As I have been writing this blog, I realized that, in the sake of entertainment and humorous release, it was a little unfair to Brittany. I have intended to extol some of Brittany's true virtues for a while, and the holiday season provides the right occasion, not only because of the spirit of the season, but also because the huge favor Brittany has just performed for me.
Brittany fills and empties the dishwasher far more often than she is responsible for doing.
She cleans the bathroom and kitchen without being asked.
She presents a smiling face with a story to tell when I get home late from work- which is so much better than coming home to darkness and silence.
But now for the occasions Brittany has saved me from my absent-mindedness:
1) Only two days after she moved in, I was going on a trip. But when I got to the airport I discovered that I had forgotten my cameras memory on my dresser. She drove it all the way to the airport at 7 am for me.
2) For Christmas my family is headed abroad, but I first drove 8 hours to my parents home: without my passport. I was able to call Brittany, and she'll bring my passport to her parents' house tomorrow, and then I can pick it up on Sunday.
I can't believe it never even entered my head that I would need my passport. My mother asked me for it so that she could make a photocopy! I don't want to be taken as a cruel hypocrite. I can tell the truth about my own failings and laugh at them.
Brittany is a sweet and caring person who has helped me in my times of stupidity.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Love is Love
The following is an old post from another blog I have. It was a story that include Brittany at Halloween time.
This past Saturday night the local news came on with a story about invitations to a concert at Denison college having a noose on them while exhorting students to come to a Halloween event by saying, "Come hang with us". It all seemed a bit silly to get riled up over, but apparently multiple tolerance focused groups on the Denison campus took action, so the newscasters interviewed them. One student, the mohawked president of an anti-hate group was putting up signs in opposition; the signs were hand-drawn in pink marker and said "Love is Love" with hearts around them. I started to laugh and describe what was on TV to my roommate who was in the kitchen.
She didn't understand why I was laughing- and thought that the "Love is Love" message was a good one - and true!- no matter what.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
This past Saturday night the local news came on with a story about invitations to a concert at Denison college having a noose on them while exhorting students to come to a Halloween event by saying, "Come hang with us". It all seemed a bit silly to get riled up over, but apparently multiple tolerance focused groups on the Denison campus took action, so the newscasters interviewed them. One student, the mohawked president of an anti-hate group was putting up signs in opposition; the signs were hand-drawn in pink marker and said "Love is Love" with hearts around them. I started to laugh and describe what was on TV to my roommate who was in the kitchen.
She didn't understand why I was laughing- and thought that the "Love is Love" message was a good one - and true!- no matter what.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Monday, December 10, 2007
Best of Brittany: Game Night Edition
A few weekends ago Brittany had game night with 4 of her friends, me and two of my friends. I was a little worried because she had bought the board game version of "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" and though I knew the answer for me, I wasn't sure about Brittany.
The game did not start off with a promising start, as Brittany couldn't understand the directions after she read them, so she made her own up. We answered a total of 19 questions, and here are seven that I was shocked that neither she nor her friends could answer:
Multiple choice, What is the capital of Canada: Quebec, Toronto, Ottawa
Brittany thought my friends and I were guessing when we said it was Ottawa, she couldn't imagine someone actually knowing.
What ocean is the Gulf Stream in?
Do Brittany and her friends understand anything that is in the media regarding global warming?
Multiple choice: What is the fastest land mammal: Cheetah, Jaguar, Tiger
Brittany didn't understand that you could reason out the answer based on the animals' habitat.
True or false: The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.
Brittany thought it was New York. But why not Boston? or Charleston? or Washington D.C. :) ?
How many of the letters of the alphabet represent musical notes?
7=ABCDEFG is too hard, but I did like the ingenuity of Brittany's friend that added FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine to get 9
True or false: Abolitionist John Brown was born a slave.
They had never heard of John Brown, not even African-American Regan. They didn't even think about the fact that he was likely to be white and thus not born a slave. They looked at me as if I were an alien as I told them about Burning Kansas and Harper's Ferry and the lyrics to "John Brown's body".
What formed the Great Lakes?
Glaciers didn't come to mind, not even for the three Ohio natives.
Once we decided this game was a bust, we started playing Clue. Which would have gone well had Brittany not put two weapons and no room in the solution set. C'est la vie.
The game did not start off with a promising start, as Brittany couldn't understand the directions after she read them, so she made her own up. We answered a total of 19 questions, and here are seven that I was shocked that neither she nor her friends could answer:
Multiple choice, What is the capital of Canada: Quebec, Toronto, Ottawa
Brittany thought my friends and I were guessing when we said it was Ottawa, she couldn't imagine someone actually knowing.
What ocean is the Gulf Stream in?
Do Brittany and her friends understand anything that is in the media regarding global warming?
Multiple choice: What is the fastest land mammal: Cheetah, Jaguar, Tiger
Brittany didn't understand that you could reason out the answer based on the animals' habitat.
True or false: The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.
Brittany thought it was New York. But why not Boston? or Charleston? or Washington D.C. :) ?
How many of the letters of the alphabet represent musical notes?
7=ABCDEFG is too hard, but I did like the ingenuity of Brittany's friend that added FACE and Every Good Boy Does Fine to get 9
True or false: Abolitionist John Brown was born a slave.
They had never heard of John Brown, not even African-American Regan. They didn't even think about the fact that he was likely to be white and thus not born a slave. They looked at me as if I were an alien as I told them about Burning Kansas and Harper's Ferry and the lyrics to "John Brown's body".
