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(ok, I sort of do hate losing) ... it's just that I can't stand losing to people who CHEAT!!! Two girls sat at the bar (that sounds like the start of a joke, doesn't it?) and called or emailed their friends for ALL of the answers! We (Clueless in Clarendon) had a great night -- only 3 wrong answers in all the question rounds, and 1 wrong photo -- we beat the 3 third place teams by one point! But these girls cheated. Grrr.... We complained bitterly to Patrick when it was over. Elizabeth was even thinking about cursing at them and giving them the finger -- which is something she would NEVER do. ;) No, seriously, that'd be completely out of character. She's very genteel. Patrick promises to outlaw cellphones next week. :) He loves us. And we also love Dylan, our waiter, who gave us one or two answers, and got a nice tip in return. He also has that fabulous Irish accent. So without further ado, here are some of the questions from tonight's quiz: What is th...

Did you ever wonder how the closed captioning people indicate curse words? I just found out! "The Rock" is on one of the HBO's (I'm at home sick, remember?) . I muted the TV when I was on the phone with mom, and I just noticed that whenever the actors curse, the closed captioning says F### or BULLS###. heh. I guess that's better than having the voice-over curse words, like "freakin'" and "shoot" Hmm... I wonder if the closed captioning reads differently on TNT or TBS? Anyway, I'm feeling much better, and I might even venture outside today. (at the very least, to walk over to 7-11 and get some more Gatorade...)

The weekend was lovely... Saturday was a birthday party for Kelly and Jeff (born within 3 days of each other, 34 short years ago) at Micki's house, and it was a beautiful day! ( pictures posted here ) Sunday was work-and-laundry at mom's, as usual, and dinner with Dani at Front Page (and ice cream from Cold Stone! yum!) Of course, I was a bad girl and didn't take my lactaid before I ate my ice cream, so I was totally expecting to be sick on Sunday night.... and very surprised when it didn't happen. I'm still not sure if the lactose debacle (which did hit me Monday morning) is related to the fever I ended up with on Monday afternoon. We may never know. I went to work, but I came home after an hour (my boss put me in a cab and gave me money!) and passed out on the sofa. ugh. Since then I have just been wiped out (the fever broke before I woke up on Tuesday morning). I went to work for a while on Tuesday, and again for a few hours today... but there were moments when I...

I couldn't bring myself to write this blog entry... Clueless in Clarendon didn't manage to win, place or show last Tuesday. :( Much as we love Patrick, he jinxed us ! In the middle of the second round, he said, "Clueless in Clarendon is back to defend their title, they're the ones to beat!" -- we got BOOED when he said it, and that was enough. It wasn't that the questions were awfully hard... it was more that we kept second-guessing ourselves, changing the first answer we came up with to something that turned out to be *wrong*. Oops. See what happens when Dani doesn't come along?!?! By our count, we tied for third, but somehow they took away one of our points. If we do better next week, I'll post the questions. grrr..

I started working on this "Friendship Stars" crochet blanket a million years ago (well, maybe ony two years ago, but it seems like it's been draped over the back of my sofa forever)... and tonight I finally sewed the last of the twelve big squares onto the blanket! The last thing to do will be to do the edging (in maroon, I think). It's 66" x 88" - covers my double bed nicely. I think maybe I'll give it to my mother for Mother's Day this weekend. Which of course means I'd have to do the finishing between now and then. hmmm, on second thought...

Clueless in Clarendon (with a slightly different crew) won again on Tuesday night! The photo round was the hardest yet... it was close-up pictures of animals. We thought the pheasant was a goldfish! And the music round... Patrick went for harder rock this time - Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and how could you not have U2 in an Irish pub?! A smattering of the questions: By what name is Lord Greystoke better known? Omar Sharif holds international standing in what game? Who was well-known for bending cutlery in the 1970's? Name the 6 actors who have played James Bond (not including the new guy, Daniel Craig). Where would you find the smallest bone in the body? Who played 'Spartacus'? Where were the 1908 and 1948 Olympics held? Who played 'Bugsy' in the 1991 movie of the same name? Who played the lead role in 'Taxi Driver'? What is the official airline of the Republic of Ireland? What is the longest running radio program in the US? What was the first feature-length...

