Ginger!!

I have been informed (by the little sign that was in front of this plant) that this is a variety of ginger.  I'm going to guess it's an exotic variety of ginger because it sure doesn't look look like the brown stuff in my freezer right now.

Also this thing - it's kind of huge.  This time I mean huge as in "big as your head."  But that's pretty freaking huge for ginger.  

Furthermore (I apparently have a lot of different things to say about this ginger - I'm running out of ways to say "and another thing") is it me or does this ginger look a little naughty?  I'm not saying it exactly looks like a hooha... but... well... I guess I'm saying it kinda looks like a hooha.  (Seriously, I'm pretty sure I've never used the word hooha in my life and now I've done it three times in two sentences.  It sorta looks like a vagina - there I said it.  Only I did it on the internet so it's weird.  Oh brother.)  I promise I did not intend to create soft core porn with this photograph.  But now I'm all uncomfortable.  This is ridiculous, I majored in art history (I know - TERRIBLE LIFE PLAN - but there's little to be done about that now) it's pretty much all vaginas and allegories for Jesus.  Seriously.  Forgive me, Internets, for being gun shy about using the word vagina.  That's it, I'm switching to vajayjay.  That at least makes me laugh.

Returning to the topic of ginger (I'm really sorry for the tangent about lady parts...) about a year ago a friend made me a ginger mojito.  Um, I'm not sure I even have to say this but it was pretty much the best thing I've ever tasted.  Which really makes me wonder why I haven't had one since.  Mmmm, mojito.

Why doesn't Blogger know how to spell mojito?!?  This is distressing.

GIGANTIC Palm Leaves

It doesn't totally look like it here but those palm leaves/branches/whatever the appropriate term for a palm leaf is are HUGE.  

And I don't mean huge like "as big as your head."

I mean HUGE like "as tall as your house."

These are seriously intense palms here, people.  

I'm pretty sure one of them could crush a fully grown person.  Certainly an only 3 quarters grown person like me.  (See what I did there?  Made fun of my own stature via an allusion to a post I wrote yesterday.  Nice.)  (Plus I just used the word allusion - though admittedly, at first I typed illusion; but I corrected myself - which always makes me happy.)  (Why does using the word allusion make me happy?  It's a pretty cool word and I don't think people use it enough.  I like to give some attention to frequently ignored words every now and then.)  (It's like charity - only with words instead of, you know, things that may actually need some charity.)

(Cavort is another word that falls into that category for me.)

So... new rule.  (With apologies to Bill Maher for using "his" phrase - I follow him on Twitter so I think it's okay.)  I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be allowed to blog this late at night anymore.  Apparently 10:45 pm is now too late for me to be rational/logical/cogent.  And that obviously leads to rambling: Never good.  This is one of the major drag parts of being an "adult" (or "functioning member of society" or whatever).  

For some reason it's like my body suddenly decided that at the age of 26 it was just plain done with my shenanigans.  (I am shocked I spelled that correctly on the first try.)  It's like all of the sudden it insists on sleep; like at least 5 hours every night.  And suddenly it's all "feed me on a regular basis" and "lay off the sixth cup of coffee will you?" and "hey maybe today instead of chugging Coke and eating potato chips all day you, I donno, move?" and "WTF? Bitch, you crazy?" (because sometimes my body has a big attitude with me) and whatnot.  It's like it expects me to feed it and hydrate it and, I don't know, take care of it or something?  To which my response it "Um, no."  Here's the scoop, body.  You and me?  We have a deal.  You've been going along with it for well over two decades now and that right there is implied consent.  I get to be a totally selfish bitch and not care about or for you in the slightest and you, frankly, deal with it and keep me alive anyway.  All that jibber jabber you've been hearing about vitamins being good for you and rest making you feel better and how shoulders aren't supposed to sound like bone saws when you rotate them?  Lies.  Innuendo.  Hurtful, hurtful gossip.  You should ignore it; that would be best for everyone involved.