What formed the Great Lakes?
Glaciers didn't come to mind, not even for the three Ohio natives.
Once we decided this game was a bust, we started playing Clue. Which would have gone well had Brittany not put two weapons and no room in the solution set. C'est la vie.
Best of Brittany: The Beginning
Brittany didn't know that you have to be careful with your delicates in the wash and she was surprised that her under-wire bras were breaking in the dryer.
Brittany will hire/bribe guy friends to put together bookshelves/desks/lamps for her.
Brittany describes herself as an Italian New Yorker, but has never heard of prosciutto (or mascarpone).
Brittany can't drive without her GPS system, unable to figure out that she needs to get on the highway going east to get to Easton.
Brittany believes guys that lie to her: about their ages, jobs, having children, being married and being in town.
Brittany cannot figure out why vegetables she bought two weeks ago and left in a plastic bag in the fridge went bad.
Brittany buys dishwasher tabs because it is too complicated to "measure out" powder or liquid detergent.
Brittany, who wants to be a social worker, turned down an internship since she would have to drive through bad neighborhoods.
Brittany was upset when she heated up a Kashi Fiesta Chicken microwave dinner to find out that there were black beans in it. The beans were in the picture on the cover of the box, and in the list of ingredients, but the description of the meal on the box said "chicken and cheese over spicy rice". Brittany hates beans.
Brittany came home one evening after being followed halfway there by a man she didn't know from the bar she was at, and asked if she could keep a gun in the house. When I said no, she remarked that the cat would probably find a way to kill her with it. She then changed her plan to keep a baseball bat under her bed. (She did already carry Mace.)
Brittany thought the November 2007 general election was the presidential primary -- she was volunteering for the Obama campaign all fall.
Brittany will hire/bribe guy friends to put together bookshelves/desks/lamps for her.
Brittany describes herself as an Italian New Yorker, but has never heard of prosciutto (or mascarpone).
Brittany can't drive without her GPS system, unable to figure out that she needs to get on the highway going east to get to Easton.
Brittany believes guys that lie to her: about their ages, jobs, having children, being married and being in town.
Brittany cannot figure out why vegetables she bought two weeks ago and left in a plastic bag in the fridge went bad.
Brittany buys dishwasher tabs because it is too complicated to "measure out" powder or liquid detergent.
Brittany, who wants to be a social worker, turned down an internship since she would have to drive through bad neighborhoods.
Brittany was upset when she heated up a Kashi Fiesta Chicken microwave dinner to find out that there were black beans in it. The beans were in the picture on the cover of the box, and in the list of ingredients, but the description of the meal on the box said "chicken and cheese over spicy rice". Brittany hates beans.
Brittany came home one evening after being followed halfway there by a man she didn't know from the bar she was at, and asked if she could keep a gun in the house. When I said no, she remarked that the cat would probably find a way to kill her with it. She then changed her plan to keep a baseball bat under her bed. (She did already carry Mace.)
Brittany thought the November 2007 general election was the presidential primary -- she was volunteering for the Obama campaign all fall.
Just a Spoonful of Cinnamon to Help the Sugar Go Down
Brittany read in a magazine, I'm betting Cosmo, that 1/4 -1/2 tsp. of cinnamon a day will help lower your blood sugar. A quick Google search I did of this seems to confirm it, but it is certainly pushed by people obsessed with alternative health. But Brittany didn't quite get the point. She had baked some cookies tonight to mail to a friend* and eaten a few and felt like this was too much sugar so she wanted to have some cinnamon. So she poured herself a spoon of cinnamon and tried to swallow it. As the accompanying videos a quick search on Google can attest to, this doesn't work very well (and all of those people appear to know that something humorous will follow)! I wish I had been in the kitchen for it, Brittany pouffed cinnamon all over the sink, poured water on her tongue, and then tried to induce vomiting to get rid of the scratchy feeling in her throat. I offered sympathy.
*She made the pre-cut store-bought chocolate-chip cookie dough, and put the hot cookies straight off the pan into the Tupperware she is mailing. Then she couldn't understand why the cookies all got bent and stuck together, when she didn't use a cooling rack or paper-bags to let the cookies cool flat.
*She made the pre-cut store-bought chocolate-chip cookie dough, and put the hot cookies straight off the pan into the Tupperware she is mailing. Then she couldn't understand why the cookies all got bent and stuck together, when she didn't use a cooling rack or paper-bags to let the cookies cool flat.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
What is French Toast?
I can no longer keep a straight face when I talk with Brittany in the evenings, and sharing the stories with friends and co-workers isn't enough. I need a blog for Brittany.
Tonight I was making bread pudding, not the most common of American desserts, and my roommate asked what was in it and how to make it. Since I make a very simple version (from a Betty Crocker cookbook) I started to describe it as a almost a French toast casserole. Brittany continued to look at me with a blank stare until I continued stating the ingredients (milk, butter, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and bread). Finally she admitted she had no idea how to make French toast or even what it was. So then I explained how to make French toast.
Seriously, she didn't know what French toast was?
Tonight I was making bread pudding, not the most common of American desserts, and my roommate asked what was in it and how to make it. Since I make a very simple version (from a Betty Crocker cookbook) I started to describe it as a almost a French toast casserole. Brittany continued to look at me with a blank stare until I continued stating the ingredients (milk, butter, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and bread). Finally she admitted she had no idea how to make French toast or even what it was. So then I explained how to make French toast.
Seriously, she didn't know what French toast was?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)