Well, ok, I wasn't actually a bridesmaid this time, thank goodness. (the bridesmaid dresses were celery-green and strapless, I don't think that would have looked that good on me!) Anyway. The wedding was Sunday. The new Dr. and Mrs. (or is it Dr. and Dr.?) Miller are in Hawaii already, for two weeks. The wedding was at Washington Hebrew, in the little chapel. The huppah was beautiful, it was made from a 14th century Indian scarf (or something like that... I have to find the little program booklet to be sure) that Becky's mom found in an antique shop many years ago. It has become a family tradition to use it for the huppah when they get married. The rabbi was ok... I liked the woman rabbi who did Kenny and Melissa's wedding better (but that was six years ago, and she's from Amherst). The party was at the Fairmont. It's a beautiful hotel, it's really too bad we couldn't be outside in the garden, the weather started sprinkling. I had a great time sitting w...

I know I've said this before, but I feel like I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! Friday night we went to the Nats game... and they WON! :) Having been to the longest game ever with Jen on Wednesday night (Nats lost to the Marlins 6-5, but it wasn't over until 11pm), it was nice to go to a relatively quick game, win 6-0, and still be home by 10:30. Oh, that sounds bad. Yes, I'm old. This was the first time I got to sit in my 1/4-season-tickets seats, and they're pretty darn good -- just past the first base line in the lower section of the upper deck (408, if you're looking at the stadium map). Next game I get is Memorial Day Saturday. :) But it was so damn hot in my apartment (over 85 degrees) that I didn't sleep well at all, so Saturday seemed way too long from the start. To be fair, though, the day was much longer for Dani , who went to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival for the first time. I'm sorry I missed it, I'll have to go next year!...

Clueless in Clarendon, against all odds (and much to our own surprise) came in FIRST at trivia night! Wooooo hooooo!!! Let's see. It all started with Joan *abandoning us* to sit with the Mayor of Svenland and his team. (As it turned out, they came in second...) But she didn't particularly enjoy her time there, so I think she'll be back with Clueless next week. ;) After the photo round, which was all pictures from musicals and thus very easy (May gave us Starlight Express and Oliver!) the questions were terribly difficult. We even complained to Patrick (who got himself an adorable haircut between last week and this). :) The "tuchus point" (aptly named as E. pulled the answer from somewhere where the sun don't shine) was on the question about a singer arrested for alleged indecency in March 1969 in Miami -- who was that? Jim Morrison. There were a lot of geography and history questions tonight. To what country does the island of Zanzibar belong? [Tanzania] ...

Yesterday was the NFL draft. After much anticipation, Reggie Bush was picked 2nd, and went to the New Orleans Saints. Matt Leinart was picked 10th, to go to the Arizona Cardinals. (At least he won't have to move very far!) The big news story of the day, of course, was this whole mess with Reggie's parents ... ugh! Enough already! Vince Young went to the Tennessee Titans. There was a big hullaballoo to keep him in Texas, but the apparently the Houston Texans didn't need a QB. They took Mario Williams with their first round pick. That's enough football blather. ;) Big excitement this weekend - The Kid made it home from Sydney! He has at various times been at casa Fratkin, at least long enough to borrow the car (until he gets his own back tomorrow)... we've been promised an appearance at dinner tonight, but who knows. ;) In the meantime, mom got hurt AGAIN last week. She tripped over a cable last week and broke her two small toes on the right foot. The doctor p...

Team "Clueless in Clarendon" [Dani, Elizabeth, May, Joan and I] came in second at trivia night tonight, at our newest neighborhood Irish pub ( RiRa ). That makes two weeks in a row in second place! I can't take any credit for last week's showing, I missed it. But I don't think I'll miss it again. It was so much fun! (and my face hurts from laughing with the girls...) See, there are two things that are going to make this definitely a weekly event for me -- 1) I'm very competitive ( I know, you're surprised...) and 2) I love trivia! The first round was a set of 10 photos, who all had something in common. [and there's no way we would have gotten two of them without our waitress, she was the best! and she got a nice tip, too! :)] I mean, who ever heard of Jordan ? (she's a model from the UK) I can't even remember the other girl's name. Bonus question -- What they all had in common (including Rob Lowe, Paris Hilton and Colin Farrel...