Basically what I'm saying is I'd like you to continue/go back to acting/feeling as though I'm still seventeen please.  Remember those days?  They were nice.  Staying up until 3 in the morning to finish that AP English essay about voice or something then waking up again at 7 to get to Junior/Senior Band on time.  Surviving on a diet of Coke, bagels, and whatever Mom made for dinner. (Oh! and "Grandma's Brand" soft-baked cookies!)  Or in college?  Staying up until 4 in the morning talking to boys online and watching Futurama on Comedy Central.  Rolling out of bed for 9 am class.  Having more than enough meal plan money to eat just fine but usually being too lazy to make ourselves much more than cereal.  Ahhh.

Look I know we have to get up way earlier than we've ever really needed to before.  I agree - 5:40 am is much, much, much too early to be awake.  But seriously - could you maybe let me stay up past 9:30 pm just one or two nights a week without turning me into a jabbering idiot?  I mean seriously, body, what more do you want?  I feed you.  I clothe you (I even make you look somewhat cute!).  I even exercise you!  I jogged you for a quarter mile today and walked you for 3 miles!  (I realize you're mad at me for that at the moment but I am assured eventually you'll think it's a good thing)

In short - you suck, body.  Stop being such a judgey d-bag.  

Kisses!

Cait  

Orchids in Afternoon Light

I didn't really get too close a look at these orchids.  They were many, many feet above my head.  Both because they were very high up to begin with AND because I'm a wee little person.  

Okay - no.  I'm not an actual little person.  Not a little person in the "Little People, Big World" kind of way.  I'm just a short person.  I do not enjoy the classification of "vertically challenged" because it makes me feel deficient.  I greatly prefer "space efficient."  That makes me sound way more like a super handy kitchen appliance or something that's easy to travel with.  Much better than "challenged." 

It suddenly occurs to me that I may have put a little too much thought into that.

So I'm 5'4" which I'm pretty sure qualifies as short in the books of most people (not my college roommate but she was a half inch over being the official kind of "little person" which was awesome for me because she always made me feel tall.)  When I was a wee little child (I think I just like saying/typing the words "wee little") I always wanted to be 5'6."  I have absolutely no idea why and, as far as I know, it was a completely arbitrary number I pulled out of my wee little ass.  Alas I really only ever had one growth spurt (around the 5th grade or so) and, though I kept hoping until I was about 24 that I'd keep growing, I have been 5'4" since I was about 10 years old.  Which sadly accounts for the majority of my life at this point.  

So that was a nice trip into my psychoses, don't you think?  Don't worry it gets way darker and weirder in there the further you go.

... ... And all of that was a really long (and ultimately awkward) way of simply saying I'm short and the flowers were way up high.  Back to the flowers.

So I didn't get a particularly great look at the flowers themselves, but the light was hitting them in this really pretty awesome way that I'm really happy I managed to capture at least a little bit.  So yeah - the way the light is creating easily a dozen different shades of purple here is pretty sweet right?  I think so.

Itty Bitty Blooms

One of the things I really like about lilacs is that, individually, each little bloom is so delicate and soft.  But when you put them all together they get big and massive, and they have that huge scent that makes them seem so overwhelming even though, when you get right down to it, they're just teeny, tiny little flowers.

It's Not Dead Yet

A while back my mom gave me a pot of pansies.  This is a very trusting move on her part.  Here's the scoop - my mom is an amazing gardener.  I'm pretty sure she could make flowers grow from a pot of cement.  And there would be seven different varieties and they would all be color coordinated and it would take your breath away to look at it.

I on the other hand, kill plants by looking at them.  Not literally of course - otherwise I wouldn't take all these many, many pictures of flowers.  But seriously for as green her thumb is, that's how black mine is.  I am BAD at keeping flowers alive.  Really bad.

So I've kept these pansies alive for at least three weeks now - a new personal best! - and I have a pot full of pretty purple, white and yellow flowers.  

And this one.  That is different from all the others.  And kind of awesome.

Yes - also purple.  But all the other purple ones are completely solid purple.  There's none of this variegation or interest in the others.  The other purple flowers are very, very pretty.  But this is kind of prettier.

Purple and Blue and Green and White, Oh My!

Have I mentioned my undying love of lilacs?  Yeah.  I have one.

