If life is a spectator sport, then an invitation to a  wedding is a ticket to a championship game. I've been to a lot of weddings in my lifetime and I've even played in seven games (ahem been an attendant at seven weddings). This happens when you're 30 years old, have 19 cousins, and oodles of friends of marriageable age.

Think about it. What other life event do they ask you to pick a side? Why do
the attendants of the bride dress alike (or at least similarly) and why do the groomsmen dress alike?

Side note: I've always wondered about the concept of honorary bridesmaids. Are they like bench players? The picture in my head is of the bride looking at her
bridesmaids halfway through the ceremony and saying " Time out! Mandy, Katrina is slouching. She needs a breather. You're up in her place. Katrina, you sit down and take a drink of water. Good game. We'll need you in the second half

Weddings even have officials and very specific rules and best of all, a concession stand for halftime. What else would a good sports fan need for the game besides beer, popcorn, and a foam finger? That's right….Drama. The wedding that I attended this past weekend delivered….Boy did it ever deliver.

I would like to preface this story by saying that my family is nuts. I'm well aware of this and love and accept them as they are, but they are indeed nuts. Well, this  weekend, we added a walnut to our pecan tree.

Now this walnut may or may not be a very nice kind of nut, but she played a dirty game, skirted the rules and then acted like the injured party so much so that the pecans appeared at fault. We, pecans, are good at the championship game. We've been there before. We're used to going after the rebound and then dunking on the other end to swing the momentum our way, but this time we faced a defense and offense that we hadn't seen before and we lost. But now we know her game plan and next time, we will be ready.

As a writer, I love old movies.  The dialogue is often very crisp and flows well. Sure the special effects are nothing compared to the special effects of today, but the writing and plot are usually awesome.  These are must-see movies and are listed in no particular order. 

1. The Sound of Music - I love Julie Andrews.  My dad introduced me to this one. I came home from church one Sunday night and he told me there was a movie on that he really thought I would enjoy. He wasn't wrong. I still love the song 16 going on 17 even though it has been years since I was 16 years old.

2. Singing In the Rain - The best ever Gene Kelly movie and I've seen a lot of them. The dancing by all three of the movie stars was spectacular.  "Good morning! Good morning! Its great to stay up late! Good morning....."

3. Casablanca - As Time Goes by...Rick and Ilsa...Here's looking at you, kid. There are no words to describe this one.

4. I Was A Male War Bride - Actually, anything with Cary Grant.  This one is my favorite by him though because of the spectacular humor.  Not everyone can look dashing and handsome dressed as a very ugly woman.

5. It Happened One Night - Clark Gable's best movie (even better than Gone with the Wind).  Claudette Colbert's way of hitchhiking was much better than Clark Gable's. The dialogue is spectacular. 

I'll be adding to the list later....

I was a business major in college and a nerd for most of my life. This doesn't mean anything really except that sometimes I have a tendency to think in dollars and cents. That's what I've been doing lately with the cost of gasoline. Don't get me wrong. I hate spending $4 a gallon on gas. That's why I did this analysis.

Here are the numbers.

In May of 2007, in South Carolina we were paying around $2.80 per gallon for gasoline. That means if you were driving a car that got 30 mpg, you were paying $0.09 per mile that you traveled.  If you were driving a car that got 20 mpg, you were paying $0.14 per mile that you traveled.

In May of 2008, it is predicted that we will hit $4.00 per gallon for gasoline.  That means if you are driving a car that gets 30 mpg, you will pay $0.13 per mile that you travel.  If you drive a car that gets 20 mpg, you will pay $0.20 per mile that you travel.

From May 2007 to May 2008, the cost of driving a mile has gone up by $0.06. This means that you spend $6.00 more on 100 mile trip than you did this time last year.

To put this in more personal terms, I drive a 1999 Chevy Cavalier that on average gets around 30 mpg and I live about 100 miles away from my parents' home in Pamplico. It now costs me $12.00 more per trip to visit my family.

I think I read somewhere that the average person drives about 1000 miles per month (that's what I drive). This means that the average person is spending about $60.00 more in gas a month than they did this time last year.  I don't know about you, but I spend way more than that on entertainment and other unnecessary stuff every month.

I think the real cost and yes the real benefit of $4.00 gas is psychological. People are now thinking about their consumption again.  In the past decades, American society has begun to believe that bigger is better.  We've built bigger houses and bigger cars as our families have gotten smaller.  My grandparents raised nine kids in a one bathroom-three bedroom house.  It was a tight squeeze, but they managed.  We now have families raising one kid in a McMansion.  To build the bigger houses, we've moved farther and farther away from where our jobs are located and created what is commonly called suburban sprawl.  This means that we're driving bigger gas-guzzling cars more miles.

