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Hola! Bienvenidos a la pagnia de julio. |
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Today is el cinco de Julio. Some people may be wondering, Rachel, how have you
spent your vacation. Here is a summary.
- Saturday I went to the car show with my friend Jess. It was the "Goodguys
Rod and Custom Nationals" like you hear about in the loud ads on TV. It was
actually really fun! She knows a TON about cars, like how to identify the model
year of a particular classic car by a tiny detail. We saw a lot of spectacular
paint jobs and humorous rebus license plates. We had a challenge of trying to
decipher them. I even learned a little bit....I hope. One of the neatest cars was
a metal-flake orange panel truck that was the "Pumpkin Hauler." Also I got a custom
sign that says "Taurus parking Only"
and has a Ford oval on it.
- Sunday I mostly hung out with Shannon and watched movies. We went to the video
store looking for "Sundance" movies, and basically just walked through the new
releases section looking for anything that had those leaves on the
DVD box. We ended up with Beyond the
Wall of Sleep and Up and
Down, as well as I Heart Huckabees. Beyond i thought was going to be
scary but was actually horribly, horribly bad. So bad that it was quite enjoyable
to make fun of. I believe I would describe it as "Coven, if Mark Borchardt would
have watched a shit-ton of MTV." Meaning, it had mostly the same cheap black and
white style as Coven (with a long 'o,' because otherwise it sounds like oven and
that just doesn't work), but with all these crazy jump cuts. Supposedly the
commentary is hilarous too, but I haven't watched that yet. Up and Down was a
little better. It was the type of movie where there are a ton of different stories
and they all kind of intersect. I quite liked it; even though it didn't have a
happy ending, it gave you some interesting characters and a lot to think about.
Huckabees we mostly just rented since it was a freebie. I think I got sleepy
partway thru and Shannon had to watch the rest alone.
- Monady I got to see my cousin Louie play baseball. He just turned 14 on July
02, WOW. I remember when he was just a baby. Monday was a hot hot day in central
IA.
- Tuesday was our Independence Day. I went to the festivities in Sheldahl with
Bill, Lisa, Louie and Jay. Also I got to see Grandma Hazel. It is funny since they
are different sides of the family but it would be weird not to see both on 4th of
July. I got a rag rug for Cavan and Scott. (shh it's a surprise!) It was a very
pleasant day, sunny but not humid, and with nice breezes. We mostly just sat in the
park and enjoyed the program. There was lots of different acts, from solo acoustic
guitar, to a family group that sang christian as well as secular songs, a
clown/magician/puppetteer lady, a bluegrass ensemble, and a country singer. The
family group and the country singer didn't have a backing band, but rather a cd or
computer or something with their background music. I told Lisa, "I could do that,"
and I totally could. Get some karaoke or whatever tapes of Journey, Pat B., Boston,
what have you. Get a cool costume. I could entertain the people. I stuck around
for the fireworks and we literally had a front-row seat. There was no one in front
of us. We could see where they lit 'em off. The explosions were so huge and
dramatic in the sky. It would be hard to say what the "best" fireworks I have seen
are, but I easily had the best and biggest view of these.
- Today I recorded and posted 2 more chapters of my audiobook, and then tried to
go watch Jay play ball in Altoona. Unfortunately I could not pinpoint the location
of his game! I ended up having an enjoyable drive, expoloring different parts of
Des Moines after I abandoned my diamond-quest in Altoona. I made it down to
Southridge mall and looked around there. I wouldn't say it's a Dead Mall but it is on life support. A couple
things they DO have over Jcreek though. First and foremost: KITTIES!
The ARL has a location out at the mall where you can look at the cats, and play with
them if you are serious. I think they also have educational programs too. There is
a little gift shop too, to benefit the shelter. So you could go look at kitties on
your break. Another nice amenity at the mall is a change machine in the food court,
by the kiddie rides. That would be good for a quarter-hungry person like me. The
other thing I thought was cool was that the McD's in their food court claimed to
serve breakfast all day! I had never seen that at a fast food place before (other
than Sonics) and I think the people sitting by me had the hotcakes, so it must have
been true.
So that's the lowdown. Tonight I'm just doing some web stuff, maybe will do another
chapter too. Mrow!
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