as a spoiler -- even I had seen that in the trailers.)

What have I gotten myself into with these movies?  I did not realize that Loki was going to suck me into an entire franchise.

Heart Walk & Why I Am Walking

Recently I have been annoying asking people to donate money to the Heart Walk, which I will be doing tomorrow morning.  (You can still give me an online donation here if you wish!)  Many of you might not know why I am doing the Heart Walk.

I had a condition called SVT, which is not lethal.  Basically, I had an extra "wire" in my heart, and it would get confused and pick up extra heart beats.  I could be sitting down, and all of a sudden my heart would take off like I had just been running a race.  Incredibly scary, and it could happen at any time.  I have heard that people could pass out because it was so fast, but I never experienced that part of it.

I saw a cardiologist for years, and was on medication to try and help control it.  Even though I was on medication it could still break through, and more times than I would like to remember I ended up having to go to the emergency room.

On my most memorable trip to the ER I ended up staying overnight as the doctor on duty could not get my heart to slow back down.  When a specialist arrived around 6am they were finally able to control it.  They had to give me an injection that stops your heart briefly, and then it starts again at a normal pace.

Sounds scary, right?  Terrifying is more like it.  They stop your heart, and that also stops your breathing.  You can try all you like to breathe -- I thought I was pretty good at it since I have been doing it my whole life without any problems -- but you cannot will your lungs to work.  Did I mention you are still conscious during all of this?  Yeah, so you are alert and scared.  All I could think of were the things I was going to miss out on if this was it, if something went wrong and they couldn't get my heart started again:  I never got married, never had kids, wouldn't get to see my niece and nephew grow up to be amazing people.  I'm sure it only lasted a couple of seconds, but time really does seem to slow down and it felt like an eternity.  Once your heart starts again you are completely exhausted.  After I got home I think I slept for 12 hours straight.

I stayed on the medication for several years.  Apparently I was much younger than most people who present with this problem.  The cardiologist told me from the very beginning that there was a procedure they could do in which they go in and use a laser to burn out the extra "wire" from your heart that is picking up the extra heart beats.  I held off on having it done for years since I wasn't really sure I wanted anyone using a laser on my heart.

The problem with being on medication for years is that it builds up in your system gradually.  I didn't realize how it was effecting me for a long time.  I was constantly tired.  Just going to work and home would take all of my energy.   I was also a paranoid wreck about doing anything that might make my heart beat too fast, because what if I couldn't get it to slow back down?  Breathing exercises helped, I could take some extra medication if  I really had to, but I was always afraid it would result in another trip to the hospital.  Even with insurance that gets pricey after a while.  You also gain a lot of weight when you are too tired to do anything and afraid to work out very much.

Finally, in 2012, I had the ablation surgery done.  I was so tired of how the medication made me feel, of constantly worrying about having another episode.  I would have to deal with this for the rest of my life, probably feeling even worse as I kept taking the medication.  I remember worrying about going to Disney World with my family:  did I bring enough medication?  Would all of that walking around in the sun trigger an episode?  How close was the nearest hospital if I had to go, and would they accept my insurance?  I was done.  I could not keep dealing with this bullshit, being worried about things that should be fun, afraid to do anything that might make my heart race too fast.

I should have had the surgery years ago, in retrospect.  I have had absolutely no problems since then, I don't have to take any medication.  I feel so much better, more alert and have so much more energy.  Now it is a battle to get the weight back down, but it is a work in progress.  I'm still a little nervous about having an episode -- I know it isn't possible, but that fear lingers after so many years.

So that is why I am doing the Heart Walk.  I was lucky and had a condition that was treatable.  I could have the surgery, be cured, and get on with my life.  So many people don't have that option.  I would like to help them in any way I can.

In Which We Go to the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon!

I was incredibly lucky and was able to go see the taping of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on March 11th (the 17th episode!).  I have to thank my big boss, the Library Director, for indirectly having made this possible.  The only reason I was able to get tickets when they were released for March was because we were having a massive snow storm here and the library was closed.  Had it not been for that snow day I would not have seen the announcement, and the entire month of tickets was gone in less than half an hour, I think.  So thanks, Boss Man!

I scored a reservation for 3 people, so my friends Chris and Kate came with me.  We took the fabulous Hudson line down, just before noon.  Since I thought we might not have a chance to eat lunch before the taping, and one person was coming directly from work, I decided to pack a lunch for us to eat on the train.

I was a little overzealous in my lunch preparations.  I wanted to make sure there was something that everyone would eat.  So along with the water and Yodels (because who doesn't love a Yodel?  No one, that's who.) I made sandwiches....a lot of sandwiches.  I made bologna & cheese with mayo and one with mustard, turkey & cheese with mayo and one with mustard, peanut butter & grape jelly and also peanut butter & strawberry-rhubarb jelly.  I was making options, people.  I also cut them each into four quarters.  I thought it would make them easier to eat, but it kind of looked like I thought we were on a kindergarten field trip or something.

The trip was off to an auspicious start when I scored a close parking spot at the train station, and I did a kick-ass job parallel parking.  I hate parallel parking and never do it if I can possibly avoid it.  Driveways and parking lots are how I roll.  To commemorate my awesome parking job and because we took it as a good sign for the way the day would go, we took a picture.

The giant bag in my hand?  Yeah, that's our lunch.

