I'm Back

So this blog is back. I will be posting once a week on an event, restaurant, store, or activity in Stillwater and trying to keep anyone who cares up to date with all the calendars I know about.

Goodbye for Now

Well, life suddenly got crazy with moving and other events. So I won't be blogging for the foreseeable future. But I'll still check Facebook and MySpace every once in awhile. So stop by if you want to say hi.

El Tapatio

We stopped at one of my favorite Stillwater restaurants for dinner: El Tapatio. I almost never come here for dinner. After all, if you are going for cheap Tex-Mex, you go at the cheapest time. So usually I come here for a 4.69 lunch of tacos, beans, rice, chips, and salsa. And El Tap is the perfect place for a quick lunch. You can get in, get seated with a "Hey amigos. Follow me.", order the Speedy Gonzalez, get your food, eat, and pay the bill in under 20 minutes. The atmosphere is upbeat and energetic which brightens the day up a bit around lunchtime when I am contemplating the evening of homework stretching before me. The booths and tables and even the walls are brightly painted with calla lilies and parrots and donkeys and the green plants that sparsely decorated El Tap a few years ago now nearly cover the ceiling. The waiters work fast and efficiently, if not always particularly graciously. If you ask for a straw it appears in seconds, but don't expect the waiter to bother standing around chatting with you. The most incredible example of El Tap's efficiency is how your food is brought to you. If there's only two of you you won't see it, so try going with a group. One waiter will bring out something like a dozen plates at one time with no tray. He'll have his arms covered in an oven mitt and the plates just lined up from his hands to his shoulders.

Anyway, I enjoy all this excitement at lunchtime and usually prefer a more mellow pace in the evening. But what's life without a little variety so I branched out today with a shrimp chimichanga at El Tap for dinner. It did solve my hunger issue, but I think I will save El Tap for lunch next time. While there I saw a flyer for a Latin Dance this Friday. The flyer was in Spanish so I'm guessing it is a really Latin dance. The details are in the calendar on the right.

Casino Night

I went to Casino Night with Shelley Heath. In the future, I will always go to Casino Night with Shelley Heath. She's hilarious. I lost all my chips but had fun anyway because she was hilarious. Shelley has a lot of attitude but does it so sweetly and matter-of-factly that I think she disarms people. Anyway, I may have won a bit on blackjack, but she was raking in the chips on poker. One hand of Texas Hold 'Em saw 3 9's on the flop. Two people had pairs and thought their full house was in for some winnings. But Shelley had the fourth nine and took their money. The dealer even took a picture of the hand.

I mentioned I lost all my chips. Lest anyone think I lost actual money, let me explain Casino Night. You show up. They take your name and give you chips. If you lose everything, they'll give you more, but only once. You play roulette, poker, blackjack, craps, and eat food for a couple hours. Then you hand your chips back in and they get added to your semester-long balance. At the end of the semester, you use your chips to bid on stuff at an auction. This is my first semester to do Casino Night, but I think I'm hooked. As long as Shelley will keep going with me to make the night extra fun.

Trombone Choir and Brass Quintet

During lunch today I listened to a performance by a trombone choir and a brass quintet at the library. The trombones were kinda cool, but the brass quintet (tuba, 2 trumpets, 1 french horn, and something else...?) was really awesome. It sounded amazing. I think with speakers and CDs it is easy to forget how amazing that sort of thing sounds live. There were cookies and iced tea. But no water. How hard is sticking a pitcher of water on the table with the tea? I know there were only a few no-iced-tea-drinking Mormons at the show, but there must be other people who just don't want an iced tea. Anyway, the show was great.

Hawaiian Murder Mystery Dinner

We totally overthought it and fingered the wrong person. The killer was actually obvious once you realized it. Hmmm...much like my algebra hw this week.

Rubbermaid head

This little girl was the youngest guest at a bridal shower for a friend. She also managed to hit her head on the tile floor 3 times and on the table 10 times. She almost cried once. But then someone poked her belly button and she reset. I think maybe her IQ ought to be checked daily.