Burgers and Cookies

Jesse was in town for a conference yesterday, so we met up for lunch.  Because we graduated from the same program and our fields overlap slightly, meeting Jesse at the conference hotel meant quizzical looks from colleagues/acquaintances who were confused by my presence and why I was wearing jeans.  

Instead of taking Jesse to any proper B'More institutions, I had a hankering for 5 Guys, so we had greasy burgers and far too many fries.  Many cannibalism jokes ensued.  Followed by pertussis jokes.  And Malcolm Gladwell jokes.  In fact, the whole lunch can be summed simply as: laughter.  (We kept trying to organize our conversations for easy summary so Jesse could report the whole encounter back to Lisa in Boston.  There's a longer 7-point outline I won't bore you with.)  Though I suppose laughter is expected from the same harebrained team that brought you: Pitting Students Against Each Other to Make Grading More Fun.  (spoiler alert: it did)  

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(scheduling a meeting with Advisor Who)

Moi: Instead of 1pm, could we make it 1:05?  So I can steal a cookie [from the lunch time seminar] ahead of our meeting.

Who: Or, you could go to the seminar [series that I run] so you'd actually be entitled to the cookie.

Moi: Touche.  

Bridge to Nowhere

This waterfall lies somewhere within the Petapsco State Park. At least we think it does. The park is poorly labeled. We arrived on Saturday morning eager to check out the many trails available only to find a complete lack of signage all over the vast park. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. 

The one map we received looked like a placemat treasure map.  And managed to leave off all but 0.5 miles of our journey. None of the trails signs and markers provided any indication of how long the paths were or where they led. Yet there were plaques explaining local birds and the history of the quarries. The park system felt no need to impart any information on the dozens of trails covering hundreds of miles and levels of difficulty.  We ended up relying on the kindness of strangers. And going the opposite way of the Boy Scout troop with heavy packs and trekking poles. We were not prepared for such an expedition- wherever it was heading. 

In the end, we did find 1 lone posted map on our way out. Except it looked completely different from our experience of the park that we were thoroughly disoriented. And doubted if we'd really seen the falls at all. 

Boo Badly

It's been 4+ hours since Eldon said hi to Christine and me on his way to church, and I still can't stop shaking my head.  Christine and I were having a lovely morning, coming back from first service, and on our way to the farmer's market to have a still more lovely time, catching up, laughing, enjoying the fall sun, when Eldon jumped out of the bushes to say hi to us.

Grown man.  Hiding behind a planter.  On the way to church.  Waiting for us to walk by.  Just so he could jump out.

It was all so absurd and ridiculous and surprising that I was momentarily at a loss for words.  I could only say "I hate you," in between bouts of laughing.  Eldon jumping out of the bushes is exactly why I'm afraid to hiccup around him (and by association, Jess, for fear that she'd mention it).  He takes his scare tactics way too seriously.  Christine, however, put Eldon in his place and told him to scram.

Christine is the best.

Trucking On

   (Sometimes, a food truck is just a truck)

Dear Pretzels, 

I don't have too much to be proud of in my time in Charm City, but I'm proud that I've managed to stay alive and not ride in a single gypsy cab in 2.25 years. I've only been in a stranger' once in all this time. Not bad, huh?

Today, I add "not getting sick from possibly shady truck masquerading As food truck" onto that list. Sure, the truck didn't seem to have proper ventilation, sure it only took cash (so did the fancier truck park next to it-- stop evading taxes, Businesses of Bmore), and sure I was the only person I saw buying from the truck, but my fish sandwich was hot and fried to order. It was not a rip off (cough, truck next door, cough). The guy peeking his head from his window was super nice (again, cough, truck next door). And I got a story out of this.  All I had to do was gamble with my gastrointestinal system.