Know why?

Well... it's pretty much this.

Beautiful People

Okay, now that I've given my inner baseball geek a little time to vent - we're playing the (f*cking) Yankees; this is a very stressful time for me - time for some seriousness. (don't worry, I'm not going to drop a bomb or anything, just bring the geekery down a few notches. I hope.)

Over the weekend I went to the wedding of a friend mine from high school. I'm pretty sure I actually met Eric when I was in seventh grade. Which means I've known him for longer than I'd care to admit (ahem, 14!? years.) We fell out of touch for awhile in my latter years of college, but about a year and a half ago we found one another again. With him came another good friend from high school that I'd lost touch with. (The moral here is I'm really bad at keeping in touch with people - this has to do with laziness and selfishness on my part.) These are relationships I'm really excited (and incredibly lucky) to have again.

So over the weekend Eric got married to Krystal. And they are amazing:

A little bit of hair got in the way there, but I think it's a fairly amazing picture all the same.

I also got to spend most of the evening with Jenny (the other friend from high school) and her fiance, Jon. It just so happens to turn out that they are also an amazing couple.

I mean, seriously. Don't you kind of love them just from that picture? You know you do.

Seriously, I'm Not Kidding

Know how I keep saying I'm a nerd? Not joking around. I seriously am.

You need examples? Fine.

Know what's SUPER HOT (if you're me)?

That man right there.

Okay, sure he's not hard on the eyes. He has very pretty blue eyes and adorable curly blond hair. The smile's pretty swoonworthy and the massive baseball player arms? Not counting against him. Plus who doesn't love a Canadian, right? These are not the parts of Justin Morneau being my baseball boyfriend that make me a nerd. (Those are the parts that make me a chick, for those of you keeping track at home)

The parts that are make me a nerd? Well, to answer that I have to tell you what is seriously the totally hottest part about him right now:

What is super, incredibly hot right now?

a .380 batting average.

a very nearly .500 on base percentage.

a .700 slugging percentage. Which makes:

a 1.199! On base plus slugging.

Not joking - I'm swooning over here.

And it's the stats (okay, the arms a big part too) that are doing it for me.

Nerd.

Former Dandelion

I think dandelions get a bad rep. I mean, everybody thinks they're weeds but I think they're really pretty. And they turn into these really cool puff balls. They're super cool right? I think so.

Future Iris

Isn't that lovely. I mean how cool is it that that iris is already that purple? It's pretty freaking awesome.

Great Blue

There's a Great Blue Heron that lives in Como Lake where Steve and I walk three times a week. He's usually flying around while we're there but the other day (while we were walking in the rain. again.) he was just chillin' out in the shallows. I'm trying to think of a name for him. Haven't thought of anything yet though. Bummer.

Look at how transparent these petals actually are. When the light hits them like this it's like they're made of tissue paper.

Bunches of Pink

More apple trees in the rain. If you look closely you can actually see a few rain drops on the blossoms. Which is pretty cool.

Don't you just want to stick your face in there? I really do.

Mmmm, Fruity

A while back Steve and I started exercising. We were doing well for awhile there; exercising every day, taking care of ourselves, etc.

And then I started working again.

And pretty much the same thing happened as the last time I started working.

That is - I sat on my butt 24/7 and stopped taking care of myself in any way. Whoops.

So a few weeks ago we started up again. We've gotten back into a routine, starting slow. We also walk together three times a week, so we also get a little garanteed time together, which is nice.

What wasn't so nice was the first, like, five times we ended up walking in the rain. Freaking Minnesota, that's all I can say. We did get some really great views of apple trees in the rain though, which is pretty amazing.

I Know - I'm Repeating Myself

But it seriously looks like a tiny, baby dinosaur is going to break out of one of these and start attacking Jeff Goldblum...

Jiggle some Jello-O?

Eat Newman?

Is that enough fairly obscure Jurassic Park references now?

I should stop right?

Right, yeah. I'll stop.

Iris!

Man oh man isn't that color amazing? The yellow is so vibrant and the purple is so muted and lovely. And they work so well together. What a great flower.

