Red Nose

Hockey's Almost Over; It Must Be Summer

Game 6, Eastern Conference Finals. The New Jersey Devils (for whom I am reluctantly rooting) versus the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The winner will face the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final series; the Cup will be awarded by June 13th at the latest.

And then summer will begin.

It's a slow withdrawal, this ending of hockey season. Luckily, So You Think You Have Pants Can Dance has started up again! I watched the premier last night (because there was no hockey on) and I think it's going to be a pretty good season. And, the new season of True Blood starts in June, picking up the nine pm time slot from Game of Thrones.

Yes, there will no shortage of athletic dancing, explicit sex, and bloody violence to keep me going until the fall -- and that's just SYTYCD! (Bah-dum-dum!)

So anyway, people ask me why I'm still watching when my Caps are out of it. Easy -- I love the game. Of course I wish the Caps were playing tonight, but I'll still watch.

Because it's the Cup, as the NHL ad campaign goes.

I love the speed, the skating, the physicality, the strategy, and yes, I admit it, I like a good scrap now and again.

So why root for the Devils? That's easy; because the Rangers beat my team! So naturally I'm going to root for the Other Team.

Hey, I'm even watching the Canadian Hockey League's Memorial Cup games when the NHL Network shows them. This is junior hockey -- kind of the minor leagues of hockey. Many of the players have already been drafted by NHL teams, but they're still completing their educations or refining their skills or both. Tonight the Shawinigan Cataractes are playing the St. John Sea Dogs; the winner of that game will play the London Knights for the Memorial Cup.

But all too soon it will be full summer and hockey will be over until the preseason begins in late September. And then once again I will be in Section 407 of Verizon Center, wearing my red jersey, and hollering "LET"S GO CAPS!"

 

 

 

This and That

In 1937, a gallon of gasoline cost 10 cents -- at least that what the "Finance Fact" on AMC's showing of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" says.

Now it ranges from $3.57 at the WaWa in Beltsville to $4.05 at the Exxon in northwest DC.

Then again, folks make more money now than they did in 1937. My mom told me that when the Great Depression hit, her salary was cut in half -- from $30 a week to $15.

I'm not going anywhere with this trivia; I just figured it was a way to get an entry started.

Life has been rolling right along here in beautiful Burtonsville.

I have been getting a bit of physical therapy for my neck. For those of you who missed the announcement on Facebook, I have moderately severe degenerative arthritis in my neck, with nerve impingement at C4 on the right side and at C4 and C5 on the left.

Yay!

Actually, the physical therapy has sort of helped -- at least the exercises seem to give me better range of motion and less pain. I also apply a topical oil that the lovely and talented Danielle (part of the Weetacon tribe) sent to me. It helps, and smells delightful (an added bonus). My neck still aches all the damn time, but at least it's not actively horribly painful. That's good, because I have yet to hear of neck replacement surgery.

I suppose I must mention my Caps early exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ah, me. This is where I haul out my list of "Oh well, at least" comforts rationalizations:

• We almost didn't even make the playoffs, so any run is a good run.
• Holtbeast!!
• We beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins in seven games, knocking them out in the first round.
• The Penguins -- who many thought would skip their way to the Cup -- got knocked out in the first round.
• The Flyers -- also a Cup favorite, especially after knocking out the Pens -- well, except they didn't have any decent goaltending -- got knocked out in five games in the second round.
• We took the Rangers to seven games before we got knocked out.

The list goes on, but I'll stop talking hockey now.

Work has taken a turn for the busier, which is all to the good. The bucket list meeting was fine -- I volunteered my item early in the proceedings so that I didn't have to expound on my "passion". I was toying with the idea of saying "I want to die happy", but thought that put a damper on the proceedings. I also toyed with other snarky ideas but opted for publicizing the same goal I already put into print here: that I would finish The Sequel this year. Then I added "so that <The Overlord> can buy another 20 copies at Christmastime," which got a laugh, which was what I was aiming for.

Always leave 'em laughing, right?

 

 

 

 

All May Skate...Or Not

One of the many activities at this year's Weetacon was a trip to the local rolling skating rink, the Rola Rena.

I used to be able to roller skate. In fact, I even took lessons once upon a time, at the Congressional Roller Rink in Rockville, Maryland, which has been gone, gone, gone for many many years. Unfortunately, I was never very good at it.

Skip ahead about 15 years -- roller skating became quite the fad in the 70s. I was in college, and several of my pals took up the sport. They'd head for the parking garage next to the student union, head up to the top level, strap on their skates, and roll around and around all the way down to the lowest level. I was envious of this daredeviltry, but I was way too chicken to try it out.

One night we all went to a roller rink, where I did try to skate. I failed miserably, so miserably that a lot of the regular skaters used me as a push-off pole. I stumbled around a bit and then called it a night.

