Ketchup Post

Prolly gonna be a long one...

Things I've learned in the past week:
*Face-to-face negotiations are hard. We decided to put an offer on a house that was for sale by owner. So with no realtors to do the whole back-and-forth thing, we had to stand in a kitchen and give our offer (which I typed up, of course). We had to justify it and watch the immediate reaction of the sellers. Then, we had to go downstairs so they could talk about it, come back up to hear the counter-offer, go into another room to talk about that, offer our counter-offer. Tired yet? It was nerve-wracking and weird, but a little heady, too. The sellers ended up asking for the night to think about our "final" offer. They called us in the morning with an even worse counter-offer so we had to walk away. Basically, they were willing to pay a buyer's agent 3% so they were only willing to come down from their selling price by 3%. We have no buyer's agent and no mortgage contingency and no financial speedbumps to hinder a quick close, but they couldn't see any of that. They wanted their asking price minus 3% and that's it. We didn't feel the need to come "up" to their price - there are 4 other houses for sale on this same street. So, we will keep looking. Also thinking of getting a buyer's agent, which I just haven't wanted to do. Drat real estate.

*Losing sucks. We lost in the first round of the kickball finals on Thursday night. I think that the week off hurt us, made us rusty. At least that's what I tell myself. We had a terrible 1st inning in which our opponent scored 3 runs; we just couldn't recover, so we went down 5-2. The upside, Tall Guy and I got to luxuriously ref the next game with a beer in our hands. And, the team that beat us went on to beat the #1 seed in the semi-final rounds, which was sweet since the #1 seed is made up of uber-competitive, college-aged kids who did not expect to lose.

*TOOL rocks. Hard. Fulfilled a music-fantasy by seeing Tool in concert at the Cumberland Civic Center on Friday night. I have loved this band since college though it probably would have been better had I seen them closer to my post-college days: by the end of the 2.5 hour show, my ears felt like they were bleeding and my feet were killing me from standing the entire time. Seriously, I only think I can hang with the young kids. Still, a great show filled with a mix of songs from their 3 major albums, "10,000 Days," "Aenima" and "Undertow."

*Ocean waves are so much fun with little kids. Had a belated father's day celebration this weekend in Portland. Both of my brothers came up, along with my dad, and we went to the beach, one with big waves. My niece and nephew had a heckofa time jumping over waves, well, being lifted over waves by Aunt Me and Uncles My Younger Bro and Tall Guy. My back was sore on Sunday morning, but I haven't had that much fun at the beach since I was probably their age.

*Silent movies shouldn't be over 90 minutes. Sorry film snobs, but a silent movie, i.e. D.W. Griffith's Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916), shouldn't come close to being 3 hours (the version we watched, the short version, was 2 hours and 58 minutes). I understand that this movie was ground breaking and ambitious and artful, but I clearly lack the capacity to sit through that much sepia-toned film and orchestral music. I give props to my husband, who not only sat through it, but really enjoyed it. It did make a rainy Sunday afternoon seem lazier, but so would watching puddles fill.

*Trivia is overrated. We went back. And it was as painful as Tall Guy remembered. The emceeing was still terrible and some of the answers suspect (we found out that the game orginates from Germany), but this week we got to stand through the entire 2.5 hours! We have decided to try a different trivia night, at a different restaurant. But, if you actually got all the way down to this part of the post, you deserve a treat:

*On the show "Married with Children," what kind of dog is Buck?
*During the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Tommie Smith and John Carlos were famous for what, aside from their athletic success?
*What famous children's book character was created by Astrid Lindgren?
*On what plant do silkworms exclusively feed?
*What actor played Blake Covington on the tv show "Dynasty"?
*Who gave up his seat to J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson on the fatal flight in 1959 that also killed Buddy Holly and Richie Valens?
*During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln had a residence in which state?
*According to Roman legend, who pulled a thorn out of a lion's paw?
*What type of craft is the Breitling-Orbiter 3?
*How old was the Lindberg baby when he was kidnapped?
*What does a viticulturist grow?

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Happy nuptials to Corissa & Brian in San Francisco. This means that every friend I made while living in Connecticut back in 2000 is now married. If you want to get married, go live in Connecticut.

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Answers:
-Briard - here's a picture:









-"Black Power Salute" while receiving their medals
-Pippi Longstocking - great books
-Mulberry tree
-John Forsythe
-Waylon Jennings
-Illinois
-Androcles - He was a slave. The lion later recognized him in a gladiator arena and spared his life. The emperor Tiberius was said to have freed them both.
-Balloon
-20 months
-Grapes