Sujal tends to keep up with this more than I do, but I just wanted to link to this new(ish) WH blog, West Hartford Forums. A “conversation place” is key to democracy and community. It looks interesting so far, and I wish them the best!
The past few weeks, Sujal has gotten me hooked on the HBO show The Wire. It’s a pretty gritty show set in Baltimore, and it follows several police and various police “targets.” It’s pretty addictive. One of the things that drives me a little nuts is that there is so much product placement. Being that the show focuses mainly on cops, you can imagine there is a lot of coffee drinking, and there are no shortage of front and center Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cups. Once they showed a junkie eating McDonald’s food, again, name prominently displayed. The cops are often drinking — the show must have contracts with Jameson and with Miller Lite.
I just started watching season four, and a kid buys a nail gun (for all the “wrong” reasons, I might add) in a large home improvement store. But Home Depot seemed unwilling to give the okay (or perhaps the cash), because the storefront had a very similar style sign — same colors — called Housewares Barn.
The show has some great character development as well as good storytelling.
Last night Rita and I went to play Bingo at The Beth David Synagogue in West Hartford. I had not been to a Bingo game since I was a child and my grandmother took a bunch of us to church bingo. I remember how intense the games were, and I always wanted a bingo inker. Well all of those dreams came true last night!
So, yes, Rita and I were considerably younger than the vast majority in attendance, though we were of the majority gender. When we made the plan to go, Rita asked me if I thought it would be really smoky, and I figured in our ever-increasingly smoke-free age that there would be no smoking. Alas, I was wrong, which was the major drawback to the event. But it was a riot! People are very serious about their game. We got a lot of bingo cards, and it was hard to keep up with the calling at first. Most people had at least double the cards we did. They had these systems of taping their cards together and this trash bag system. I tell ya, it is a whole subculture. And there are all of these crazy games that are pretty confusing — different configurations on the bingo card. But Rita and I, armed with our one inker each, stuck the evening out with great bravery! Even though husbands and friends derided us, we enjoyed the evening with the old ladies. We were also shocked at how many inkers each person had. Some people would line up ten bottles of ink. We could not figure out why the heck anyone would need that many bottles. It’s not like one would run out.
For those of you with your need to fulfill your bingo fix, here’s a helpful link of bingo halls in Connecticut and a national listing. Perhaps Rita and I will see you at the next game — hopefully a smoke-free game. I turn 35 on Saturday, so perhaps this is a stepping stone to middle age.
Just about one year later, Sujal’s product is finally launched! It’s his website, Cool Spotters. Join it and check it out!
I just wanted to give a “shout-out” (do kids say that anymore?) to my co-pilot, Ian. I saw you stopped by the other day. Hope college is treating you well.
I want one! It goes against all of my fuel efficiency needs and car size preferences — but this baby has that 1930’s gangster/film noir thing going on. We are not in the market for a new car, and even if we were, I think we’d be thinking more along the lines of a Prius. But, if anyone was looking to buy me a little gift, I’ll take it.
As I was going to Yahoo to check my email, I cam across the article on pot bellies and their greater risk of causing heart disease. Lara, my home improvement friend, a.k.a. my health improvement friend, recently told me about the omentum and its relation to heart disease and poor health. (Sorry about the Oprah link. It was all I could easily find that had a decent explanation). Lara explained to me that when one is “apple” shaped or has a big belly, the omentum protrudes, and the tummy often feels hard. The fat underneath tummy muscle is unhealthy. Thus, it is better to be “pear” shaped than “apple” shaped, as Sujal’s uncle (a doctor) will readily tell you. If you won’t take it from Lara or me, take it from Oprah — get your omentum healthy! Lose the pot belly. And get your body mass index to a healthy place.
Since I am a technology guru, it is only natural that I should chime in on the new iPhone. As I perused the online New York Tmes, I came across this review of the invention. As I read through the review, I began to think that perhaps I need one of these little devices — after all, I am very stylish. Sujal has been whining about getting one for awhile now, and I was thinking, maybe it is me who should have the iPhone. It has all of these lovely features of web browsing, expanding the viewing window, touch screen, intelli-typing, iPod, video iPod, a camera, organization programs, not to mention it’s a cell phone. Color me practical, but that is exaclty where the iPhone got into trouble with me:
Making a call, though, can take as many as six steps: wake the phone, unlock its buttons, summon the Home screen, open the Phone program, view the Recent Calls or speed-dial list, and select a name. Call quality is only average, and depends on the strength of your AT&T signal.
Once I got to the second page of the review, the review took a turn for the worse. AT&T apparently has pretty crappy coverage, and if ultimately the iPhone would be my phone, that’s just not all that practical. So I will wait to get one until they perefect some of these issues. Rather, I will have to wait to let Sujal get the phone. 
Faithful reader, I am sure that you have been deeply disappointed by my absence, so I feel it is my duty to explain why I have not blogged in quite awhile.
My chair sucks.
That, and school has been keeping me a bit busy. As I was in the thick of writing 50 million comments, I stole my husband’s office chair, brought it into my office, and wrote comments in comfort.
And then Sujal and I went out to Office Depot and got me a new chair. While I really wanted this, my husband poo-poo’d it. So fear no longer, faithful reader. I am back. And my husband renewed by domain name registration for five years. Now that’s a lot of blogging.