I don't like to go to the supermarket by myself. Not because I am afraid I will be hit on by random guys (that might actually be nice), or because I don't like going out alone at night... it's more because going by myself is NO FUN! So as often as possible, I take Dani with me. What could be more fun than that?!? Here are the things that invariably happen when we go to "the Teeter": We sing along to the music in the store. It's not MUZAK, it's the actual songs, and it's usually stuff we like. (...and generally there is some dancing involved as well.) There's a lot of giggling. Whether it has to do with the music or something in the produce department or even the " EZ-Squirt" ketchup , well, that's anybody's guess. Sometimes I feel bad for the other people who end up down one of the aisles with us. They probably think we're nuts. [ no comments from the peanut gallery, please. no pun intended. ] On the way home, the carton of e...

Ok, so I haven't blogged in two weeks. I didn't have all that much to say! In the meantime, the list is up to FOUR duckies to make! Congratulations to: Viveka and Brian Ryn on the birth of their son Gabriel (Feb 20th, which also happens to be Auntie M's birthday! Easy to remember!) Brian and Stacey Krapf, on the birth of their son William "Max" (March 17th) Dan and Tracy Lader on the birth of their son Ian (April 2nd), and Kevin and Amanda Book, on the birth of their daughter Claire, on April 5th. (and thank you to all of them for choosing NORMAL names, unlike Gwyneth Paltrow who chose Moses for her newborn son... Moses? What, in honor of Passover? Please. That's worse than naming your kid after a piece of fruit or something. Oh wait... ) Clearly, my friends have been busy! (well, they were busy 9 months ago... ha ha ha) Fortunately, duckies are quick and easy to make. Maybe I should have brought the yarn and stuffing here to Richmond with me... but then agai...

In case you didn't already know, I'm lactose intolerant. So I buy Lactaid milk (lactose-free and fat-free, calcium fortified, as long as I'm at it). It comes with one of those little plastic spouts on the side that you unscrew, instead of having to open the end of the carton like we used to in the good ol' days. And, you have to shake it up before you pour it. All of that is a setup so I can tell you about adding milk to my coffee this morning... I poured the milk on my cereal, and then when the little coffee pod machine was done dispensing its yummy java, I went to shake up the milk to pour it into my mug. But, um.... I hadn't put the cap back on after using it on my cereal. Milk EVERYWHERE. Splat!! Almost made me miss the bus! Somehow I have a penchant for spilling stuff all over the place. Just ask Dani -- I'm also known as "ketchup girl"! (better yet, please don't.) ;) Went to the movies this weekend for the first time in a looooooong time...

First, here's a picture of the beautiful shrimp on rosemary skewers that I made two weeks ago. (yes, my plates are red white and blue. You're surprised?) I bought more avocados and tomatillos to make that salsa again... Yum! I forgot to note the best thing my mom did when we went to Billy Joel last week -- she smuggled in her Haagen Dazs! We had dinner at Clyde's Marketplace (the takeout place on the side). The great new restaurants down on 7th street were all jam-packed... it would have been a good idea for me to have made a dinner reservation. Oh well. Anyway, we went to HD for dessert, and when we came out, they were about to open the side doors to the Verizon Center. So mom tucked her little cup of (something chocolatey) ice cream into her huge tote-purse, and we went in. The security guard who checked purses giggled, but she let us in. Go mom! :) The APIC show was a big success. I was exhausted. We had a photographer from the Washington Times (I never saw the ar...