We have to change and $4.00 gas illustrates that better than all preaching of the actors, politicians, scientists, and activists combined.  A vehicle that gets 7 mpg is not a smart decision. A vehicle that gets 40 mpg or better is.

Related Articles/Blogs: Read!!!

http://benelling.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/incredible-efficiency-and-lower-emissions-the-genius-of-jonathan-goodwin/

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/24/beck.oil.prices/index.html 

Rant completed. Back to my writing.

Tagged!

I'm It!!!! Now Hide!!!!!

The rules are: Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird random things, facts, or habits about yourself. At the end, you chose 10 people to be tagged, list their names, and why you chose them. Dont forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" on their profile and tell them to read your latest blog.

1.   I have a closet full of unfinished craft projects and tools.

2.   I've read 98 books since January 19th.

3.   I've been trying to put the same chair together for three days. I'm only on step 2.

4.   I own all 11 seasons of MASH and I periodically watch them in broadcast order.

5.  I like some reality shows competitions.  American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and America's Next Top Model are must see TV to me.

6.   I've got a large collection of Ruby Red Depression Glass and I haven't purchased a piece.

7.    I have ten-year old clothes that I can't bring myself to get rid of.  One day I'll wear them again.

8.   Purple and orange belong together.

9.  Some people think that I'm obsessed with my computer.

10. I need to spring-clean my house.

Sarah,

I'll tag:

Nikki, Missy, Sarah, Evan, Daniel, Adam, Cheryl, Elliot, Tiffany, Bridget.

 

 

I'm writing about Milan right now, but its going to take me another day to get the pictures and stuff ready to go in it.  I plan to post tomorrow.

So we were at the church of the Sacred Heart and it was getting close to lunchtime.  I had told my parents that I would call them at 6:30 am their time and let them know that I had arrived safely.  We'd seen an internet café near the our hotel which was directly below us so we descended from the church using the stairs.  On one of the landings, two West African men approached us. They clearly saw us as easy pickings for their trade and they were right.  They were talking to us and told us to hold out our fingers and they made us this thread bracelet that they then sold us for 10 euros apiece.  They were really nice people and it was very hard to say no to them.  I enjoyed listening to them talk. Their French/West African accents were very lyrical.

 

We went to the internet café and I was able to make my call.  The internet café in Europe is very apparent.  We saw them everywhere. They have phones where you can make international calls and computers so that you can check your email and the news. After we checked in with our respective families and friends, we got some lunch and I got my first taste of French food.  We went to café across from the hotel and ate inside because the intersection was fairly busy.  We might as well have been outside.  They open all the doors and windows so the wildlife apparently can get in.  There was a bird flying around in the restaurant.  I ordered the ham sandwich.  It was on French bread, they used really thin salty ham, and the butter the inside of the sandwich. It was great.  I had a glass of wine with lunch because wine is cheaper than the water (plus I was in France and they're known for their wines so why not).

 

After lunch we took the subway to the Louvre so that we could walk down to the Champs Elysses.  We did not go into the Louvre.  Adam doesn't like art and we only had one day in Paris.  I would have loved go in, but I would have wanted to take my time. A long visit to the Louvre will have to wait until I go back and I will go back.  We did however see the outside of the Louvre.  It was incredibly massive and the courtyard was fabulous.  I loved the glass pyramids. The pictures do not do them justice.  You need to see them in person.  The Louvre is in the shape of a U.  The Champs Elysses extends out from the open end of the U.  The gardens were beautiful even in the fall.  I can only imagine what they look like in the spring when they are in bloom.  We walked down from the Louvre to the Arc de Triumphe.  That is a long walk.  I cannot describe it. You go from beautiful gardens to metropolitan life.  The end of the Champs Elysses nearest the Arc de Triumphe is the main shopping area in Paris.  There were more people there than I have ever seen in my life. I am told that it is very much like New York City.

 

We watched the traffic that went around the Arc for a while. Quite frankly, I thought that it was a miracle that there weren't at least two dozen wrecks after watching cars, buses, and trucks weaving in out of each other's paths.  I got some video of that.  You had to go underneath the street to get to the Arc and for eight euros you could go to the top and see the view of Paris from there.  I was not interested.  The arc is the tomb of the unknown soldier for the French people and the insides are adorned with the names of famous battles from Napoleon's times to World War I.  It is incredibly large and the insides are very ornately decorated. Its gorgeous.

