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Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2002 / 7:34 p.m. ~Just Some Stuff~ Sometimes it's just nice to come home, turn on the TV, play with the cats, have some food and lounge on the sofa, skip the whole Internet/Diary thing. Nice not to read email, send email, check stats, write, read, write, read, rub eyes, etc. Last night was such a night. Me taking the night off, away, a night for me and the girls. I actually got Chinese Buffet takeout. Who knew? Yeah, you walk in, get a to-go container, one of those divided foam things, walk through the buffet filling it up with everything and anything that will fit. Bacon wrapped crab on toothpicks, an egg roll, a spring roll, chicken with broccoli, spicy chicken and mushrooms, seasoned fried rice with peas, dumplings with dipping sauce. And they weight it. All of that food for only $6.54. Not a bad deal. It was exactly what I needed. So, Gladys gets in her little box, the lid from a box of books which arrived in the mail from one of my book clubs, a box lid we've had around for months and months, one in which I cut out a hole and strung some rope through....so I can pull Gladys around in her box. If she feels like it, and if I feel like it at the same time. So, we both felt like it, me dragging her around, living room, down the hall to the bedroom, a quick and dizzying spin, back up the hall into the living room again, and another dizzying spin! Whee! Throw a little rainbow ball into the box with her and it's that much more fun. Oh, poor Norman sitting on the sidelines. She's not into the box thing. "Everybody Loves Raymond", an hour in syndication, and last night it was the "is Robert GAY?" episode, hilarious! Picture Doris Roberts, a fine comedic actress, saying, "Robert's not gay, he's a Police Man!". Too funny. That show really cracks me up, not that I make it a point to watch in prime time, but when I get home from work it's fun to tune in to that hour from 7:00 to 8:00, it almost always gets a chuckle or guffaw from me. Olympics, Women's Figure Skating, short program, the beautiful and poised Sasha Cohen. She blew me away! Like Timothy Goebel....they both have this beautiful dancer's quality to them, the way they move their arms, their hands, their whole bodies, they're more like artists than mere technical skaters. I want to see them skate together. I know that will never happen, but still...I hope Sasha wins the GOLD! Women's bobsledding. The first year in the Olympics. Who knew?! Not me. And the Americans win it, one an African American, an African American WOMAN winning the first medal an African American has ever won at the Winter Olympics. Yay! I saw it! History! And today I went in to work and said, "Penelope! Did you see the Women's Bobsled last night?!!!", but she hadn't. Listerine had, so we cheered together, briefly. We shared a moment. Of course, Tuesday is for "Gilmore Girls", which wasn't on last night, and "24", which was, during which I actually changed channels briefly to see Michelle Kwan skate. She is ranked first, but she doesn't have "it", I don't think, not like Sasha Cohen. She's stiff, like ol' Nancy Kerrigan. And "Real World"...uneventful, can't even remember...oh, wait, the GAY episode. Theo says being gay is a sin, had to call Dad to confirm, but yeah, he's sure it is, therefore he won't support anyone or anything having to do with homosexuality. Sickening. Look what "The Church" does to people. How can that be Christian? Horrible, difficult to watch. "A Cook's Tour" was the highlight, well, post-Olympics and "24".....Tony Bourdain in St. Petersburg, Russia! Yeah!! Borscht, reindeer, he'll eat anything, and once again, I'll watch. I LOVE to watch him eat, I LOVE to hear his snide, irreverent commentary, he is wonderful, amazing, I am smitten. Imagine a dinner party with Tony Bourdain, Julia Child, maybe Martin Yan, Jacques Pepin......and ME! Oh, what fun we'd have!!!!! Tonight, after work, I went to Wal Mart, actually getting away under $80, some kind of record for me, but what sensory overload. The people, wow, how can I describe the Wal Mart experience??? Singing to "Penny Lane", not Muzak, the original version, squeezing soft stuffed Easter Bunnies, a person on every aisle, it seems, opening things, looking inside, choosing, staring at all the choices, people speaking Spanish, French, English and some African language. Babies, mothers, families, elderly couples, he pushing the cart with her purse on the baby seat, she choosing. The man in the long black pimp coat, the Superfly hat, stylin', the woman with the spike heels, the college kid with the tattoos and wife beater, the couples, the singles, the stuff. All of it for sale, piles of stuff everywhere, some not even where it should be, choices, choices, but never what you came for, well, seldom, okay, the Ziplocs are there, the toothpaste I like, but it's this giant Impulse Buying Store, for the most part, isn't it? I bought a Scooby Doo toothbrush. More Fritos Scoops and Ranch Dip, 6 Banquet frozen meals for those times when I don't want to go to trouble, cheese Danishes, Pop Tarts, motor oil and vitamins, International Coffees sampler pack of "Cappuccino", in different flavors. Stuff I need, stuff I want, stuff. Whole heaps of it. But it was like this town plaza, teenagers outside embracing by their cars, souped up hotrods with music blaring, cruising the built-in McD's. Wednesday, 7:00 p.m., THE place to be. Our little version of the Mall. I guess. It blows me away almost every time I shop there, the sheer mind boggling diversity of patronage, the Mexicans, the African Americans, the Europeans, young, old, in between. I get lost in the experience, I want to sing to the music, I am in "shop mode", I am choosing, noticing, observing, documenting mentally, every experience, wanting to stop with a notepad and write it all down. Wanting to study it, to get a grant and write a thesis. Wal Mart as Modern Community Gathering Center. We don't have a place to gather anymore, we humans in suburbia, in exurbia, no town plazas, not here in this town, it's a vehicle-accessed wasteland. So Wal Mart provides something to these folks. Hey, for me, it's a giant drugstore and sundries. I just need stuff so I go. I know I'll buy snacks, so I walk out with popcorn, chips and sweeties, usually pastries. I know this. But if there's a new "chip clip", one with Jack, from Cracker Jack, and his dog too (Bonus Trivia Contest points if you know the name of "Cracker" Jack's dog.....), on it, well, I'm right there! Time to eat, watch Olympics, I'd guess......mmmmmmm.....you know that first chip in a fresh bag of Lay's? Heaven. Cost of the War in Iraq
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