Trivia: It Finally Happened

My brother and I teamed up for October trivia at Sip This. The theme was October trivia. That meant Halloween and spooky movies. That meant we were not going to do well.

We could've done well. We could've looked up the most basic information about Halloween like where it began and why we carve pumpkins.

But no. We went in cold. We went in knowing this would not go well. We went in feeling like we could totally not come in last while knowing nothing.

We came in last.

We did not know that Halloween started in Ireland. We guessed Mexico after my brother changed his mind from Transylvania to Spain. Notice none were correct. I agreed with everything he said, anyway, and had no guesses of my own. This was about the time he said that if this were Chinese History trivia, he'd be doing better. Note to Sip This: Chinese History Trivia next time.

We also did not know that people used to carve turnips before carving pumpkins. I don't remember what we guessed. It might have been potatoes. That would make sense considering the Ireland answer from the previous question. It doesn't matter. We got it wrong.

Also wrong? Almost all our other answers. There were questions about shows like "Salute Your Shorts," which I watched more than many years ago, so no, I did not remember that one episode about Zeke the scary guy. There were questions about movies like Corpse Bride, for which I thought to myself, Oh yeah I've always wanted to watch that movie. Then there were questions about movies and shows I'd never heard of ever.

To be fair, there were also questions about movies I've seen and should have known answers to, and because I have a horrible memory, I didn't remember anything. Like who kills Freddie in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Our answer: Jason Voorhees. Which is incorrect. Very incorrect.

So, you know, we got 11 questions right. Out of like 40 something.

The tea was good. Very very good. 

Now I have a few weeks to figure out how much I know about Marvel Comics and if I should brush up on what I know. (I should. I might. Probably not.) Gettin the team together....

Another Virgo Day

From Bing

I had to work on my birthday. That doesn't seem like a big deal, but I haven't worked on my birthday in I can't remember how long. I went in early to take a workshop in how to use a system I already know how to use (incidentally, I screwed up something on that same system this past week--woopsie). Then I taught.

When I came home, I found balloons in different rooms and happy birthday signs
and a card and a gift bag with bubbles in it. Does my husband know me or what? (Also, I have the wish list of a two year old).
 
When he came home, I squealed about all my balloons and signs and bubbles. Then we headed to Beginnings, a book-themed restaurant in Atlantic Beach. We had to pay a toll to go over the bridge because I couldn't remember how to avoid the bridge. This was so dumb.

Anyway, the restaurant has the best waitstaff in the history of restaurants. Also, the best decor.

For $75, you can attend a food and cocktail pairing of five courses based on a book theme!

Any menu with a typewriter is a menu for me.

Random London phonebooth

 

The check comes in this! It makes you excited to pay!

Author portraits

I've been getting kind of courageous lately, sipping some beer and booze here and there. Beginnings has cocktails named after literary things. I had to drink. I had a DaVinci Code. It was amazing.

Also amazing was the food. And the dessert.

My husband could be a professional dessert photographer. This is peanut butter goodness with a fried banana, nuts, and chocolate and more nuts.

Posing for prom, apparently

 We went to my parents afterwards to open presents (I like presents) and eat cake but we didn't actually eat the cake because I had already eaten the dessert at the restaurant and neither of us likes ice cream cake. I blew out candles, though, because, again, I am a child.

Then, the next day, I got mini cupcakes at work because my colleague who ran the workshop found out it had been my birthday and decided that cupcakes make a birthday better. Yes, yes they do.

Freebie Collection Day!

Right after my birthday, I travel around to various stores, collection my free birthday things that I've been offered through signing up for newsletters and joining free VIP clubs. I love this day, Freebie Collection Day. Eddie thinks of it more like Anxiety On The Verge Of A Heart Attack Day. His ideas about free stuff and my ideas about free stuff differ a little bit.

On my actual birthday, I went to Dunkin Donuts on my way to work and got a free iced green tea.