Yet More

Yeah... when I said I like Calla Lilies? Wasn't kidding. Really do.

Here is yet another variety showing off more of that "so purple it's black" look.

It's a very goth flower really.

If it had a bedroom it would be painted... well this color actually. And it would probably work at a Hot Topic on the weekends.

O'Keefe-esque

So seriously, Georgia O'Keefe painted this at some point right? I'm pretty sure I remember this one along the way somewhere.

Super Cool Leaves

My mom tells me (and this is where I get most of my information on flowers and plants and many, many other things) this is called a Money Plant (or something like that, I'm not sure I actually remember anymore). Apparently this is actually kind of ugly when it's actually alive. But people grow it so that the leaves dry out and turn into this. And who can blame them when they end up looking this cool right?

Still a little weird to grow something to just so it can die. That's usually the part I try to (and fail miserably at, by the way) avoid. But what do I know? I can't even remember the name of the plant.

Little Blossom Thingys

This is a plant/flower thing that looks like it's comprised of many, many teeny tiny lily pads. Which makes it pretty awesome in my books.

I Swear This is Real

This looks like it's fake right? Flowers don't look like this right? I know. I agree. But this real, I swear. Real live flower right here. That looks like it's made out of cotton, ribbon and pipe cleaners.

In bright orange and magenta.

Seriously real though.

Honest.

Bud Like

I don't know what these are - or for that matter - what they're going to be. But they look pretty awesome as buds.

Hasta Lily

This is another variety of Calla Lily and it kinda looks like a hosta. That's pretty cool right?

Wet Orchid

Apparently the way to make orchids look even more amazing is to put them in a fountain so they're all wet and shimmery on top of really, really interesting.

I mean, really, that's just not even fair.

Purple, Black & White

Here's a shot of yesterday's calla lily showing the inside. Isn't that coloring amazing? Ugh, I just love it.

Trumpety

Have I mentioned I love Calla Lilies? I do. A lot.

I know, death flowers right?

I don't care, they're awesome.

I love the color on this one. That purple gets so dark it looks black. absolutely amazing.

And at this point I don't even need to talk about the transition from stem to petal there do I? It's freaking awesome right? The color contrast between the green and purple is just gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful.

Freckles!

This orchid is much more the size you would expect. Doesn't it look like it has freckles? I kind of like it. It sort of looks like it's shy - blushing and trying to look away.

That is, if the flower were a person. Which it is, of course, not.

But if it were - totally blushing.

Corsage-ish

My mother tells me that back in the day when a kid got their mom a corsage (which was apparently a custom back in the day at Mother's Day. News to me, but that's cool. I wasn't there.) this is the variety of orchid you would procure for her. I'm not kidding these things are as big as your head.

Okay not quite as big as your head but they're huge, especially for orchids. At least as big as a splayed hand. So, like, three quarters of your head.

Mom, I'm sorry I've never gotten you a Mother's Day corsage. I didn't know.

On the upside I have gotten you flowers for Mother's Day many times.

Seriously.

I mean, common. There's no way these things are from this century. Or the one before this either. Seriously. These things are prehistoric. I'm convinced.

The Problem with Roses

So this is entirely a personal opinion, but I'm not a big fan of red roses. Don't get me wrong, they're very pretty and I could certainly understand enjoying the tradition of them. But that's kind of where I don't like them, or more exactly, I don't like receiving them. Because they are the tradition I personally feel buying someone red roses requires exactly zero thought. (unless the person you're buying them for really likes them.)

I like roses though. You have to admit, they're very graceful flowers. Very pretty. I like this one in particular. The transition from pink to orange to yellow in the petals is really very pretty.

Dinosaur Flower

I don't know what these flowers are, but aren't they kind of amazing? You know those fish that they keep finding that scientists say are literally ancient? The ones that they say are more dinosaur than modern fish? I'm pretty sure this is the flower equivalent of those fish. I mean seriously - this is not a flower you just happen to walk past one of these in the hoop shed at your local grocery store right?

Orchid

I really like the contrast of the red ink-blot splotches against the green leaves/petals.