An interesting take...

...on the sporting event. Andrea wants us to blow off some steam, or maybe relieve patron related stress, by fighting to the death. With cardboard tubes. Check it out: http://yasfnews.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/inspirational-cardboard-tubes/

Greece, at your age, you and that Jane ? It's obscene !

If you are not Lindsay and can name the movie the title came from, you'll get a gold star for the day!

I'd already done everything we did this weekend before, but it's always nice to take someone new around. I remember going to Greektown as a kid with my family. I liked the People Mover, but I didn't like the lemon rice soup. It was a much different place then, in the pre-casino days.

I had the same thing as Lindsay for dinner, Vegetarian Pastitsio. I would like to point out that I ordered it first, and she is a total copycat. I thought it was great and inhaled nearly all of the huge plateful. It is true though that after flaming cheese everything else is boring. I plan to insist that all my meals be served flaming from now on. I like the restaurant we went to, but I will always miss Hella's and the man with the handlebar mustache. (That sentence had two words that I always misspell in it! And I spelled them both wrong.)

The walk to Campus Martius was perfect, since we'd all eaten about 10 pounds of food. It is such a beautiful space. I never think to go there when it's nice out, I've only been there to ice skate in the winter. Now that there's a new cafe, I might be tempted to take my laptop (free wireless!) and hang out. I really like how Lindsay chose to post the picture of me twirling my ponytail when this completely normal picture existed.


Casinos are pretty boring, which is why I initially suggested we just pop in to gamble $5 or so. My family always goes to them for minor holidays...and last year we actually went for Thanksgiving. I put my money into a slot machine and almost immediately won $30. I took my voucher out and was done gambling for the evening. I watched everyone else lose and then drank my free Pepsi ( I never knew about the Pepsi. We're definitely going to have to spend more time hanging around the casino) while everyone else had a public smoke.

There was a lot going on downtown, so the People Mover was actually crowded. I'm used to having a whole car more or less to myself, so it was annoying not to be able to sit in the seats with the best view and move around at will. Still, I love the people mover. I hope they extend it someday so it can be useful.

The Farmer and I went to Greektown on our third date. We did most of the things that we all did last weekend, with one extra bit of awesome: we went to see a psychic. She asked what we wanted to know, and I told her we were on our 3rd date and wanted to know how she saw things going for us. She pretty much said that I'm a bitch (she may have said something more along the lines of opinionated or used to getting my way) and he's a pansy, so it would probably work out. She was right!

Greek Town Adventure: Part 2

From Campus Martius we proceeded to Greek Town Casino, which I can't show you pictures of because they're very stern about that sort of thing there.  I hadn't to a casino since my single foray to the one in Windsor during my obligatory 19th birthday Canada trip. (A rite of passage for all young Michiganders!)  The casino was fun, but also disconcerting. The old people hooked up to the slot machines with those cards on the lanyards that look like umbilical cords are disturbing.  Also, you can smoke in there!  It's only a little over a month into Michigan's smoking ban, but this already seems weird.  And then, what did I discover on the second floor? Free Pepsi. That's right....FREE.  There's a fountain on the wall, you can just help yourself.  I felt like I'd stumbled into an alternate reality.  I don't get how they keep people from just hanging out there all day smoking and drinking free pop, especially since it doesn't cost anything to get in.

The actual gambling went by pretty fast.  I lost $12 on slots in about ten minutes, and then I was bored. I have to say, I don't really get the appeal of gambling.  In the movies it always looks kind of glamorous and sexy.  To me it just felt like I'd been very gently mugged by a vending machine.  Nobody there looked like they were having a fantastic time or anything, mostly they just looked grim.

And then, (at last! at last!) I had my very first ride on Detroit's People Mover.  It was... hot.  And a little smelly.  But Thrilling!  We went in a little circle from Greek Town, around downtown and back.  It does give you a pretty nice view of down town, including a particularly cool glimpse of Tiger Stadium, which was all lit up and full of fans as we rode by.

And that concluded our Greek Town Adventure!  We meandered back to our heavenly parking place, far above the casino, and fought post-game traffic from Tiger Stadium all the way home.  Truly Detroit is a magical, magical place.

Greek Town Adventure: Part 1

Here it is: Greek Town Adventure, the kick-off event of Project Sweet Life 2010.  I officially had a great time, and several Detroit experiences that were new to me.

