Noisy Quiet: Walk

Showing posts with label Walk. Show all posts

Nesting Dolls

(Click picture to see these better)

I learned something new the other day. Russian nesting dolls have identical nested dolls inside, and Ukrainian nesting dolls have dolls with different designs nested within each other. - Who knew?

The sets in this picture were 5 or 10 dolls deep. I didn't get one but I was tempted. I might the next time I see them. My favorite was when the seller opened a set for me and said "See? Father... Inside... Mother... Inside... Daughter... Cat... Chicken!" - I started laughing at "Cat" (Daughter... CAT?) but "Chicken" just about did me in!

* Every time I post something I've shared with friends in "real life," I worry they'll find my blog and "un anon" me or think I STOLE material from here! For the record: - I TOTALLY did not! :)

Tea and Spices

The Tree Man Cometh

* From an email I just sent two friends.

Last night, on my way home, I came across a creepy 10 foot tree who was quietly walking up to restaurant windows, leaning down to peek inside, and scaring the crap out of people! It's dark. HE'S dark, and everyone he passed was stunned into silence or screams. I, of course, walked right up to him and started talking! Because I'm not afraid of trees OR crazy people! Lol!

He was visiting friends in the neighborhood and had decided to go for a "nature" walk, he's from California and is traveling across the country doing a documentary, and if you take his picture he smiles and says "Trees!" He was quiet, laid back, and very funny.

I ran into two neighbors, while walking with him, who were completely freaked out, and when they saw me talking to him they still weren't sure what to do. (I think they were trying to figure out whether to mount a rescue mission, or sacrifice me to save their own lives!) They eventually came closer and I saw them smile nervously, but after he left they said if he'd started chasing them they would have run away screaming. I said if he'd started chasing me I would have stared at him in confusion. (What would he have done? Molt? ;) )

Part of me wishes I'd followed him for a bit (we only walked about a block together and then I was home), but I thought that might seem creepy. - It's bad when you think you might be creepier than a giant tree on stilts walking around your neighborhood at 10pm.

Hibiscus

Large, vibrantly colored flowers have popped up all over since I was last here. - And I was only "last here" a month ago! I asked a friend what they were. (Because she knows everything, and seems happy to answer my never ending questions about "What's this? And this? And that thing? And that bird!" - For which I am grateful. Everyone else shrugs and says "I dunno.")

"They're Hibiscus" she told me. "All of them." I'd thought they looked similar, except for the colors, but there were some I hadn't realized were in the same category. "The dogs eat them all the time." She said. "They're edible."

"Your dogs eat a lot of things." I reminded her. "That doesn't automatically make something 'edible.'"

"Ok." she countered. "The dogs eat them and don't die."

She also told me that, among other things, Hibiscus are used in Red Zinger tea. They're what give the tea its "red." (I know... the rest of the world probably knew that already. Now I know too :) )

At the end of our walk, I thanked her for the two flowers she'd handed me, then held out the orange one and said "This is a Double Hibiscus." - I knew this, now, because she'd told me 15 minutes earlier. You can tell it's a Double Hibiscus because of the second layer of petals within the first.

"Yes." she said, "And what's the other one?"

I looked at the other flower in my hand, then triumphantly thrust it forward and said "Pink!"

"Yes..." she said, "that's the color, but what kind is it?"

I looked at it again, and after a moment of pondering, I held it out again - with more authority this time - and gleefully proclaimed "- PINK!" :)

It's a "Flamingo Pink" Hibiscus

Dessert Bar at Whole Foods

❤ Happy Valentine's Day ❤

Really Big Kite

Tough Garden

sign says: people who go off the path will be composted

Totally Kid Carousel

A friend and I decided to check out a park we'd never been to. I was particularly excited to learn that there was a carousel in the park, though from the few pictures I'd seen, I thought it looked kind of… odd.

Seeing the carousel in person did little to change my opinion of it - initially.

It was very bright, very colorful, and I couldn't help thinking WHAT THE HECK DRUGS WAS THE DESIGNER ON WHEN HE MADE THIS??? These were the scariest, most brightly colored, misshapen, creatures I'd ever seen!

