Proof Positive

Rice google talked me yesterday to tell me that even though I have a boyfriend, that's no excuse to not be blogging. I told her I wasn't blogging because my grandma died. She told me that I already used that excuse.

The trouble is that, well, I feel kindof schmoopy about Murray and in general, I disagree totally with being a schmoopy person. (Nemesis went so far as to call me smug, which I guess I've become without realizing it.) So I don't want to blog schmoop. But I will give you proof positive why Murray and I are MFEO.

Last night, we decided to go to the dinosaur movie at the Imax (I asked him if I could ask the ticket salesperson if the dinosaur movie had actual, live footage). On our way, I said, "If you discovered a dinosaur and could name it, what would you name it?" I wanted him to think of something and then when he told me, I'd say, "Oh yeah? Well I would name mine the Murraysaurus. That's how much I like you." And then he would feel bad.

However, he responded immediately and said, "That's easy. I'd call it the Cicadasaurus."

He stole my freaking joke.

After the movie, we went to Macaroni Grill and I realized that I was going to a restaurant with paper and crayons with an actual artist. I told him that he could draw me a Cicadasaurus. Then he said, "Oh! You're one step ahead of me! I was going to go home and draw you a Cicadasaurus."

So after we were seated, we immediately started drawing our dinosaurs. His Cicadasaurus was wearing white pants and a tuxedo shirt. My Murraysaurus was wearing a blazer and retro glasses.

So yeah. Need I say more?

Since I don't have a digital copy of either of our dinosaurs, I'll let you see a copy of his self portrait, wearing a shirt like El Senor received recently.

White Pants Dance

You should all know that I bought my white pants and blue tuxedo shirt this weekend. I bought the outfit at J Crew before meeting Murray's siblings. Of course, once again, a new outfit didn't really matter. But at least it kept me from playing duck-duck-goose with the nieces and nephews.

Here is my first movie ever, called White Pants Dance.

Fact vs. Fiction

Tonight at Nat's house, she introduced me to all her friends as, "This is Cicada. She met her boyfriend on the internet." I think that maybe she's trying to get me used to the fact that now that Murray and I are dating-dating, people are going to ask us how we met, and I'm going to have to admit that we met online. Actually, everyone I met tonight really thought it was cool that Murray and I met through my blog. And my grandpa up in Canada, who thinks that computers are of the devil, said, "You know, people don't like to admit that they met on the internet because there's some sort of stigma attached to it. But it's really not much different than my day when we went to dances to meet friends of friends. That's how we met new people to date."

If Grandpa doesn't think it's so bad, why should I?

If Murray doesn't think it's so bad, why should I? (He made this horrible fake-crying face when I told him that the way we met embarrasses me, and it almost broke my heart.)

In fact, I have several successfully-married friends who met online (whoa---not that we're talking about marriage here---we're just talking about the fact that Murray and I are dating, okay?). Should I out you all? Off the top of my head, there's Daltongirl and Daltonboy, Squirrel Boy and Brinestone, and Ambrosia and Bawb. I don't know if three couples counts as "several" but you get what I'm saying.

Still, I'm embarrassed to say, "Murray and I met on the internet." That sounds like internet dating sites (not that there's anything wrong with that...). I'm even embarrassed to say, "Murray and I met through my blog" because that generally leads to "What is your blog address" and maybe I don't want to give my blog address to everyone I talk to about Murray.

I'm going to have to come up with some alternate explanations of how we met. Some can be half truths. Some may be lies. Let me know which is your favorite, and feel free to suggest alternatives.

1. We met through a friend of a friend. (True: He linked to my blog from the blog of a friend of a friend.)

2. Well, we were dating for a while, then we broke up, but we got back together again. (This is El Senor's solution. He said we just have to break up at some point and get back together again. This answer is "deflection" where I wouldn't actually be answering the question, but people wouldn't notice that I wasn't actually answering the question.)

3. We happened to go to the same restaurant one night and started talking while we waited to be seated, and decided to sit together. (True: Although, we arranged online to meet at that restaurant... I'd just omit that detail.)

4. We met in the Mac store and our love of Macs brought us together. (False. But we both love Macs.)

5. I saw him on the street and recognized him as a boy from a James Christensen painting who I had always dreamed of meeting. (False. But he's in a James Christensen painting.)

6. I saw him on the street and recognized him as a guy in Saints and Soldiers. (False, but he was an extra in Saints and Soldiers.)

7. We were both abducted by aliens at the same time and met on the mother ship. When we returned to earth, we found each other and our shared horrifying experience really brought us closer together. (True, but claiming to have met on the internet is much less embarrassing.)

A Day at Work

More on Biking (Moron Biking)

Three choice biking experiences from my trip home yesterday:

1. On the trails, I saw Rachel ahead of me, walking her two chihuahuas. She was walking the same direction I was biking, so she didn't see me. I decided to ring my bell and thought she's for sure realize it was me because we go biking together and she knows I take those trails. Instead of turning around, she moved slightly over to let me pass. You have to understand that there was already more than enough room for me to pass her without her having to move at all. So I started ringing my bell non-stop as I bore down on her. Finally, when I got up almost next to her, she and her dogs were so far off the trail, they were almost wading in the stream. She never once turned around to look at me, so I yelled, "Move it or lose it!" Then I stopped the bike beside her and she realized it was me. Then she told me she thought I was a real b!tch. It really was a tender moment.

2. Ten seconds after Rachel and I parted ways, I heard a barking sort of bird in the bushes. I didn't know what kind of bird it was but I had to know. So I walked my bike down the very steep, precarious sand embankment and wandered off into the bushes. I didn't find the bird. But when I brought my bike back to the very steep, precarious sand embankment, I wondered how I was possibly going to get back up with my platform sandals, heavy bike, and business casual attire. Although the embankment was only about five feet, it took me forever to inch my way up. What finally motivated me to move the last couple of feet was my pride---an approaching man heard my feeble dinging bell (and probably wondered what kind of bird it was) and offered help, but I was too embarrassed to accept. I made it back up before he finally reached me.

3. Nat called. Expecting it to be an emergency (i.e. she was in a store about to make a purchase and needed to approve it through me), I answered. It wasn't an emergency (she was at home and was calling so that I could approve purchases she already made). And I biked a good mile while talking to her on the phone. If talking on the phone while driving is dangerous, how dangerous is talking on the phone while biking? Nat said it was probably less dangerous: The chance of you getting into an accident is greater, but the severity of the accident is likely to be much less than a car accident because your vehicle is lighter and you're going much slower. For added safety, every so often I would said, "Nat! I need both hands, just a second!" and I would use both hands on the handlebars to navigate the more tricky parts.

Those three events kindof prove to me that I may just be a Moron biker.