Faces of America starts tonight!

I'm so excited for this show to air tonight. The show will discuss the ancestry of several well-known people. Some are more famous than others, and Stephen Colbert is one of the most famous. It will be airing on your local PBS station. (Unless you live in New Zealand. Sorry, I don't think you'll be able to see it.)

Local Loony

The weirdest thing ever happened to me last night. I had just dropped off my carpool buddy who lives in the center of studentville in Provo. I was about half-way through getting out of the neighborhood, when I came upon a man standing in the road wearing only a pair of shorts. I slowed down so that I wouldn't hit him. I wasn't sure if he needed some help or what, but when I approached, he looked kind of scary, so I began to go around him. He jumped out in front of me. I stopped my car, again thinking maybe he needed help, but he didn't approach my window or anything. So I began to back up, but due to where I was in the road and the sheer quantity of cars parked on the street (hello, Central Provo!), I couldn't really turn around. Plus, I was kind of scared, and I wanted to keep this guy in my sight. So, I called the police. As I did so, he began doing jumping jacks.

Some young people came out of their dwellings with video cameras, but it was clear they weren't making a movie or anything. They just wanted to catch the spectacle. I stayed on the phone with the operator and told her what was going on. Apparently, she had dispatched two police officers, but both of them were on the opposite side of town. The students, meanwhile, tried to engage the man in conversation, but I'm not sure how successful they were because I was on the phone. A few cars came up behind me, and seeing that there was a situation, tried to go around. He jumped in front of them, so they backed up and went the opposite way. One car came up, and when he jumped in front of it, the drivers kept going (albeit very slowly)! They literally drove into him, and once the bumper hit him, he jumped out of the way and waved them on.

By the time the police arrived (about eight minutes from when I called), he had gone somewhere else, and the police were following him.

It was totally weird. And I'm really grateful that my first ever all to 911 was for something as benign as a crazy, balding, scantily clad man blocking traffic in central Provo.

Haircut

I got a new haircut. The last time I got a haircut was in September. I am probably one of the laziest people in the world when it comes to my hair. In fact, the only reason I made the appointment for this haircut was because Eric kept bugging me. (Not that I blame him, my hair hasn't been looking really stellar lately.) Every time I get a haircut (which really is about every six months), I tell myself that I am going to be more diligent about maintaining it. And I never am. When I think about people who dye their hair and maintain it, it blows my mind. I just can't bear the thought of redying my hair or re-doing highlights every six weeks. The cost alone keeps me from any sort of permanent coloring of my hair. And so, I do my usual short cut that gradually becomes shoulder-length before I go get it hacked off again.

Am I completely bizarre in only getting my hair cut a couple of times each year? Are you as low-maintenance with your hair as I am?

"Flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep"

As Valentine's Day draws nearer, I feel the need to advise you in regards to my husband: Do not let him near your box of chocolates unless you want him to eat them all.

Case 1:
Eric's mom gave us a box of chocolates to give to somebody else. They sat at our apartment for a while, and at one point I finally realized that Eric had seen those people a number of times and had not delivered the gift. It was at that point that he informed me he had eaten nearly the entire box.

Case 2:
When we went to the Great Barrier Island, we bought a box of chocolates to give to Makereta's mom. Sometime in the middle of our stay, I noticed that Eric's breath smelled like chocolate, and I asked him what he'd been eating since the only chocolate substance we had was in that box. Of course, he had begun to eat the chocolates in the box. Fortunately, I caught him early enough this time that I was able to also enjoy the spoils.

Case 3:
I got two boxes of Godiva chocolates from my work for Christmas. A few weeks ago I mentioned that I'd hardly gotten into the second box and that I needed to remedy that. Eric then told me that he'd been working on it. When I opened the box there were only about six chocolates left. Boo.

Moral: Eric is not to be trusted in board games nor with boxes of chocolates.

Pepper Specificity

Something I've encountered many times (and still not able to get over) since living in Utah is the incorrect term people use for bell peppers. Folks, they are bell peppers. They are not green peppers. Many, many, many peppers are green. The specific pepper that is very commonly used in American cuisine because of its mild flavor is the green bell pepper. Other green peppers include the poblano (used to make chile rellenos) and the anaheim.

Furthermore, red bell peppers are not simply "red peppers." There are a gazillion different types of red peppers. (In fact, most green peppers also come in a red variety). Below are featured a red serrano and a red bell.

Consider yourself educated. If you ever refer to green peppers or red peppers around me, I will ask that you specify what kind of pepper you mean.

P.S. All Kiwis may kindly disregard this post since you call bell peppers by an entirely different name. (Capsicum in case you non-Kiwis were curious).

Review: The Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Fantastic Mr. Fox is 100% worth seeing. It's at the dollar theater these days. It's done with stop-motion animation, and it is probably the only stop-motion animation film I've ever enjoyed. Unlike most movies that claim to be "fun for the whole family" which really means, "loads of slapstick and potty humor for the kids, while the parents are bored as all get-out," this one really is. Only, this "fun for the whole family" actually leans toward being more fun for the adults than the kids. The dialogue is just hilarious and would go straight over the heads of most children.

The script is by Wes Anderson, who also did The Royal Tenenbaums (which I suggest watching edited). If you liked that movie, you will like this one.

I adore Roald Dahl, and now I really need to read The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Has anyone read it before?