real gaming for real girls

a little while back, i got a huge surprise in my inbox. brand about town had stumbled upon my blogs and wondered if i might consider being a brand enthusiast for a girl-oriented campaign centering around the nintendo ds lite. my obligations would be minimal: i'd receive some nintendo products over the next year, and i'd also host a "girls' guide to gaming" party for me and 30 or so bay area women. the marketing company would coordinate the event and pay for all the party's expenses, and my responsibility would be the guest list.

i read through the email, did some google searching, and thought back to my nintendo-playing days as a child. we had the original nes, and after school, my mom, sister, and i would play super mario (1, 2, and 3) and the legend of zelda. after about 48 hours of buddhist-like contemplation, i responded and said, "i'm in!" (only in longer, more structured paragraph form).

fast-forward to this past friday: i was organizing everything to work from home for the next week (knee surgery, legal drugs, and buttered toast, oh my!) when the receptionist informed me i had a package. lo and behold, i opened this white box to find a cute onyx-colored nintendo ds lite with pink rhinestones in a chic pink case! colleagues came by and salivated, and one even borrowed it later in the day and played brain age 2 (i think she simply wanted to make sure it was safe for me to play... thanks, l.!). todd has also borrowed it once or twice over the weekend, but i think the pink heart will safely deter him from slipping it in his pocket on the way out the door. phew. thank goodness for sparkles.

sign of the times

i came across two great signs this weekend.

one features everyone's favorite hotel feature, the ice and vending machines. i think vening machines are a spanish thing, derived from the verb "ir," to go. ven means they go. i can only surmise that vening is a mode of tourist travel during cold, icy weather, which makes sense at a hotel (in this case the doubletree) in the midwest. why vening would be on the 9th floor and not located in the garage, though, is beyond me.



the second highlights dayton international airport's family/companion bathroom, complete with signage as to how you might make a baby, g-rated style, and join the tarmac club instead of the mile-high one. i still belong to neither.

knees in need

after 2 months of grueling PT at active care (an amazing physical therapy joint out on geary-- i rehabbed alongside professional dancers and critical mass cyclists), my orthopod has scheduled me for another knee surgery. yes, there are downsides like another rehab, crutches (luckily i only donated 2 pairs and kept the third in our spring cleaning), and three days of eating whole wheat toast with yogurt butter and lavender salt... but i'm thinking about the positives. the most positive positive? a sexier, less puffy knee. what makes for a sexy knee? how about walking in heels without collapsing three blocks in. or wearing a skirt to work without feeling the need to cover my left leg with a bag of ice and a tri-colored legwarmer. or doing three sets of squats in motion without needing to "shake it out" every few reps. and maybe by august, i'll be able to go out to the street corner (or maybe a few corners down), do a pirouette, lift up my pants leg, and kick my leg high into the air, hailing a cab without frantically waving my arms and breaking a sweat. if that's not sexy, then at least it'd be cool. and i'm cool with 'dat.

my underpants swear today's monday. or at least body by victoria.

with the ohio trip not too far away, i have things to plan like:

1. what clothing to pack. pleather, spikey heels, and spandex are a general no, all of which i don't own anyway.


2. general topics of conversation that won't cause faces to flush or anyone to run out of the room crying buckets. examples of approved topics include the weather, sports, my poor driving skillz, orion's belt (not re: men in black, and only allowed at night; it's the only constellation that i can ever find), and kittens vs. bunny wabbits.


3. buying a kim kardashian butt pad to protect the toukas from my grandmother's hourly butt taps.


4. creating my "guide to midwestern vegetarian myths." no, just because you baked the salmon next to the potatoes and asparagus doesn't mean that deceased fish is now vegetarian. no veg via diffusion.
   


5. topics that didn't fit into #2 that would be perfect to share with tim, em's manfriend. like when she would (and probably still does) burp the alphabet song in the car, mall, movie theater, or doctor's office after downing a dr. pepper. or let me put manic panic stripes into her hair with a toothbrush. or wear her day-of-the-week underwear on different days on purpose, mostly likely with the intent to confuse me (and how i knew this, i'll never tell...)!

o no you di-int.

this evening, todd looked over at me lovingly and said, "if we put an 'h' and an 'i' right here (pointing to my sternum), you'd have ohio (as in o-hi-o)!" with that said, the trip to the midwest is 13 days and counting...

flight of the phoenix

two images from my first day in phoenix.

the gift shop is having a 50% off sale of all republican party items, and i think i'm tempted!!! and who can say no to a "proud republican" coffee mug? and todd, you may think i'm bringing you a danny haren jersey back, but think again!


and the group sales women sent me a lovely plate of dried mango slices and nuts, along with 2 bottles of water. it's a good thing because before they arrived, i was anxiously eyeing the $5 liters the hotel graciously left on my end table.