It was odd taking the
weekend off from my blog. I kept
thinking I needed to write something and then remembered I was on “holiday.” It also kept us from having to pause from our
12-hour drive home to go to a McDonald’s, use their Wi-Fi and post my
blog. If you aren’t aware of this, every
McDonald’s is equipped with Wi-Fi. It is
good information to know if you are taking a road trip. In other news, my mom pronounces The Muppets
as The Moffets. This is a picture of my
mom and Tiffany at my nephew’s graduation.
It should also be said that she had three granola bars, four peanut
butter and saltine crackers and a frozen sandwich in her purse to for a two
hour graduation ceremony. I suppose you
never know when you might get hungry.
A couple of really
funny things happened while we were visiting family and friends last week. One was when we were enjoying daiquiris my
sister was making with her new Ninja Blender. They
were delicious and perfectly strong. I
was cooking dinner, we were listening to classic rock and just overall having a
good time. I did my rendition of Brian
Johnson from AC/DC singing Back in Black.
I’ve worked on it over the years.
I think it is pretty spot-on and I’m proud of my imitation. Anyway, Maria Muldaur’s Midnight at the Oasis
came on next. We all cheered because who
doesn’t like a cheesy 1970s song? I
started singing and got to the part where Muldaur mentions sending her camel to
bed. This started a lively discussion
about the sleep patterns of camels. Do
you read it stories, does it need warm milk and can a camel sleep soundly with
the impediment of a hump or humps? My sister finally
exclaimed, “Wouldn’t a camel just send itself to bed? This makes no sense! Why would anyone send their camel to bed?!” Her boyfriend, Bo, said, “Well…it is the
Oasis and it is midnight. The camel was
tired.” We all cracked up, the blender
was fired up again and our daiquiris were re-filled. It was a good time! On a side note – a brief read of all the lyrics
for Midnight at the Oasis will show that sending your camel to bed is perhaps
the least weird thing about this song and that the author was more than likely
completely high while writing the song
Midnight at the
oasis
Send your camel to bed
Shadows paintin' our faces
Traces of romance in our heads
Heaven's holdin'
a half-moon
Shinin' just for us
Let's slip off to a sand dune, real soon
And kick up a little dust
Come on, Cactus
is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on, 'til the evenin' ends
'Til the evenin' ends
You don't have to
answer
There's no need to speak
I'll be your belly dancer, prancer
And you can be my sheik
[Instrumental
Interlude]
I know your
Daddy's a sultan
A nomad known to all
With fifty girls to attend him, they all send him
Jump at his beck and call
But you won't
need no harem, honey
When I'm by your side
And you won't need no camel, no no
When I take you for a ride
Come on, Cactus
is our friend
He'll point out the way
Come on, 'til the evenin' ends
'Til the evenin' ends
Midnight at the
oasis
Send your camel to bed
Got shadows paintin' our faces
And traces of romance in our heads
Oh, come on...
Another funny time was visiting one of my
friends. Her son likes science. I like science. So I usually try to bring an experiment of
some sort for him. This time I decided
we’d make a “bomb.” Time got away from
us throughout the course of the day and ultimately I didn’t get to make my “bomb”
until around 11:00pm. First rule of
thumb when making a “bomb” in a residential area = make it during the day and
not at night. I decided to test out my “bomb”
and make one before calling her son out to make his own. These “bombs” are quite easy to make. You need a 12 ounce empty bottle (I find
Dasani water bottles are the best), vinegar, baking soda, saran wrap and a hard
surface like the street. You just fill
the bottle about half-way with vinegar, put some baking soda in a small piece
of saran wrap, stuff the baking soda and saran wrap in the bottle, put the lid
back on, shake up and throw the bottle with violence and gusto into the street
(making sure to throw it down on one of the sides or bottom and not the top of
the bottle). My first “bomb” was a dud. My friends and Tiffany were basically paying
all this no attention. Second rule of
making a “bomb” = pay attention when someone says they are making a “bomb.” I loaded up my second “bomb” and headed to
the street. This one was not a dud. The super load BOOM caused porch lights to
flick on all down the street. Thankfully,
no car alarms went off…I’ve had that happen before. Third rule of making a “bomb” – stay away
from cars. My friend jumped up from her
porch swing and started running in small defensive circles on her porch. I calmly walked back to the porch. My plan was to act like one of the confused
neighbors trying to figure out what the loud BOOM was...history has taught me that blending can be the
best camouflage of wrong doing. Instead
my friend began waving and saying, “Sorry.
Sorry. Sorry.” Once the excitement calmed down, we heard
police sirens. This started another
series of defensive porch laps. Thankfully,
the sirens were not for us. Fourth rule
of making a “bomb” – don’t be surprised when it sounds like a “bomb.”
This video will give you an idea of
the sound that rang through my friend’s neighborhood at 11:00pm.