The day after my birthday, I went to Starbucks and got a free tall iced caramel macchiato. I could have gotten a bigger size, but with the amount of sugar that drink has, I was fine with the tall. I didn't want to go into sugar shock. When I ordered, I explained that I couldn't find the birthday offer on my app, but it had been there the day before. The cashier wished me a Happy Birthday and said that it would come up when she scanned my card. Then she wished me a Happy Birthday again.

On Freebie Collection Day, I started at Roosevelt Field. I got a free cleanser from Sephora. I had a choice between that and an eyeliner/lipstick combo. I've never had a choice before! The cashier wished me a Happy Birthday twice. This was fun.

I then visited Teavana for a free sample of tea. This is not birthday related. I simply always go there for a free sample. Then I headed over to David's Tea for the same reason. There, I actually bought something. They had travel tumblers on sale, marked down from $10 to $5, and that included filling it with what would be a $4 cup of tea. I paid for it with a birthday gift card, so, you know, free. And now that I signed up with a frequent buyer card, I got another free tea that I can go get, plus another free tea for finishing my profile. Two more await. All free. All for me. I also found that Jamba Juice has free samples, so I tried two flavors there. Yum.

Chatting with the Teavana gal

Being sold by two David's Tea staffers

Up in the food court, I hunted down where I could get a Chock Full O' Nuts coffee. The coupon I had said that I could get a $16 oz coffee in the food court, but there wasn't a Chock Store anywhere. Then I saw that one of the salad places sells that kind of coffee. I asked them if I could redeem my coupon there (while Eddie stood about a mile away from me). The cashier looked at the coupon all puzzled. Then she showed it to a manager. They both came over and told me I had to go to the place outside of La Bottega. So I asked, Even though the coupon says specifically to come to the food court, I have to go to the other place? They said yes. I said, Ok thank you!

Me haggling

Over in the corner, there's a pow wow going on.

So I headed over to the grill across the way that also sold Chock coffee. I showed it to the cashier. She didn't know what to do, so she showed it to the guy flipping chicken on a grill and another guy standing around doing what seemed to be, well, simply that--standing. There was a lot of conversation about this whole coupon. Then someone came out from the back, and they all showed her the coupon. She read it a few times, and then she said, Give her a cup of coffee. It was less of a Happy Birthday coffee and more of a Just give her a coffee dammit, but still, free is free.

We went to Green Acres mall for the second round. I had a coupon for The Pretzel Maker. The deal there is to buy a medium or large drink, and you can get free pretzel bites. Last year, the cashier gave me sort of a hard time, but then gave in. When I approached the counter, Eddie whispered, It's the same woman from last year! I wasn't sure that it was or not, but I was certain that after last year, I'd get my pretzels without a problem. I'd buy my drink with my birthday gift card, and it would all be free.

I showed the cashier my coupon, and she said, I don't know.

How do you respond to that? There was no question asked. The paper clearly explained the whole deal. So I went about explaining the whole concept: I did this last year. I come here, I hand you this coupon, I buy a medium drink, and you give me pretzel bites with it. Just scan the coupon. Look, your address is right here. It's your store. Okay?

She instead told me, I don't know. My manager isn't here.

I said, You don't need a manager.

She looked at the coupon and then asked, Is this your phone number?

I paused for a moment and then responded, No, it's your phone number. Like, for this store.

So then she asked for my phone number. I gave her a fake one because this was getting weird. She then asked what I wanted to drink. I asked for a medium lemonade, which would run me a little over $2. Then she told me the total was $4.69.

I wanted to respond, I don't know, but instead I asked, How is it $4.69 if the drink is only $2?

She was like, I told you I don't know, and waved the coupon at me.

So she asked for my order as if she would accept the coupon and then charged me for the whole order, though I'm not sure what she did exactly because pretzel bites are not $2 also, so the total should have been higher than what she said. I think she was making things up.

