Would You Rather Weekend

I know it’s been a while, but I liked this so HA!

Would you rather be mechanically induced to scream at the top of your lungs for an hour, or have your eyes glued shut for a day?

I would have to choose the eyes glued shut one. There is, in this question, no caveat on what you would have to do during that day or hour. I think having my eyes glued shut for a day could be restful. It also seems that there would be no ill affects from having my eyes glued shut, whereas if I screamed for an hour, I would hurt a lot for a long time afterwards.

Hey! Are you out there? I know you are! I see you in California and Alaska! Post a comment, let me know what you would rather.

Mid-Ohio Anniversary

Last year, as you all know, when Jason and I went to Mid Ohio, this happened.

So when we made our return trip this year, I knew not to expect quite as many fireworks, even though a week earlier we’d be recognized. We were at the Kentucky Headhunters concert and a guy walked up to us, and for a minute we thought there was going to be a fight, but then he said “Didn’t you guys get married at Mid-Ohio?” It was close enough, so we said yeah, and he said cool or something like that and went on his way.

ANYWAY.

We didn’t take Friday off, so we started our drive at around 6pm. That should have put us there around 10, and we’ve set up the tent in the dark plenty of times, so we weren’t really worried about that. What we were worried about was the fact that we had seen the new batman the night before and were really tired. The drive was pretty uneventful, I saw another deer (a strange aside, I’d never seen a wild deer until I met Jason, now I see them, and all kinds of other neat things) and we had to stop for dinner and groceries.

We really arrived at around 11 pm, and were shocked. The campground was PACKED. We usually camp up in the “family” area. It’s near the showers, and the restrooms. It’s supposed to be quiet. We get there and not only is the family area full; it’s full all the way back to the back of the second area! They gave us a pass, and we’d reserved a campsite, but we weren’t sure there were any left. We found one, just a few sites down from a bar (I know) and set up the tent.

It was the fit’s first time camping, so there were some kinks to work out. For some reason, the power inverter in the fit will not inflate the mattress, while it would in the sonata. So, the first night, we slept on sleeping bags on the floor of the tent. Refreshing. Oh wait, not. The next morning, Jason found someone else with an outlet, and he filled the bed there. We were satisfied with camp, made some bagels and headed toward the track. We caught a tram, which I was very glad for. It was a good day, but very, very hot. Vitor didn’t wreck right in front of me, which was a great big plus.

Back to camp for a second, Jason hadn’t seen the place this full since the cart era, late 90’s I’m told. There were so many people! I’m used to kind of having the run of the place, except for on race day, but that just wasn’t the case this year. It was nice that there were so many more fans, but we definitely need to get there earlier for camping next year.

We visited some autograph sessions, and I’m proud to say, that my favorite ALMS team was the nicest. The Ferrari guys and the Porsche guys were just kind of handing stuff off, while my Aston Martin guys asked every single person’s name and were really nice. I smirked at Jason. After autographs, we found a place to sit for a while and watched Indycar qualification. Then we crossed over to our real sets for the ALMS race. I wanted the Aston to dominate, and they didn’t quite, but they hung in there and performed for the whole race, which was more than you could say for quite a few other teams. IT was HOT in the stands, so we picked up a pizza, which is, for some reason, always better at the track and sat in the shade to watch. It was a long race, and we were tired, so we headed back to camp.

We were on the tram again, and got stopped for a while waiting for a pit crew guy to have to be lifelighted out on the helicopter. There was a fire, and he was burned, but I think he’s doing well now. Scary.

When we got back to the tent we rested for a while. The mattress always stretches out after you fill it, so let’s just say it wasn’t on the firm setting for Jason’s nap. There wasn’t a line for the showers so we took out turns, and as I was brushing my teeth, I was very glad I was a woman. I heard one man yell to another in the showers “Hey! [friend’s name] Are you starting at the top or the bottom?”. We cooked dinner, shrimp, chicken, and corn, yum. Corn was the best, even though we didn’t have butter or salt. We went down to another campsite to celebrate a birthday, and the came back up to go to sleep.

Halfway thought the night, Jason gave up on the mattress, and I woke up like this:

We broke camp just as it began to pour. We hid in the car for around half and hour and when it looked better, we made it to our seats. We had just finished out bucket of fries when the skies opened up again. There was no-where to go, we didn’t have any umbrellas or ponchos, and we’re crazy, so we sat there and got soaked. It actually turned out well. The wet kept the sun from baking me as much, and we were kinda dry by the time we left.

As for the race: I was ecstatic when Vitor was leading. If not for yellows, once again, I think he would have really had a chance. I don’t know why, but I don’t like Briscoe. I don’t really know anything about him, but he just rubs me the wrong way. Overall, it was a good race, and everyone in our stands cheered when Milka passed Roth, and then groaned when we heard she had spun it not too long after.

