Now I know what you’re thinking: Ben, you can’t call yourself a blogger if all you do is get other people to post for you. BUT, today is the Big Blog Swap day over at 20-something bloggers! Since I sort of pushed it on everyone, I figured I HAD to participate.
Please give a warm welcome to Sarah who is taking the reigns on No Ordinary Rollercoaster today. Also, feel free to check out the post I slapped together for her on her space at SillyGrrl.com.
All will be back to normal tomorrow, I promise!
We lived on the east side until I was 11. On weekends we’d park at my aunt’s house, walk the four blocks downtown to sit on the banks of the river and listen to a band playing in the gazebo on the other side. My parents would spread out a blanket on the steep, grassy hill. We’d eat buckets of fried chicken and then beg to be done with dinner, so we could take off through the patchwork of blankets looking for an open space to roll down the hill. When it got dark enough we would all stretch out on our backs to watch the fireworks.
This past weekend I went back to the 4th of July fireworks for the first time in years and it was a bit of a shock. I really remembered there being more teeth and more shirts.
Dudes sporting mullets and American flag t-shirts double-fisted Bud Light as they sang along to Skid Row – the headliner after the fireworks. Women in mini skirts and hair sprayed and teased to death, head banged so violently I thought they might take out anyone that walked by.
The adults seemed stuck in their 20′s – drunk, screaming at the top of their lungs, shamelessly flirting with every member of the opposite sex within arm’s reach. The 20-somethings looked forced into adulthood, pushing strollers packed with kids and beer home from the riverfront at midnight.
The whole time I couldn’t help but think…that could have been me. I could still rocking scrunchies and acid-wash jean shorts. I could be divorced and dragging around three kids by age 24. I could think Uncle Kracker is the shit.
So thanks mom and dad for carting us off to a different city. No matter how much I complained back then, I’m eternally grateful now.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
can’t you hire people to do things like that for you??!!
thanks for giving me something to bake tomorrow instead of you know, study.
Chocolate chip squares? Um, yes I think so.
Time to man up son. Injury? Oh well. Lose a finger? Pish posh. Its no big deal. Because you, are a man.
i’m making those chocolate chip squares my Remembrance Day bitch tomorrow.
Awww, of all the blood blisters in the world, yours is the most adorable!
I LOVE spanikopita. Yes, as I am also a 1950′s housewife…that’s what I got out of this post. A fantastic recipe.
Emoticon injuries… That may be the one thing that I didn’t get while fixing my house… back when I had effort to fix it… now it’s trashed… and now I feel bad about myself… -sob-
like a DM’ed you. frozen spinach is the way to go. that’s how my yiayia (grandma) makes it and she was born in greece! : )
also. no bueno on your boo boo.
Are you going to sit at your desk talking to your smily blister? Looking at him for comfort while you wait for the paint to dry properly at home? Those squares sound tasty, by the way.
I’m a total chocolate whore. When I’m done with my pre-race diet-being good-avoiding sugar thing I’m sssssoooo making the chocolate chip bars. YUMMY!
at first i just couldnt understand what the pics was about from the dashboard only after reading the post did i know that it was a blood blister and it does look kewl lolx. and its lovely to see another guy who like both cooking and eating lolc
the roomie and I definitely thought boob. Does the newf like boobs? or will the introduction of a mini-boob go to waste in your household?
You don’t know me…as I am sure you don’t know many of your blog readers…but I love your blog. And Tia’s blog. I read both religiously.
I woke up this morning to a straight line of pigment missing from my middle finger from my right hand. It is very strange. Perhaps Michael Jackson wasn’t lying…maybe I have the beginnings of that crazy disease where you lose pigment.
It would explain why I’m so pale
Love,
Your new favorite reader Courtney
Holy cow your blister does look like a smiley face. Well at least it’s pleasant to look at. I can’t believe you got a blister from painting. That’s crazy!
You write “NOT baking soda” as though you know from experience…
I never thought of myself as a “chocolate whore.” Thanks for the definition!
Ow ow ow owww
I could really go for some chocolate right now.
When I first saw the photo on my dashboard, I thought it was a pink flower… But it was your injured hand w/ blood blister:(
I remember when I bought my condo, all I could think of was to paint the whole place in different colors just like HGTV does – but soon I realized it was a pain. Too much work. LOL
I would love to see the pics of your cooking ensemble next time!!!!
Blood blister emoticons are way better than yellow smileys!
When I saw the photo teeny tiny in my reader, I thought it was a nipple. I was like “What is Ben getting himself into?”