Randomness

Current mood:hopeful

I think this one is going to cover a lot of ground, so hold on.

First of all, it's very hard to believe that its been seven years since our world changed. It's kind of weird to think about how things have changed, and not changed, since that day. It struck me today that all of Susan's students were born after the towers fell. They'll grow up in a world that's incredibly different from the one we grew up in. They'll never see a picture of the twin towers gleaming in the sun and know immediately what icons there were. I can only hope that someday we can make the world a better place, and they'll never have one of those days that define a generation.

And along that same line, it was a day of remembrance. And we should always remember.

Think about more changes, I was spending some time last week with Ed and Sheri, and we got into the subject of politics. That conversation and many I've had with Susan lead me to believe that the general populace think this election is something different And it is. A black man on one ticket, and woman on the other. Who would've envisioned such a choice 10 years ago? Nevermind the philosophies of the candidates, this election has the potential to be one of the most memorable in American history. That's kind of cool, watching history unfold, knowing people will talk about this or decades to come. And not in a way that makes us tear up.

So, I just returned home from spending some time with Susan in Birmingham. As always we had a great time just generally being our dorky selves. I'm sometimes surprised we don't get strange looks from neighboring tables in restaurants. It's nice to be able to be a dork with some one, and some how she seems to think you're kind of cool. I don't see it.

We did more exploring of culinary arts in Birmingham. Neither of us having any desire to cook, we had Thai, Mexican, Greek, and ... well, sort of an eclectic mix at a nifty place. More about that later.

But as usual the time was too short, but we made the most of what we had. We ventured out to downtown B-Ham to a Greek festival at a local church. It was very neat, with lots of tasty treats. Yummy Gyros and some kind of Greek doughnut thing that I can't pronounce. After we had desert and a snack at the festival, and took in some traditional Greek dancing, we decided to go find "real" food for dinner.

Motoring around the Highlands of Birmingham (Ironic how I always seem to end up in neighborhoods called "The Highlands"), Susan spotted a place that looked interesting and we decied to stop. It's called Fire & Ice, and was very good. it works like this, theres all kind of raw things on a bar. There's a salad bar, for those of you who are into that, and then pasta, random veggies, random meats, and random sauces. So, basically, you get a bowl and fill it with whatever ingredient you want, pick a sauce you like, and the take it to a large round grill in the middle of the place. And they cook your mixture for you. It's really a great idea. I've been to a similar place before, but this one had more variety of food. For example, I had egg noodles, green peppers, jalapenos, chicken, sirloin, and calamari in an Orange-Ginger sauce. I wish I was hungrier, I would have went all out.

Did I mention there's unlimited trips to the grill?? At one point the two guys grilling led the people waiting on their food in a verse of the Cupid Shuffle. Susan, being the dancing aficionado she is, didn't partake. And she wonders why that song follows me everywhere since she has never heard it outside my presence. I think it's because the song is fun, and fun follows me everywhere. I'm a good time!

So, thats really about all. I hope we all take a little something from today. It was a good day for me, though there was the overshadowing of the seven year memory. If there's anything I wish we could take away in retrospect, it's how much this country became united and stood as one. Since then, various squabbles between various races, religions, political parties, ethnicities, etc.. have all returned to situation normal. Hope fully we can regain some of that unity, without the need for a disaster to pull us together.