Slicker - no one seems to know what a 'slicker' is. The second animal is unlisted. We think it's a cow.

It was obviously meant to be whimsical and quirky, but all I could think was "Seriously, dude… what was up???"

And then… I figured it out.

Above each carousel animal was a drawing. A child's drawing.

And at the base of each animal, was a signature.

The artist, Milo Mottola, had brought the children's drawings to life - exactly as they'd been drawn.

- I love this, and now think it's coolest carousel EVER!

(I didn't notice the guy in the video until after I uploaded it. "Hello Mr. Parks Person!")

Go back through the pictures and try to guess what the animals are. Roll over each one for the answer.

Read more about the Totally Kid Carousel.

Denim Tacos?

My friend and I wondered about this when we first saw it.

What the heck were "Denim Tacos?" I was hungry so I figured I'd wait in line and find out.

The price was certainly right. $1.69 for two tacos and a drink! (- What they neglect to mention is that each taco is tiny. About the diameter of a tennis ball. So it's really more like $1.69 for one taco and a drink, which is still a great deal!)

There's no "Denim" taco on the menu. You have a choice of Steak, Chicken, Fish, or Tofu tacos. And that bottle on the menu is not free hot sauce (Because really? Free hot sauce? Who'd charge for that?) but represents your free drink which is bottled water, or a Jarittos - a childproof brand of Mexican soda. "Childproof" because you can't open it unless you carry a bottle opener or have the presence of mind to go back to the cashier and ask "Excuse me. Could you please open this for me?"

While I was waiting in line, I thought I heard someone excitedly say "Free CHEESE??!! I won FREE CHEESE!!!" Naturally that got my attention. I watched as the excited man, and a woman from the truck, spoke animatedly to each other.

"Yes you did! You won!!!"

"No way!!! This is the best day ever!!! FREE CHEESE!!!!!"

I kept watching because 1) I was amused, and 2) I was still waiting in line so where else was I going to go? It turned out that the man had not won free cheese. What he'd actually won was free JEANS. - Which didn't make a whole lot more sense than free cheese, but it was the first thing that sort of tied in to the Denim Taco sign.

There were lots of other signs on the truck that I tried to 'decode' in a somewhat futile attempt to ease my confusion, including a small neon sign with intermixed lines that read "The El Gap Hueco Is Esta Open Abierto." I eventually figured out I was supposed to read every other line so that it either said "The Gap is Open," in English, or "The hole is open" in Spanish. (In retrospect I realized that "Hueco" was meant to be read as "Gap" but every Spanish person I know would have read it as "hole.")

Had the line not been so crazy long (I waited over half an hour!) I might never have figured out the mystery of the Denim Taco Truck with the "Free Jeans" and ~~hot sauce~~ soda, but after two visits, and a search on the Internet, I finally got the full story.

The "Pico de Gap" truck is owned, and is part of a promotional effort, by Gap Jeans. Which is why every once in a while, a random customer gets surprised with certificate for a free pair of Jeans. Additionally, everyone who buys a taco gets a coupon for $20 off a pair of 1969 Gap Jeans.

Unfortunately, I understood none of this from reading the truck (Denim Tacos? Free Hot Sauce? The hole is open?), not to mention that when I see a food truck I think small family business, not large conglomerate. But once I KNEW it was a promotional truck for the Gap, everything fit in and made sense. - In a roundabout "Thank God for search engines" kind of way.

Don't get me wrong, the food is good, the price is great, and the coupons are appreciated, but nothing about the truck said "THE Gap" to me.

Note to Marketing: Next time throw THE GAP logo on the truck somewhere (instead of calling yourself a big open hole in Spanish) and/or say somewhere on the truck "Brought to you by THE GAP." That's all that was needed. - And FWIW, it's not just me! I visited the truck on 3 separate days, and nobody in line understood the Gap connection (Even with the coupons! Even with the big pair of Jeans painted on the door!) unless they'd read about the truck online - or were standing within earshot of me! ;)

In any event, if I don't see the Pico de Gap truck again before the 1969 promotion ends, your crews have been friendly, and the food has been great. So long, and thanks for all the ~~fish~~ tacos!