 

By this time we were getting tired and it was time to check into our hotel. So we went back and checked in.  We were in room 13.  As hotel rooms go, it wasn't bad. It was small there was a TV. The bathroom was fairly nice. The nap was just what I needed to feel better.  After a shower, I was ready to go again.  It was getting fairly late by my standards, but we went walking again and came across this great neighborhood near the Eiffel Tower.  It was beginning to get dark and the best time to see the Eiffel Tower is at night.  We ate near the feet of the Eiffel Tower. It was spitting rain for awhile, but it held off while we ate.  I had duck with herbed potatoes.  It was very very good.  After dinner, we walked to the Eiffel Tower.  It is huge.  The base of it is easily the size of two maybe three football fields including the endzones.  It was lit up in a soft orange light and it was definitely awe-inspiring.  The scariest thing about it though was the soldiers standing around it with Uzis.  I'm not kidding.  They were in cammo carrying large automatic rifles.  I would have gotten a picture, but I didn't want to get shot.  I got some pictures of the Tower and admired the scenery and then we went back to the hotel.

 

We watched a little TV before we went to sleep.  They have a CNN channel that is in English, but that's it.  So we watched some dubbed television.  The Cosby show dubbed into French is very odd to say the least.

 

Well that's the end of the Paris part of my visit. Stay tuned to hear about my adventures in Geneva J.

We stayed in the Montemarte area below the Church of the Sacred Heart (Sacre Couer). The area had a truly Parisian feel in my uneducated opinion.  There were a few hotels up and down the street, a few sidewalk cafes, a few shops, etc.  The street had a single lane going in each direction with a wide tree-lined sidewalk in the middle of the street.  This was where the metro stations emerged, where the newsstands were, and where they had a few free "toilettes." My French spelling is very bad and I struggled with the pronunciation of the most simple words.  Apparently my accent is from the South of France as my Dad would say.  (He took several years of French in high school and college before a teacher begged him to stop taking classes. My mom fared better. Her teacher wanted her to go to France for a year to perfect her accent. Its amazing what you learn about your parents when you leave the country.) It was explained to me that the French never pronounce the last letter of the word.  Example:  Billet is pronounced Bill – lay.  Why is the consonant there if you aren't going to pronounce it?  I don't understand.

 

Back to exploring….So Adam and I walked in between the trees on this sidewalk.  Adam had met Sean (his old roommate) in Paris earlier in the year and they had wandered over to the Montemarte area. Adam had really liked it so he got the hotel for our visit in that area.  He warned me while I was walking that we were going to walk through what can only be described as the "red-light district" of Paris.  There were sex shops and theaters everywhere.  I saw the Moulin Rouge.  It looked like a big red windmill.  I'm told that it is really spectacular at night when its all lit up, but I don't know that I would have wanted to walk through that area to get there in the dark.  Finally, the street turned normal again.

 

We walked to the Montemarte Cemetary which was really cool.  A couple of the pictures on my Slide show are of the cemetery.  A lot of famous Frenchmen and women are buried there.  They have a map of the cemetery showing where these folks are buried or memorialized, two of the names that I recognized where Edgar Degas (painter) and Alexander Dumas (writer).  Adam and I went in search of those two crypts. We found the Dumas crypt first. The crypt had a statue of a man laying on it.  The first thing that I saw when we came up to the crypt were the feet and all that I could think was Dear God there is someone laying down on that grave.  It startled me to say the least.  The cemetery wasn't like modern American cemeteries.  It was like some the burial places that they have in Charleston or New Orleans.  They built little houses or shrines so when you walk among the graves, you are walking between these little houses that are built very close together. It's a very spooky atmosphere and the Dumas crypt was off one of the wide pathways that run through the cemetery, so I was spooked when I saw the feet.  The Degas crypt was easier to find.  It was very simple and was right on the main pathway.  I feel a little weird saying this, but the cemetery was a very picturesque place.

 

After emerging from the cemetery, we decided that it was time for some coffee and a Coke (a caffeine injection as we'd both been up more than 24 hours with only a little sleep while flying) so we stopped by our first sidewalk café.  We went inside to order.  The exchange went something like this:

 

Vikki: I want a Coke. 

Cashier: Something in French.  Most likely the French version of  Huh?

Vikki:  Coca Cola

Cashier: Ahhh, Coca Cola.