I politely took back my coupon and asked that she cancel my order. I went over to Eddie, who was standing about a mile away looking mortified, and told him I couldn't get my pretzels. He told me to write a very strong letter. I said I was already doing so in my head. (later on, I wrote an email to the company telling them that if they put a store on their coupon, they should inform the store of the promotion--the store doesn't have to participate, but then don't put it on my coupon. They responded by telling me that the stores are independently operated so they would alert the store of the issue. Meaning I'm not getting my pretzel bites. For shame, The Pretzel Maker, for shame!).

The approach

The explanation: It says it right here on this coupon.

The confusion

We walked over to Panera. I told the cashier I was there for my birthday treat. She wished me a Happy Birthday and told me to choose any baked item. I had another choice! I chose a large festive candy cookie.

Easy Peasy at Panera (also I'm noticing my ass looks like a box in this skirt)

Then we went to Baskin Robbins a few blocks away, and I got a free small scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. The cashier wished me a Happy Birthday.

I brought the cookie and the ice cream to my parents to enjoy. I told my brother that I would have had pretzels for him but the cashier "didn't know." He was okay with that.

Yesterday I took my coupon for a free Fribble to Friendly's. The cashier saw what was in my hand and told the other worker behind the counter, It's a birthday coupon. So I was like, Oh, you've seen this before! She was like, Happy Birthday, by the way. The other worker was like, Happy Birthday, and I was like, Can I have a chocolate Fribble please? Then she made a chocolate Fribble and handed it to me, telling me to enjoy the rest of my birthday. I brought it to my parents for them to share.

Go right ahead...I bet you can't even try to tell me this isn't the most adorable picture you've ever seen.

I also handed over my free meal from IHOP. I had my Pancake Revolution Anniversary last month for which I had a different free meal, so I probably won't make it to this birthday one. I have to see if they'll change my anniversary date so I can space out my free meals.

You see, it's not that I want all these free things for myself. I want to share the love. And I want people to continue to wish me a Happy Birthday.

Let's All Go To Connecticut

A Connecticut-based reading brought about a day tripping nature run with my brother after having looked up all the possibilities of public parks in the state. It started with the idea of visiting the Dinosaur Park. We found that there weren’t actually dinosaurs throughout the park (we know they are extinct—we thought it would be like the park we saw in South Dakota), so we changed plans and chose four different parks. Actually, we chose three parks and then an arboretum suggested by the man who asked me to read for his series. The day of hiking would culminate in diner food at Curley’s. Diner food is my favorite. This plan could not be beat.

We got to Devil’s Hopyard a bit before lunchtime, so we decided to hike first and then eat. We had no idea where we were going or what the park actually entailed except that it had a waterfall. Then we found that there were several trails and perhaps some bears.

Rhyming makes it less scary.

 

Helpful!

 After finding the falls that were right at the entrance, we went off to find the covered bridge.

Then we crossed it in the hopes of finding Devil’s Egg/Cornhole/Oven. Neither of us could remember the name of the landmark we were looking for, but we knew it was Devil something or other. We also thought we’d find the scenic overlook after figuring out how to read distance on the map. In our defense, the map used a star system that was quite confusing and had trails marked on it that were not easy to find. I’m writing a very strong letter to the trees for better trail markers.

The woods there offered the kind of quiet you find in horror movies when someone is about to be dead. Still, it was a Zen quiet. The ground was soft with a layer of composing leaves and other nature thingies that fall. The trees grew really tall really quickly. We found ourselves climbing steeper than expected hills. I stopped us after a few moments to look back. I wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost.

 We encountered water and my brother put his hand in. It was cool. I followed suit. It was wet. We came across a swampy section, and with the balance of acrobats, we made it across several logs. Then we came across a swampier swamp. There was no crossing in our sneakers, so we turned back, encountering a slightly different path with inclines that measured maybe 45 degrees. “Lean back” became the motto so that “Tumbling Head Over Heels” did not.