Must blog before bed. IT WAS AWESOME . Seriously.... I just love going to see Billy. He's so much fun to watch in concert. He always seems like he's having fun up there! I only wish I had splurged and gotten tickets a little bit closer to the stage and a little bit less in the nosebleed section.... cuz really, who knows when or if he'll come back around? (well, ok, he'll be back in DC in April, but that's sold out already...) But I digress. Mom and I had a blast. She was singing along! We got 25 Billy Joel songs, an AC/DC song (sung by a roadie!) and a lot of entertainment. :) Playlist: Angry Young Man My Life Everybody Loves You Now (from Cold Spring Harbor, a real blast from the past) The Entertainer New York State of Mind Downeaster Alexa Zanzibar (from 52nd Street, probably the least known song on that album) Allentown Don't Ask Me Why Pressure Goodnight Saigon* Movin' Out Innocent Man ** Always a Woman Captain Jack Keeping the Faith River of Dreams I ...

...and YES, that is a Billy Joel song! Never previously released, it's on the My Lives CD set. I doubt he'll play it TOMORROW NIGHT (yay! we're going tomorrow night!) but at least after this week I can use regular titles for my blog entries instead of song lyrics. I know you'll all be happy to hear that. ;) ok, ok, I haven't blogged in weeks. Sorry about that. It's been a little bit busy around here! [Before you ask, the scarf isn't done, and I spent two hours the other night taking apart the purple sweater. Don't ask about that, either.] I've been preparing for the APIC National Capital Chapter 7th Annual show, coming up this Saturday at Tyson's Corner. I've had to figure out who gets what tables, who sits next to whom... it's a headache. Particularly since my co-chair lives in Pennsylvania! But email is a wondeful thing. I'll just be really glad when it's over - don't call me on Sunday until at least 11am! I have also star...

... a way cool haircut! :) I even took a picture of it so y'all can see. -----> Luigi cut off about three inches of hair, and gave me some fun layers. Add a little mousse, and presto! Instant curly mop! It probably would be a bit longer if I straightened it, but this is more fun. The best birthday card I received this year came from Kelly's mom, who captured the essence of my dating life with a mutated chick and his mate (see below). "Carl wasn't exactly what Mindy was hoping for... ... but he was Jewish." My mother will love it. Biggest purchase of the week: tickets to SPAMALOT ! I'm so excited! The traveling company will be coming to DC in June, so as long as Marc's gonna be in town, we'll go. It won't be the NY cast (Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce, etc) but I'm sure it will be fantastic. I'll have to watch Holy Grail again at least once before I go to the show.

Ok, so.... I didn't finish my scarf in time for the closing ceremonies. No medal for me. But if I didn't actually *watch* the closing ceremonies, does it really mean it's over? heh. Pam finished her scarf, Dani finished Thorn (aka Rose) and Carolyn made multiple kitty beds . So at least some of my teammates earned their medals! I will keep working on the scarf -- it's still fun to do -- but I accept the fact that, like Bode Miller and Michelle Kwan, my Olympic experience wasn't all it was meant to be. Oh well. My birthday, on the other hand, was FABULOUS, "possums"! First, I have to say that the first person to wish me a happy birthday was in fact my baby brother on Friday night (it was already Saturday afternoon in Sydney, after all!). And he sent me a text message on my cell phone, too! What a good kid. :) So, in the back corner of Aria Trattoria's indoor patio, under the hot hot hot lamps (which we made them turn off), a dozen of us gathered for ...

... or rather, that's not something I want her to wear. I'm talking about the raglan hoodie sweater. I think because I didn't know how to do the right kind of seam decreasing when I made the pieces of the hoodie, it just didn't come out right. So, here's a picture of the nearly-finished sweater. --------------> And now (with a bit of sobbing), I will take apart the seams and frog the front and back down to the armpits, and make straight side seams like the sweater I made for Hannah last year (see below). I'll probably do the stripey sleeves, too, maybe with the hot pink that I was going to use for the pocket. (maybe I'll keep the pocket?) In Olympic news, my scarf continues to grow -- it's now about 27" long... I have until Sunday to finish for a medal. :) I wasn't too sad not to have gone to Vegas for the weekend. The thing I missed most was time with Samantha, Jae & Teri. Otherwise... I hung out with my friends, I cleaned my apartment...