i like most of my family but i'm not sorry to be (temporarily) away from them
i hope the americans on the flist had a good memorial day, and if you got a long weekend i hope it was fun and/or restful and/or productive. i spent it with the fam. i spent the whole weekend with the fam, except for a couple hours i saw tamalinn and her cute but barky dog. (she really is adorable but also barks a lot.) my parents came up on thursday, we went out for dinner for my sister's birthday on friday (we went out for persian food and i had an appetizer that was basically herbs in pita bread - dill, mint, parsley, possibly something else - it was actually really good! and refreshing! - and then trout stuffed with nuts and dried fruit which was delish), my cousin's kid was bar mitzvahed on saturday (the party was at the ice rink where the bruins practice, and i ice skated for the first time since i was probably fourteen, and i got to see some cousins i never see and it was fun), on sunday i went shopping with the family unit and then went to another cousin's for bbq (HE MADE CHICKEN KEBABS AND THEY WEREN'T DRY) (OMG), and yesterday the parental unit and i went to the jfk library and museum, because it would have been his 100th birthday. they had a cake. it was 7' x 9' and was made by the same guy who made john and jackie's engagement cake like fifty years ago. (the baker was even there, cutting this massive cake.) someone who looks a lot like me may or may not have had two pieces. ahem. everyone sang happy birthday to jfk, too.
they had one of jfk's high school report cards in the museum. he got a c- in public speaking, which cracked me right up. they had clips of some of his speeches and tv/radio appearances, and i was hoping they'd have what i think of as his space race speech ("we choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"), but either they didn't, or we just didn't see it. they did however have a letter that eleanor roosevelt wrote in response to an invite to meet him when he was trying to get the presidential nomination. she said, basically, that she'd met him socially and he was very charming, but she didn't think he was presidential material like adlai stevenson was. (jfk really wanted her endorsement. he did get it, but not until after he'd been elected.)
there were A LOT of people at the museum. and afterwards we went back to my sister's house and ordered chinese takeout, as one does. (my sister played tennis that morning and hurt her ankle, so she didn't come with us to the museum.)
and today i went back to work, and it was excruciatingly boring for a lot of the day, but picked up after lunch. fun with expense reports and international travel arrangements.
did you know there was a comedy wildlife photography award? because i didn't. there are some priceless pics if you need a giggle.
i know this is a few days old already, but the husband of luxembourg's prime minister lined up for a pic with the wives of other nato leaders. this is especially cool because the prime minister of luxembourg is (currently) the only openly gay head of state in the world. he's the third total, but the first two (the prime ministers of iceland and belgium) aren't heads of state anymore.
they had one of jfk's high school report cards in the museum. he got a c- in public speaking, which cracked me right up. they had clips of some of his speeches and tv/radio appearances, and i was hoping they'd have what i think of as his space race speech ("we choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard"), but either they didn't, or we just didn't see it. they did however have a letter that eleanor roosevelt wrote in response to an invite to meet him when he was trying to get the presidential nomination. she said, basically, that she'd met him socially and he was very charming, but she didn't think he was presidential material like adlai stevenson was. (jfk really wanted her endorsement. he did get it, but not until after he'd been elected.)
there were A LOT of people at the museum. and afterwards we went back to my sister's house and ordered chinese takeout, as one does. (my sister played tennis that morning and hurt her ankle, so she didn't come with us to the museum.)
and today i went back to work, and it was excruciatingly boring for a lot of the day, but picked up after lunch. fun with expense reports and international travel arrangements.
did you know there was a comedy wildlife photography award? because i didn't. there are some priceless pics if you need a giggle.
i know this is a few days old already, but the husband of luxembourg's prime minister lined up for a pic with the wives of other nato leaders. this is especially cool because the prime minister of luxembourg is (currently) the only openly gay head of state in the world. he's the third total, but the first two (the prime ministers of iceland and belgium) aren't heads of state anymore.