Fast forward to last weekend. We all got out of the Weetabus and headed into the rink for our private skating party. I conveniently forgot about my roller skating past, laced up my rented skates, and headed out to the floor. There I picked and lurched and inched my way around the rink, holding on to the wall for dear life.

There were lots of folks there who could skate. Some could skate really really really well, like the lovely and talented Shawn, who is in training with the Angel City Derby Girls, and my own personal savior, Sean B, who took pity on me, grabbed my hands, and skated me the rest of the way to the gate.

He was perfectly willing to continue to help me get my skating legs under me, and said, "Okay, first we go with two hands, then one, then you'll be able to go on your own."

I, however, know my limitations, even if I did ignore them at first. I got to the gate and thanked my benefactor profusely, releasing him to skate as he was meant to skate.

Then I slid down the ever-so-slight incline to the rest area and promptly fell directly on my ample ass.

Joe, though, did great! He made it around eight times!

 

 

Cover Your Ears -- and Maybe Your Eyes

Today's theme for the March Photo-A-Day is LOUD.

Y'know, hockey is a loud game. The crack of the puck on a stick or of bodies on the boards punctuate the action; the airhorn or siren wail signals a goal or the end of a period. The crowd can be amazingly loud, especially home team crowds when they're cheering on their favorite team, exhorting the skaters to unleash the fury, or hollering at the referee for a bad call on the ice.

We went to a great game today -- the Hockey 4 Hope charity game featuring Capitals alumni such as Peter Bondra, Yvon Labre, and Alan May. The alumni played three full periods against a different opponent each period. First, they played against alumni of the Naval Academy hockey team. Next, they played the hockey team from the US Secret Service. Finally, they played a motley team made up of firefighters and police officers from Prince George's and Howard counties. The Caps alumni won every time!

During the game, we kept a close eye on the progress of the Caps game against the Bruins. When the Caps won, I had a hard time not shouting out loud. (Dare I say that maybe we'll make the playoffs after all? Maybe I daren't. Shhh.)

Anyhow, now we're watching the Flyers-Maple Leafs game on Hockey Night in Canada. I love Hockey NIght in Canada, because the games are good and -- even more -- because it features the inimitable Don Cherry, who is the epitome of loud, both in voice and dress. So I took a picture of him from the TV -- and caught him personifying the theme.

 

 

 

Hockey Talk

Holy smokes! The Habs are leading the Red Wings by a score of 5 to 0, and it's only the start of the second period! On paper, the Red Wings should be in charge of this game. Such is not the case so far. If this keeps up, I will not earn another hat trick in the NHL Hat Trick Challenge game on nhl.com.

Speaking of hat tricks, how about that Matty Hatty last night?

Lemme 'splain.

(Unbelievable ! The Habs are up by SIX! My pal Mark is probably in seventh heaven right about now.)

Anyway... we went to the Caps game last night. I had a bad feeling about this game, alas! Three of our best guys, three out of the four Young Guns, were out of the lineup. Greener is recovering sports hernia surgery, Nicky is recovering from a concussion (the result of a dirty hit), and Ovie is serving a three-game suspension for a bad hit (not dirty, but bad).

Our opponent? The Boston Bruins, the defending Stanley Cup champions, currently in second place in the Eastern Conference. I was already pissed off at Tim Thomas, their goalie. Why? Well, the Bruins were invited to the White House yesterday to meet the president and be congratulated on their Stanley Cup win. Timmy -- who is a confirmed tea party supporter -- opted not to go because he doesn't agree with President Obama's policies.

You know, fine. Disagree with the man; disagree with the policies. That's what being an American is all about. But respect the office and show up. It's an honor for the team; he should have gone.

So naturally I was all set to boo Mr. Tea Party Thomas, as is my right as an American. So naturally the Bruins put Tuuka Rask in net.

Denied! Oh well.

But I digress.

Even with the top guys, my Caps have not been stellar this season. We are battling for the lead in our division and holding on by the thinnest of skate blades to a playoff spot. Every game is crucial at this point.

The game was exciting -- the Bruins scored first, but the Caps tied it, then took the lead. The Bruins tied it; we took back the lead. Repeat. Repeat again. Finally, an empty-net goal sealed the win: Caps 5, Bruins 3.

But here's the thing. Cutie pie Mathieu Perrault scored three of those five goals, for a hat trick.

As soon as Matty scored the third goal, Joe leapt up and flung his hat toward the ice. Whether it actually made it all the way there is up for discussion; our seats are in nose-bleed territory so that hat would have had to sprout wings and fly, but maybe some kind fan or two helped it along.

Matty was rewarded after the game with a shaving cream pie in the face. Oh, that Ovie!

