The Other Portland.

Jamie and I have been traveling through Maine over the past few days. I had been meaning to update as we went -- not unlike when we went on our honeymoon. Or our trip to Europe. I

made sure that all of the hotels in which we were staying had internet access, packed my fancy camera, and took lots of pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot the cord with which to upload pictures from said camera to the computer. Bummer.

So now...as I have been doing a lot of...I will be doing a retrospective account of our trip. Starting with day one: Portland, Maine.

We flew in to Portland, Maine on Saturday evening. We had made reservations for a late dinner, so Jamie and I were able to drop off our bags at the hotel and then walk around Old Port. It was a beautiful little town...lots of good restaurants and bars. We ducked into a bunch of kitschy stores and played around with the items...I did take the best picture of Jamie with a sailor hat...but unfortunately, I have been vetoed from posting it. You know it's hilarious when Jamie vetoes that picture, but not the ones of him with the various mustaches...Alas, I must preserve my marriage and you will just have to be satisfied in knowing there is an awesome picture of Jamie in a sailor hat floating out there. Jamie and I walked around the pier and then grabbed a beer at Gritty's which had been recommended to us by a friend.

After our beers, we headed over to Street and Co. and...oh...man. SO GOOD.

Jamie and I got the Lobster Diavolo for Two and it was the best way to kick off our Maine trip. In retrospect, I think Jamie and I would vote it our tastiest overall meal...although not the best thing we ate on the trip (that would come later.)

The next morning we went to see the Portland Head Light. But not before we went to Becky's Diner ("Nothing Finah") -- a place that had been recommended to us by another friend. We were still full from dinner when we woke up, but it made a good brunchy meal. Something must be said for the teeny-tiny but-oh-so-good Maine blueberries. They make tasty pancakes.

It was a very foggy morning, so we got to see the Head Light the way it was meant to be seen. While that was cool, the pictures were not as impressive. I'll share anyway:

After exploring the Head Light and Fort Williams we went south towards our next destination: Kennebunkport -- stomping grounds for the vacationing Bush clan. But that'll come tomorrow...

We Interrupt This Vacation...

Jamie and I are traveling through Maine...tomorrow's festivities include the Maine Lobster Festival! If all goes as planned, we'll be back in D.C. tomorrow night...but I am looking forward to my lobster lunch.

I will be posting pictures of our trip soon -- I forgot to bring my cord to upload pictures from my camera. Instead, I give you this gem from Conan:

Edited: I linked to a different source of the video since my old one stopped working. The second video was added just for kicks.

Food for Thought. (Teachers only?)

In a departure from my usual procrastination track, I thought I'd share a study that I thought was interesting. If you're actually interested in the material, check out the comments (I especially liked Jon Dreyer's comments...food for thought.)

New Study of Boston Charter and Pilot Schools Finds Charter Schools Have Positive Effects on Student Achievement - News Features & Releases

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When Did This Happen?

Tim Burton is doing Alice in Wonderland?

Of course it has Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. And a pretty great cast.

Also, in honor of the latest Harry Potter movie, I give you Brokeback Harry.

Google Rules the World.

So last Friday, I received a very special email inviting me to use Google Voice. I had put my name down on the waitlist a little while back and then promptly forgot about it…so it was a very pleasant surprise. I went ahead, created a new phone number and have been using it ever since. Incidentally, if you are someone who calls me and did not receive an email from me with my new number, shoot me an email and I will give it to you. Still, my old phone number would still work – it just wouldn’t have all of the fancy Google Voice features.

The coolest thing is receiving voicemail as emails or texts. Seriously. If you leave a voicemail, some super-computer will transcribe it and send it to me instantly so I don’t need to bother with listening to my voicemail and writing pertinent information on a post-it that I will then misplace. At first, I thought someone at a call center in India would know all of my business, but I have since learned that it’s actually completely automated.

What has been really fun is to see how well the computer can transcribe different people. Jamie – with his radio voice and perfect enunciation – is 100% accurate. Whereas my beloved mumbling brother-in-law, Scott, is not quite so accurate. See an example transcription from a phone call yesterday:

hey sis it's me just calling to check in i guess i forgot you guys and then i think mister got that so anyway i was just see how you all are doing haven't going to summer and then yada yada…

Now, Google Voice will gray out words it’s not sure about…I will say that most of these words were gray. Scott will blame the fact that he was calling from France and the connection was probably weak. Everything after “check in” and before “yada yada” was just a total mess. When I actually play the message it goes something like this:

Hey sis, it’s me. Just calling to check in. I guess I forgot you guys were gone. I think Maine. I just forgot that. So anyway, I was just seeing how you all are doing…how everything is going for summer yada yada yada...

As I transcribed it myself, I’m realizing that it wasn’t all that far off. I had to listen to it a few times to get it right. Scott speaks really fast. That being said, I cannot wait to see what happens when my dad leaves a message. Hee hee!

Weekend Update(s).

I've been mediocre at best for a while. Let me explain...actually, best not to explain. Just know that there have been many times that I have wanted to update all three readers of my blog and just have not found the time. Things are busy. Between Summer School (going pretty well, by the way), preparing for next school year, and just trying to survive each day on no sleep...updating of the blog has been infrequent.

But I'm here now. So it's time for a quick update at blinding speed.

Our friends Rob and Mo got engaged. Jamie and I and some other friends all went to Artomatic to see Rob perform some songs from his new CD. It was good! To make it even better, he ended the night with his acoustic version of Beyonce's "Single Ladies", got Mo on-stage, and proposed

to her in front of the crowd. It was romantic. I may have cried.

Jamie and I also went to the Peep Show. Not that kind, perv. We went to the famous "Peep" Show at Artomatic. There were some pretty funny entries this year. My favorites were both D.C. related...the first, of course, is a reference to the madness that was the Purple Ticket holder debacle at inauguration. The second is a reference to something that happens every summer when the tourists flock to D.C. and do not obey the "Stand Right, Walk Left" rule on the metro escalators.

A Capitol Fourth. After three years with little luck, Jamie and I FINALLY won the office lottery and got invites to view the fireworks on the 4th from the rooftop of his building. Considering that they have a pretty straight shot to the Washington Monument, this was pretty sweet.

We saw Elton John (!) and Billy Joel (!!!) in concert! You may know that I have a shameless love for Billy Joel. I remember fighting in the backseat of the car with my brother over whether or not we could listen to the Billy Joel tape again. And Jamie surprised me with tickets! Actual tickets to see him! I was half-expecting disappointment...after all, I knew he wouldn't be able to hit many of those high notes any longer...but he did! It was most awesome.

Splendor in the Grass. Skip forward to this weekend when Jamie and I went on a date to the movies -- which we hadn't done in a long while. We saw the newest Harry Potter movie and went to a yummy dinner. Today, we took a picnic brunch to the National Arboretum with our friends, Ben, Ragan, and their adorable son, Carter.

All in all, a pretty great weekend! Now that you're all pseudo-caught up...I will leave you with one more morsel of information to digest. Today, my father joined Facebook. Hee!

Krazy. (With a K)

It's time to revisit good ol' Barats and Bereta. This one is for all my teacher friends:

Someday, I will be able to post again. Someday soon...but for now, Summer School is eating away all of my time. Take comfort in knowing my life is not all that exciting these days as it consists mostly of Summer School and work-related things...

Although, I did get to see Billy Joel and Elton John in concert last weekend. That was exciting! But, like I said...pretty uneventful.