 



We started off with dinner at New Parthenon, the highlight of which was: flaming cheese!  This was seriously good.  I have often said that I think I could probably live pretty happily on bread and cheese, but having the cheese be on fire really gave it an extra special something.  The rest of the meal, to be honest, was a little bland. I had some kind of noodle, feta, spinach block with bechamel sauce.  It was fine. It didn't really compare to the flaming cheese though, either in taste or in presentation.  Certainly nobody yelled "Opa!", or feared for the safety of their eyebrows, when it came to the table.  Anyway, we definitely didn't leave hungry.
 

After we paid the check we walked a few blocks to Campus Martius. It was a really a perfect evening to be hanging outside.  The temperature was in the seventies and there was a pleasant breeze.  When we first arrived at the park somebody made a joke about all the chairs lined up just facing the fountain, but within minutes we were all happily ensconced in said chairs and it was clear why there were there.  The fountain puts on a nice show.  The whole place is pretty, clean and pleasant with some really nice views of the city. Earlier this year it was named the first winner of the Urban Land Institute's Amanda Burden Urban Open Space Award.  (You can read a little about that here, but don't attempt to find the Free Press article, for whatever reason all the links to it I've found seem to be broken. Clearly some kind of cover-up is going on.)  I want to go back to see the ice skating rink they have there in the winter.  Sarah suggested we make skating part of a winter-time PSL follow-up, but I really try to avoid any activity that makes my feet more slippery than they already seem to be since I fall down and run into things quite enough as it is.  I don't want to end up with a boot of my own. (No offense Sarah, your boot is very stylish, I just don't think I could pull it off with as much grace as you do.)  I would like to see it though.


Yes, it was most pleasant to sit there in the park, digesting our Greek food and watching the fountain, admiring the way the setting sun lit up the tall buildings surrounding us.  But the night wasn't over yet...

Chef BoyarDimSum

The moral of today, or this summer, or life, or something is this:

Going is almost always better than not going.

That's something I forget often, as I choose going to bed early or hanging out with my cat over going out into the world.

Today, instead of staying in and taking an early afternoon nap, I went out for my very first Dim Sum. An hour of delicious food and good company was way more rejuvenating than an hour napping, that's for sure!

Open To Suggestion

What are some things that are worth doing/seeing? Our list is still pretty small, though we haven't had a lot of time to sit down and think it over. Comment with favorite summertime activities and destinations.

To clarify my position...

I most certainly do not COWER in the suburbs.  I respect Detroit.  I maintain a polite distance.  I have a Kroger, a Target AND a Lowes less than a mile from my house, and dammit, that is convenient. I'm not apologizing for it.

It's true about the getting old part though, this is the last summer of my 20s.  It's also true that Summer used to mean something.  Granted, for me it's always been more likely to mean a stack of library books and a hammock in the shade than going out and partying until dawn, even when I wasn't quite so old.  I don't regret that at all, but I do find myself a little shorter on authentic real-life experiences than I had thought I'd be by now.  This Monday will be the longest day of the year.  In a few months when the snow is flying and it's getting dark at 6 pm, I would like to be able to curl up with a blanket and my book, satisfied in the knowledge that I made the most of the summer of 2010.

First up...

This weekend is all about me dragging the other one ( I haven't yet asked her what she wants to be called here ) out to a bunch of things that I've already done but she hasn't. I live in Detroit while she cowers in the suburbs, so I'll be taking her for dinner in Greektown (FLAMING CHEESE ALL AROUND!), into one of the casinos to gamble away our hard earned money, and then for a ride on Detroit's infamous People Mover, the most useless piece of public transportation ever!

I can't wait. We'll report back next week.

PSL 2010

Summer means more when you're a kid. Or a teacher. Or a School Media Specialist. Damn those School Media Specialists.

This year we're taking it back.

I've got a broken foot, and my partner in crime is getting OLD (it's her last summer before turning 30), but we wont let that stop us!

We're making a list and checking it twice. New experiences (karaoke?), things we've put off (tattoo??), stuff we'd normally be too busy or tired to do (picnics!). I'm sure we'll pick up more recruits once people realize how much fun (pain, humiliation, bug bites) we're having.


About the name: we stole it from a 2009 YA book by Brent Hartinger, who will sue us for sure.