We made it home, and had a great weekend. I’m really a wimp though, with the heat and all of the walking, I felt bad about complaining, and constantly said I was going to quit, but then was right back to it. Jason was completely within his rights to smack me right there, but didn’t. Thanks.

Oh yeah, also, this.

Batman: The Dark Knight

We stayed up late and went to see The Dark Knight last weekend. We were really tired, and knew it would make the next day incredibly long, but we really wanted to see it. We got to the theater at about 10:45 pm and were told that our theater was already seating. We were shocked, but there were plenty of seats and we managed to snag some good ones. Four, in fact for two of our friends as well. The theater filled up with people in batman t-shirts, and a few guys in complete Joker getup. Then, the previews.

The previews alone deserve a paragraph. The one I found to be most memorable was for The Watchmen. I didn’t like Sin City and everyone said that this was shaping up to be very similar. But, the preview was scary good. Also we saw:

Terminator 4; I lost interest after the second one. 3 held no real interest for me, and I don’t think ahnold is even in 4.

Quantum of Solace; I never really liked James Bond movies before I met Jason, but this one looks great. I want to see it.

Body of Lies; another one I wouldn’t be interested in normally, but I sure didn’t recognize Leonardo DiCaprio in that trailer.

The Day the Earth Stood Still; Keanu Reeves is the shiny metal man. I still want to see it.

Bolt; let it begin, LET IT BEGIN!!!!!!

I think there were a few more, but I can’t remember for the life of me. Evidently, there was a teaser Harry Potter trailer if you saw it in the IMAX.

The movie itself was EXCELLENT. The acting was seamless, especially on the part of the late Heath Ledger. I was convinced that at some point during the movie, I would see Heath, but I didn’t. It was all Joker, all the time. So the film opens with Batman, looking to retire, so that Rachel would finally be convinced that she could love him. He sees this opportunity in the rising star of Harvey Dent, the new DA. Harvey is dedicated to wiping out crime in Gotham , through legal, daytime work. Bruce thinks that this is his way out, but the Joker has other plans. He wants batman, dead, and exposed, not retired. I won’t get much more into the plot… One of the most genius things in the film is that the Joker never reveals his true origins and has absolutely no motive other than chaos. Even when he makes a plan, he doesn’t want things to follow the plan. He embodies the unknown. He IS the chaos. I had NEVER been scared of the joker before, but let me say, I sure am now. I won’t go spoilery on you, don’t worry.

The other stand-out thing for me was the batmobile. I had loved the 90’s batmobile. It was the coolest part of any of the movies. The iconic shape, the new gadgets, it was awesome. That being said, when Batman Begins came out, and there was to be a new, very different batmobile, I thought I would hate it. It was a military machine, it wasn’t cool. Batman doesn’t drive a tank. After I saw Begins, however, I was a little more lenient toward the tumbler. It had a cool name, it was tough. In The Dark Knight, I fell in love again. The tumbler is AWESOME. Like I said, no spoilerification, but WOW. Sign me up for that.

I thought the movie was ending at least 5 times, I also thought that Two-Face was the villain for the next film. I was wrong. Every time I thought it ended, there was more and it was tenser, and more involving that I thought it could be.

I have one complaint. Gotham was, very transparently, Chicago . There were landmarks all over. The Lamborghini had Illinois plates. I can understand the filmmakers’ choice, because Chicago is filled with interesting and sometimes very gothic architecture, but when I can see the corn buildings out of the window in the mayor’s office, and Jason points out Weber grill, it’s no good. I think a little more CGI was necessary there. Or something, a less recognizable city maybe. I appreciated that it was lighter sometimes. It symbolized Harvey Dent and the crusader who dealt justice in the light of day, versus Batman, who works at night. I just really wish it hadn’t been so much the L train in the street scenes.

Overall, however, I give it (working up new and creative rating system) a 10 in the amount of time I spent either in or considering the fetal position, a 10 in the time I wanted to bounce on the seat, and a 9.5 in the amount of time that I forgot there was a seat. It was a really great movie, and I’m ready to see it again.

Mr Stripey!

I promised garden updates and here they are! We now have jalapenos, a green pepper, cucumbers, onions and dill! Our first tomato came off of the vine last week. Here it is!


It was delicious, and turned much redder than this before I ate it. It was really juicy.

The garden is very weedy. I'm convinced I could get better results if I weeded more, and I know I've been bad, but are there any suggestions out there on how to prevent weeds in the garden? Also bunnies? I don't want to hurt them, i just want them not to eat my stuff. Yep. That's my only goal.

We went to Mid-Ohio this weekend, and it was great. Expect a post soon about inflatable beds and neck burns. We also saw Dark Knight. AWESOME. More soon on that too. Bye for now!