Baked and Decorated

Well, mroe or less. I still have a batch of cookies to bake. I am a little hinky about these cookies because they require rolling out and cutting with cookie cutters. The dough is currently getting nice and cold in the fridge. It tastes great -- maple-y and rich. I splurged and used some Kerrygold Irish butter, which is so tasty I have to resist just straight up eating it.

See, I am not good at rolling dough. It always sticks, no matter how much flour I throw dump sprinkle on it. I was ecstatic when I discovered that you could put a lump of dough between two sheets of wax paper and then roll it. I was even happier when I discovered those sheets of ready made pie crust! I have never been able to make pie crust. My older sister has that skill; her pie crust is perfect.

But I am game to try, so wish me luck. I feel like I might actually succeed with these cookies, because I had great success earlier today with a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I KNOW -- not my Mom's recipe! Heresy! But I didn't have any Crisco, so I went looking for an alternative on Smitten Kitchen, my favorite cooking blog, and found these. I did change it up very slightly, using half white chocolate chips and half semisweet, because I'm an iconoclast.

Actually, I just like white chocolate a lot.

I also did a modicum of decorating, as promised in my last post. Alas! I could not find the Methodist bells. Perhaps they left the church and became atheist bells, but in any case they are missing bells. My idea for the bobbleheads worked out though!

Go Caps!

Vignettes

Here are some vignettes from the past week.

Once a Mom, always a Mom.

Last Monday morning, it was 33 degrees. That is, in a word, cold. Most people with a modicum of common sense would wear warm clothes: long sleeves, jackets, hats, that sort of thing. Alas, there are those who do not possess common sense, like this young woman on the Metro:

I really wanted to wag my finger at her and say, "Put on some goddamn shoes and socks!! You'll catch your death of cold!!" I managed to restrain myself, however.

Joe and the LL Bean Stock

Joe had gotten himself a job at LL Bean and bid adieu to Lord and Taylor. LL Bean is really more our style, so he is looking forward to this new position. As am I -- I get to use the employee discount too! (It is a dandy discount, too.) Although Joe looks damn good in a suit, he will be a lot more comfortable in khakis and a nice LL Bean shirt. They even allow employees to wear shorts! LL Bean shorts, to be sure, but still. Shorts!

I Miss Summer

As the weather gets colder and the nights get longer, I dig up pictures from summer, when the sun set after 8:30 and lit up the sky...

Goin' Mobile

Joe has great ideas for Sunday excursions, especially on beautiful autumn days. Today we went down to the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art -- Joe wanted to see the exhibit of Antico bronzes from the Renaissance and the immense and amazing Pastrano tapestries. They were wonderful, of course, but I still love the huge Alexander Calder mobile.

Moving Through Sparkles

The East and West Wings of the National Gallery of Art are connected by an underground passage with a moving sidewalk -- it is a work of art in and of itself.

We enjoyed the West Wing too -- we visited our favorites and took in some new exhibitions. I'm grateful that I have such an energetic husband, otherwise I would turn into a complete lump.

Ukulele Progress

I am still practicing the ukulele. So far I have almost mastered Everyone Says I Love You. I still have a little trouble going with the D minor 7th chord and the bridge between verses, but it is coming along. I am also practicing You've Got A Friend In Me, which is pretty easy but which has a tricky opening riff. Once I get that one down, I'm moving on to Sweet Caroline and White Sandy Beach.

This is Tim Thomas

Lately my favorite commercials have been the Discover card commercials featuring Peggy of USA Prime Credit. This one is especially funny, especially if you're a hockey fan:

 

 

Busiest Weekend Ever

I have been tossed about by a veritable social whirlwind the last few days. Where to begin? How about Saturday?

Joe and I picked up the lovely and talented Deb Siobhan and tootled off down to the Renaissance Festival. We saw many wonderful sights -- including the shows -- while we were there, including this satyr-ical fellow that we spotted while we waited in the medieval ATM line.

We decided that he was not an employee of the Festival because he was busily smoking a cigarette and staggering a little. True, he was on stilts, but I think there were other contributing factors. Anyway, we drank medieval mead and cider and beer, I ate a medieval corned beef and cheese sandwich, and Joe bought some medieval plastic devil horns. And a good time was had by all!

Saturday night we (less Deb) we headed down to another good people-watching venue -- Verizon Center for the Caps game versus the Ottawa Senators. It was great, of course, and the Caps won their fourth straight. Then home, bed, up, and off to my sister's house to go to the tailgating extravaganza that is the Redskins game.

Take a good look at this picture, because it is not often that you will see my darling beer-snob husband drinking a Bud Lite. Any port in a storm, however, especially since the Redskins lost.

Ah well. We went out to TGI Friday's for a sorrows-drowning dinner, then parted ways with my sister and brother-in-law and headed home to relax and watch Boardwalk Empire.