We got our tickets and the train was on time.  I normally have the worst luck with the train and end up sitting somewhere stuck for an hour with "equipment on the line".  We are super lucky that we went on Tuesday, as we would not have been able to make it on Wednesday.  There was a horrible explosion in Harlem in which people died, and it shut down train service for several hours.

We got to Grand Central with plenty of time to spare.  Since I packed enough food for a small army, we had some leftovers.  We knew we could not take it into the studio for the taping, so Chris gave it to a homeless woman we saw begging for money.  She seemed really appreciative, and it was just the right thing to do.

Since the main branch of the New York Public Library was pretty much on the way to claim the tickets we decided to go visit.  

Hi there!  Also, my hair is a hot mess (I'm in the center.)

They have an exhibition on children's books at the moment.  It is really cool, and you should check it out if you get a chance.  They have very cool things like this:

Those are the original toys that inspired A. A. Milne to write Winnie the Pooh

After checking out the exhibition it was time to go claim our tickets.  I had a confirmation for three, but you have to get there to claim them and that part is on a first-come, first-served basis.  We got to the assigned pick-up point in the NBC Experience Store at the earliest time you could start claiming tickets.  Other people got there earlier.

This would be the time I began to worry we might not get in.

The couple in line in front of us were very nice and friendly, which was great because we were going to be spending some quality time standing in line with them over the course of the afternoon.  They were visiting from San Antonio, as it turns out.

We presented the confirmation and our photo identification, and we got our tickets and wrist bracelets.  Now it's real!!

They give you chocolate, too!  Thanks, Tonight Show!

That was all done pretty quickly, considering the line they had to work through.  You then get instructions to meet by the Golden Escalator by a specific entrance at a specific time.  Um, okay.  We had some time to kill before we had to do that.  It was like an adventure in Wonderland or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: "Find the XX entrance and then wait by the magical Golden Escalator!"

We wandered around a bit, as we also got insanely lucky with the weather that day.  It was in the 60s outside.  I know that doesn't sound fabulous to a lot of people, but considering that today was back to being 18 with a "feels like" temperature of 2 in the middle of the afternoon, this was awesome!  (And I had to get an iced coffee as I had not had nearly enough that morning.)

We find the Golden Escalator, and now we get to line up against the wall in order of the numbers on our tickets.  Sounds simple, right?  Nope.  People were all just trying to jam up near the front of the line.  It got to the point where Chris was just holding up his ticket with the number so people could figure out whether to get in front of us or behind us.

Once that mess got as organized as it was going to be, we got to go upstairs to....wait in line some more!  But now we were in a special roped off area.  We were getting closer.  So exciting!  One of the NBC gentlemen (I'm not sure if he was security or a page) checked to see if we were in order, and then told us we did a much better job than the folks in the front.  

The upstairs line, it turned out, is where we had to queue for the metal detectors.  They gave us all the instructions on how to proceed when they called each group.  It really was very well organized.  They also told everyone to take a picture of their ticket at that point, as they will be taking the ticket shortly.   :(  The woman in front of us was really kind of bummed she didn't get to keep it.  They also instructed everyone to turn off their phones -- not just silence it, or put it away -- turn it off.  If they so much as see your phone out during the taping they will kick your ass out.

Once we got through the metal detectors we went up an elevator, and then we stood in line again.  This was actually super-fast as they told you where to sit.  I'm not sure how they determined the seating, as we did not end up remotely near the couple from San Antonio.

And then it was awesome!  The Studio!  The Roots!  Jimmy Fallon!  The guests!  We were there for the episode with Tyler Perry, Billy Eichner, and Juanes!

Best part?  We totally got to be on television!  Billy Eichner and Jimmy Fallon went into the audience.  We weren't directly involved in the game, but we got a lot of screen time by being behind people that they spoke to. 

In the clip above, when they circle around and start talking to this woman in the black shirt?  We are sitting right behind her!  You can easily spot my friend Chris in the white shirt sitting on the end.  I'm next to him, and Kate is next to me.

As if that wasn't exciting enough, Chris is now totally in a BuzzFeed gif set!  BuzzFeed

The part that surprised me the most out of the whole process was how little time the guests were actually there.  I know they edit the show before it airs.  I thought Jimmy would talk to Tyler Perry for a long time, and then that would get edited down to what you see on the show: highlight certain parts, or edit stuff out if the guest didn't like how they looked, etc.  Nope.  He was not there that long at all.

Also, we were there for the 17th show in a brand new studio.  They had to tell people during the warm-up that they were not to stick gum under the chairs!  Yeah.  Brand-new studio, barely 3 weeks in use, and some assholes had already stuck gum under the seats.  This is why we can't have nice things, people!  I'm disgusted, but not surprised.  I work in a public library.  You would not believe the shit (sometimes literally) that people will do.

After the show we wandered, ate dinner, got dessert from Magnolia Bakery, and caught the train home.  We even made it home with enough time to watch ourselves on the show that night.  I can't speak for Chris or Kate, but I know I totally freaked and shot video of my television on my phone when I realized we were going to be visible.

All in all it was a fantastic day!  Next time I am going to try for tickets to Late Night With Seth Meyers!

**Edit:  I almost forgot: I had my very first celebrity sighting!  No, not Jimmy Fallon or the guests on the show.  When we were out walking after the taping I saw Ted Allen also walking down the street.  I did my very, very best not to spaz out and to act like it wasn't the first time I had actually seen a celebrity just out in the wild, so to speak.**