Makin' my own fun

First of all, happy summer! It's freakin' gorgeous out, here in Portland.

Due to last week’s egregious emceeing at the local trivia night, we decided to skip it this week in protest (I’m sure that guy really missed us). In lieu of “pub trivia,” here is some good ol’ fashioned U.S. presidential history followed by trivia about my new home state.

*Who were the tallest and shortest presidents?
*Who was the only bachelor president?
*Which president served the shortest term?
*What was the first movie shown in the White House?

*What percent of the country’s lobster is caught off the coast of Maine?
*Portland is the birthplace of what famous poet, author of "Paul Revere’s Ride"?
*How many and which other U.S. states does Maine border?
*What is the nickname for Maine?
*How fast can a moose run?
*The state motto is Dirigo, also the name of a high school and health system in the state. What does it mean (in Latin)?
*What is the name of the largest indigenous Indian tribe in the state?
*What do the call letters of WCSH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Portland, stand for?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘Cause I can’t resist reporting about the stupidity of some people out there, here is a story about some candidates for a Darwin Award. Notice that I didn't mention that they are southern. I hope they at least got to smoke a cigarette.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apartment search update: We gave up the great place we had found because it meant taking a risk and putting down a bunch of money without knowing that our current place would definitely be rented. So, the bad news is we lost a pretty awesome apartment. The good news is we don’t have to move next week and we can now leave our lease when it’s actually up thereby ensuring we get our security deposit back. Because we can't accept having leisure time for some reason, we have now turned our eyes toward purchasing a home and have filled every available minute looking at possibilities. Between apartment and house hunting, I'm pretty sure we've been in over 2 dozen homes in the area. An important lesson learned: Tall Guy's head is higher than many ___________ (insert here: ceilings/stairwells/basements/showers).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers:
*Lincoln at 6’4” and Madison at 5’4”
*James Buchanan
*William Henry Harrison (1 month)
*Birth of a Nation

*90%
*Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 2/2/1807
*One – New Hampshire
*Pine Tree State is the official nickname, but Vacationland is the other, more accurate, nickname (hint hint, come visit)
*About 30 mph
*"I lead" or "I direct"
*Abenaki
*Congress Square Hotel, owned by the founder of WCSH radio and television

Rick rides again

The kickball competition was fierce last night as we played a team much better than their 1-3-1 record conveys. They had solid fielding and base-running, and some very spirited costumes, but they ultimately couldn't overcome the excellent offense of the "Rick is 21" crew (including a 3-run homer). I managed to go 2 for 3, ultimately driving in the game-winning RBI. I also managed to get into the direct path of a stellar 5th-inning line-drive made by one of my own teammates. The ball left his foot and zoomed straight toward me (I had stepped off of first base to head to second and then turned to watch the ball). Like a deer caught in the headlights, I took the ball directly in the arms, which I had put up to protect my chest.
Brilliant.
Some pics of the team:


-----------------------------------------------------------------
No plans this weekend other than baseball and packing/organizing for the move. We still don't know about the status of our current apartment, but we're crossing our fingers that it is rented by Monday.

Social Butterflies

Attended a work event Tuesday night – a lovely cocktail reception to celebrate the people who have given to the UW endowment – at which our brightest, bubbliest selves were required. This event also required that we dress up, so once the reception ended, Tall Guy and I high-tailed it to trivia wearing a suit and heels, respectively. People were impressed with our dedication. The fancy duds did little to help our scores; the questions were tough this week and we didn't fare too badly, but we didn't win. Final score 38 - the winners pulled in a 42.

The questions that got away:
*Who wrote "A Long Day's Journey Into Night"?
*According to Greek mythology, who founded Carthage?
*What is the gestational period of a horse?
*What is the country where couscous orginated?
*Which NFL team won the Super Bowl in 1981 as the Wild Card?
*In which country was Florence Nightingale born?
*In the game of Snooker, how much is the yellow ball worth?
*What is another name for the mountain lion?
*Which African animal kills the most humans per year? (no, the answer is not other humans)

A couple that we got, just to show that we're not blithering idiots:
*What is the second largest ethnic population in Iraq after Arabs?
*Which African country did the U.S. bomb in January 2007?
*An egg does not contain which of the following vitamins: A, C, or B?
---------------------------------------------------------------
We are deep in the middle of a hunt for a new apartment. Our current place is nice, but we have never really gotten cell phone reception within the walls of the house (pretty chilly when you want to give someone a call in January) and our cable reception was shoddy, too, so much so that we cancelled it back in February and turned entirely to Netflix for our entertainment. We want a place where we can happily host all the people who come visit (hint hint), and where we can live for a few years until we decide where/when to buy a house. And, we have found a place that we love, but we are cutting out early on our lease and have to make sure that our current place is rented before we put down $$ on the new place. Ah, the joys of renting.
------------------------------------------------------------
Answers:
Eugene O'Neill
Queen Dido (I went with the patriarchal angle of Aeneus)
11 months
Libya
The Raiders (I erased this in favor of the Philadelphia Eagles who, in fact, have NEVER won a Super Bowl
Italy
2
Puma (pronounced by the Irish emcee as pume-ah, which for some reason was hilarious)
crocodiles

Kurds
Somalia
Vitamin C