Then sleep, for Monday would come way too soon.

The Past Week in Ten Bullet Points

Hey there. It's been a long week. Let me sum up in my favorite form, the bulleted list.

• I went to a dinner for Joe, who made the President's Club at his retail establishment. The management treated all of the honorees (and a few assorted other folks and management sorts) to dinner at Olive Garden. The honorees also got a goody bag with a new name tag, business cards, and a certificate for a day off. Yay Joe! Of course, then the management went and started cutting associates' hours. Pushme, pullyou; so it goes.


• Hockey. Oh, hockey! My Caps lost their second round series. I was sad, because it's another series of broken dreams, and yet not too sad, because I saved a couple hundred bucks on playoff tickets. Then the Flyers got swept by the Bruins, which made me feel marginally better.


• I watched Friday Night Lights, which continues to be my favorite show on television. Julie, Julie, Julie! You fell for that TA's tired old "I don't feel married" line!! This cannot end well. On the other hand, Mindy! You go!!


• I made another batch of pralines, which turned out much better this time. As part of my rigorous culinary quality control process, I ate several. I continue to test them to ensure that they don't suddenly go bad. So far, so good.


• I also made a loaf of Sally Lunn bread. It did not rise very much at all -- I think I may have killed off the yeast with too-hot water -- but it is quite tasty nonetheless. I'm thinking it would make a quite yummy French toast.


• I caught up with Camelot and the Borgias, and continued watching Game of Thrones. I am having a lot of fun with these costume dramas. I think someone should do a mashup of all three -- Game of Borgelot? Camethronegias? Hmm?


• I got up 5:30 this morning to make an 8:30 meeting at a different building. I did this because we all got an email stating that "some people" had commented to senior management that early meetings were a hardship because of commutes and so on -- but that "the expectation" was that we would be on time. In other words, "Tough! Suck it up!" so I sucked it up and got to the meeting over a half-hour early, only to find that the meeting had been delayed until 9:00. The things I do for these people! Geez! So I had a bagel.


• Angry Birds. Lots of Angry Birds.


• I had a lovely Mother's Day. Joe gave me a very sweet card. After all, he was instrumental in making me a mother! We went out for breakfast, and the restaurant served a lovely chocolate-dipped strawberry to all of the mothers. We saw Thor in the afternoon. SonnyeBoy called later in the day, and that made my Mother's Day pretty much perfect.


• So, yeah -- we saw Thor. It was very entertaining and I liked it a lot! I have decided that Chris Hemsworth shall play Sidewall Sam in the movie version of Girl Clown. Heh. (I'm sorry, every time I say or write Thor, I'm reminded of the old joke about the orgy of the gods. The gods gather and have this big huge orgy that goes on for days. Finally, three days in, Thor shows up. Everyone's passed out from all the orgying and ignores him. He gets a little bent out of shape at this and hollers "Wake up, you all! I'm Thor!" And one of the lesser goddesses replies, "You're Thor? I'm so thor I can't pith!" Ba da BING!)

 

We Are Louder!

If you follow the Stanley Cup playoffs at all, then you know that my beloved Capitals recently played two games in New York, at Madison Square Garden. You also know that our jolly coach, Bruce Boudreau, dissed the venue in an offhand sort of way. He said it was kind of a dump (not a quote) and that it wasn't as loud as Verizon Center.

This made for some fun fan dynamics as the Rangers jumped out to a three-goal lead in Game 4 -- they began chanting "Can you hear us?"

Oh yes, we heard you. We heard you so well that we tied up the game in the third period and then won the game in double overtime.

At which point John Tortorella (who I think would look GREAT if he wore those white wax buck teeth all the time) said that we won "on a nothing play". Okay, Torts, a nothing play? Actually, we won because Jason Chimera was smart enough and quick enough to capitalize (like that? "Capitalize?" Give it a minute.) on a mistake that his highly paid supposed superstar made.

So, here we were, in Verizon Center, for Game 5 of the seven-game series -- a game the Caps must win to clinch the series early.

I have never -- NEVER -- been in an atmosphere like that, even for the past two seasons. It was exciting, electric, raucous, and so so so LOUD!

And after Mike Green scored the first goal of the game, the chanting started:

WE ARE LOUD-ER! WE ARE LOUD-ER!

And when the "Unleash the Fury" video played with five minutes to go in the game and the Caps leading 3-0, the place. Went. Nuts. And I happily, deliriously, joyfully joined in.

So the Rangers scored with 31 second left to play. BFD! There was no miracle comeback for them.

We wrapped it up. And we'll take it to Round 2.

Keep on playing, Boston, Philly, Buffalo, Montreal, Tampa, and Pitts. Have nice, long series and lots of overtimes. Meanwhile, my Caps? Rest up, boys. Get ready.

GO CAPS!