 

We went and sat down and they brought us our drinks.  We people watched a while and one of things that I noticed is that a good number of the people there have dogs.  I wondered if the dogs spoke French, too.  One couple was sitting at a table near us and their dog was sitting right beside them.  You could see that he was hoping that something would leave the table so that he could eat it

 

We kept walking up the hill.  We were taking the long way to the church. The big wide sidewalk in the middle of the street had ended and we were walking next to the shops now.  There was a shop that sold Hoover vacuum cleaners and other small appliances, a fruit stand, a butcher, a bakery, and a chocolatier.  It was clear that the urban French live slightly differently than I do in SC. We walked until we came to this sculpture of a man walking out of the wall.  I thought that was pretty cool and then, we rounded the last corner and there it was.  The coolest place in Paris and it was right next to the church. It was a place that I'd seen in paintings many times and never realized it.  There were little shops everywhere selling tourist merchandise and art, but the greatest thing about that place was the view.  You looked down and you could see Paris extending out before you, the Eiffel Tower, the Twilleries, the cathedral of Notre Dame, and everything else.  The church steps were filled with people as you can see in my pictures. 

 

I have more about Paris, but I guess that will have to wait until next time…..  Just so you know not all my blogs are going to be this long.  Geneva and Milan were not as impressive to me as Paris, Venice, Tuscany, and Rome.  Don't get me wrong,  I liked both of those places and am more than willing to go back, but there wasn't quite as much to see there.  Plus, I packed A LOT of stuff into my day in Paris so its definitely worth the two parter.

I loved it over there.  It was something that I'd dreamed of doing for most of my life and I did it.  It was everything that I thought that it would be and then some.  I kept a travel journal as a record of my trip and I am going to draw from it for this blog.

 

The route: Columbia to Philadelphia to Paris.  I got lost on my way to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.  Been there a dozen times, but was so excited that I missed the turn. Stupid I know.  The flight to Philadelphia was uneventful and Adam was waiting for me when I landed.  We hung out around the airport watching planes land and takeoff until our flight for PARIS!!! left.  It was an overnight flight so we had to sleep on the plane which is not as easy as it sounds.  When we got there, it was morning so I had a lot of caffeine that day.

 

The Charles de Gaulle airport was one of the most confusing airports that I have ever been in.  It seemed like the signs took us in circles.  I'm not lying.  You can ask Adam. The good news is that my luggage arrived.  The airport is actually about thirty minutes outside of Paris so we took the train through the suburbs into the city.  It was morning rush hour for the Parisians so we got a lot of glares on the crowded train (commuter) from the workers as they went into the city.  Between us and our luggage, we took up a lot of space.  Except for the language, we could have been in any major US city.  Paris was a very diverse city.  The woman next to me was doing a Suduko puzzle.  I thought that was cool.

 

We arrived at the main train station where the commuter lines, the TGV (more on that later), and the subway come together.  We were going to transfer from the commuter train to the RER, the Paris metro.  Again, the signs were not logical (at least to me).  We couldn't find a ticket (billet in French) booth for the RER.  Walked all the way to the very end of the station where the subway to take us to the hotel was located. Couldn't find a ticket booth.  We thought that maybe they would have automated ticket machine near the subway platform.  They didn't.  We had to walk all the way back to where we came from carrying our luggage.  You had to leave the station to purchase the subway ticket and then come back in. So we finally got on the metro to our hotel.  We're underground and then we emerge and I was incredibly excited.  It was marvelous.  The headache of travel and trains was worth it the minute that I saw Paris proper.  It looked a lot like the pictures that I had seen.  Got off the subway at our hotel. (It was across the street from the metro station.) Lugged my huge bag up the stairs.  It was a good thing that it had wheels or I would have been in real trouble, because it was not light.  Adam had a backpack.  Paris is not a city for people in wheelchairs. They don't believe in elevators or escalators from what I could tell.  It was too early to check in but the hotel allowed us to leave our luggage so that we could go exploring.

 

My next blog entry will be entitled Exploring Paris.  I may write it tomorrow if I don't go home to visit the folks.  If I do go home, I'll try to write it on Sunday.

For those of you that are interested...

This may be the deepest Clemson team in years.  We beat LA Tech 51-0.  The third team offense was in  at the end of the game and we were still moving the ball.  The 1st, 2nd, and 4th team tailbacks had 100 yard rushing games for a total of 422 yards on the ground.  Wow.... The 3rd team back was resting from an injury last week.  Way to go to the offensive line. 

A true freshman had two interceptions (Butler).  He had a bead on that ball both times. Chansi Stuckey our veteran receiver had a touchdown pass that was perfectly thrown by Will Proctor and perfectly caught by Chansi.  Cullen Harper (2nd team) threw a touchdown pass.  Tribble Reese got some pretty good reps at quarterback. 

I have watched this team dominate and play like champions for the last few weeks.  If we continue this level of play, we could go to the Orange Bowl on January 2nd.  That being said there is a lot of football to be played between now and then.  Lets beat Wake Forest next week (Please God).