 

We found our way out without falling or getting dead, and then we had lunch. I got a bit turned around on our way out of the park because the GPS simply stopped working. We had directions and new that the next park was close-by, so we managed to get there without the GPS and without getting dead. This day was shaping up to be a success.

A place for fine dining

At Gillette Castle, we thought we’d find a furnace. This was not just any furnace. It was supposed to be the oldest furnace in something or other. We did not find a furnace. We found the castle. We found a nice man in the parking lot who was wearing long pants, long sleeves, a big hat, and combat boots in 90 degree + heat. We got out of the car and he called to us, “Wait up!” Then he pointed to the birds I’d told my brother to look at.

I was like, “Are those hawks?”

He was like, “Look at the ones with the silver tips” and then “the others have the white across, see?” One of them was a turkey vulture and one of them was a black vulture and of those two, one of them was rare. Neither was a hawk. I need to brush up on my mad birding skillz.

We thanked him and then hit the bathrooms, which were inside. Score! No porta potty grossness!

When you sit on the toilet, you can feel a breeze. Like from below.

Then we went all around the castle and found Grand Central Station in addition to some paths down by the river, which I think was the Connecticut River. Because we were in Connecticut. We then climbed back up and around the other side of the castle and took a peek inside through the windows. The room we saw looked like a sunroom. The castle is closed on Tuesdays because of budget cuts. The gift shop was open though, and we learned there that Gillette is William Gillette who played Sherlock Holmes in some film at some time.

Moody castle

 Once we finished checking out the road map on the wall in case the GPS decided to give up on us again, we headed west towards the Stamford-Greenwich line to see the Mianus River Park. The drive wasn’t bad at all. The arrival was the snafu. The GPS sent us in circles, literally, telling me to make four lefts around a block. The destination seemed to keep changing. Then it said, “Pull the car over and walk.” What the? Never in my life have I heard of a GPS telling someone to hoof it.

We decided that this park was not going to happen. We’d driven through and around and back and saw lots of trees on either side of the road, and that was good enough for us.

Onto the Arboretum! We parked at the first spot we could find in front of a trail map and started hiking the first trail we saw. The trails criss-crossed, orange over purple, purple over teal. We went onto the swamp walk, and this one was better than the first swamp we’d encountered because this had a wooden foot path built up in it. We had no idea how long it was or if it would end, but when we found the end, we couldn’t find the path we’d started to take, so we looped around to a different one. These paths were clearly marked even though the trails sort of morphed into each other.

When we got back to the car, I wiped myself down with baby wipes and put on makeup and took off my sneakers and put on my flippies. Ahhh, to feel human again after hiking all day. I’d brought my dress with me and decided to change at the diner and not out in nature.

On our way to the exit, we found that there was a whole other parking lot and some gardens that we’d missed. Having seen enough foliage for the dead, we headed to the diner.

Curley’s is a tiny down-home diner in the middle of large urban modernity. The second we walked in, we were like, this is the place for us. We ordered. I changed. The food was delicious. Then I panicked that we were at the wrong Curley’s because I didn’t see any writers there yet. Not that I knew what anyone in the group would look like. Then in came the host for the evening and then the poets flooded in. Ahh, now I was really at home.

Before I read, they gave me an anthology of the group’s work, which was totally unexpected and really appreciated. Then I read and opened up to questions and they loved what I read and then they compared my reading to the poet laureate’s reading they’d attended the night before. Whoa. Imagine that. I’m laureate-level.

I clean up real good.

We heard from several of the poets who read their own works or poems by other people they liked. I sat next to the owner of the diner who entertained me with tales of ancient Greece and then read a poem of mythic themes. On the other side of me was a wonderful German woman who read a Rothke poem. I usually don’t point out ethnicities, but the first thing the diner owner asked when I sat down was if I was Italian. So funny.

The night wound down a bit before 10 and then we hit the road home. From way out in Eastern Connecticut to closeby Stamford to Bayside to Long Island, through the woods, through the poems, through the diner and home: that’s how to do day tripping right.