JENZ’s Neighborhood

A couple of hours ago, I got home from my annual December tour of the flyovers.  Here are a few of the highlights:

• I kicked my sister's ass at Rummikub.  It's mostly a game of chance, so it's not as satisfying as a Scrabble victory.  But the important thing is that I won.  A lot.
• I watched Elf as I wrapped presents for the unknownth year in a row.  It was weird that I wasn't wrapping presents on Christmas Eve this year.
• My ploy to buy the love of my nieces and nephews through cool presents continues apace.
• I went to see Up in the Air by myself on Christmas Eve.  That was a little ironic, but I enjoyed it anyway.
• I'm sick and tired of coming home sick and tired.  I'll settle for just tired if my sister agrees not to bring sick kids from here on out.
  

Confession time: I'm probably the only cajun who doesn't eat seafood. Hard to say why--it just didn't work for me. My mom will tell you I once liked popcorn shrimp from Red Lobster, but I'm not sure that counts. Tastes change and, well, I suspect Red Lobster has as much to do with seafood as Taco Bell has to do with Mexican. In any case, it's been 20 years since I've even had a fishstick.

Why did I leave lines blank? It has to do with three fun Christmas presents my wife got me.

Part one was a Lamy Vista fountain pen, a derivative of their Safari pen. The Safari has a following among collectors as it writes well, inexpensive without being cheap, and is a tough pen. They are great about stuffing in pockets, carrying everywhere, or letting a 5-year-old daughter have a try. It is one I recommend to folks who are getting their feet wet in fountain pens.

To the left is the nib and section of my new Vista, next to my Safari. Pretty straight-foward. In additional to Safaris being cool pens, I thought a Vista would be fun for a few other reasons. One key one is being able to show my daughter (and others) how fountain pens work. Fountain pen companies have made "demonstrator" pens for years--I thought it would be fun to have one in my collection. There was one other use...

Part two is a black light flashlight. You may have seen these at the airport, when TSA asks for your papers and makes sure you don't have 3.1 ounces of juice. I wonder what my new pen looks like if I point the black light at it?

It glows! But it looked empty? That's part three of the present: a bottle of Noodler's Ghost Blue ink. This is the only invisible ink I'm aware of that's safe for fountain pens. It reveals itself under UV light. Let's look at that text again:
You may have to make it full size, but you can see the text there. I apologize--it was hard to get the words to show with the UV flashlight on the camera--the point where the beam is brightest is a bit blown out.

Why invisible ink? Very little reason other than fun. It could be simply sharing notes with my daughter (or others). Or writing my own gripe in my notebook. Or possibly putting an "easter egg" in some note that I write--if it happens under a black light, it will be revealed.

In any case, It is definitely high on the cool and fun scale! Isn't my wife great?

 

I couldn't resist. For $5, it can't be bad, right?

Nothing reminds you of all your weird single-person-who-lives-alone quirks like having a guest for an extended period of time. Kelli's here for the holidays and I pity her having to deal with me. I sing. A lot.

Every once in awhile I remember that someone else is here and I feel like this:

And mostly when I notice I'm singing, I've been singing this:

On June 6, 2010 it will be 20 years since I graduated high school. You know what that means, right? Yeah, yeah I'm old. I don't fucking care. It also means that this summer is my 20th High School Reunion an auspicious event rendered totally pointless and infinitely more annoying by the advent of Facebook.

Tonight I've put up with the incessant nagging of someone I don't even remember. Apparently this yahoo has scanned in our senior yearbook and was puzzled that he couldn't find my picture. I told him I was too busy designing the yearbook (nerd, I know) to get my picture taken. He was convinced I had a maiden name I was unwilling to reveal.

I never thought I'd be that person, but here I am. The person who has absolutely no desire at all to attend any of their high school reunions. People tell me I'll regret not going that I should totally go, it's so fun. Maybe I'm close-minded but I don't see how hanging out in some godforsaken bar in East Fucking Bethel, MN with people I don't know is going to be fun.

And really wasn't the whole point of the reunion to see who married whom, who got fat and how many kids they had? I know all that already, from Facebook. I like Facebook infinitely more than I liked high school. And thanks to Facebook I won't have to drive to East Fucking Bethel, MN to attend the reunion, I'll can just look at all the pictures and judge people from the comfort of my own home.

Perhaps you need a slap chop. Not convinced? Check out the new remix!

I made Chinese food for lunch. We had sweet and sour chicken (I hadn't put the sauce on yet), egg rolls, veggie skewers, and steamed rice. All was from scratch and yummy.