Scribble Pad

Letters from the Mat

2016-03-18T13:01:00.001-05:00

About a month ago, I started a new blog called Letters from the Mat. You can think of it as a chronicle of my yoga adventures.

This year you'll read references to my teacher training 'cause yeah, I'm getting certified. So feel free to come by, have a read, leave a message, maybe share with your friends :)

Thinking, Fast and Slow

2016-03-10T11:20:00.001-06:00

I just started a book a friend recommended some time ago and I'm really liking it. It's a book about thinking about thinking, exactly the sort of thing I like to think about. To put it more clearly, the author analyzes intuitive thought and deliberate logical thought, complex topics to be sure; but the tone of the book is very conversational. I like it.

Here it is, if your interested.

Finished NaNoWriMo this year!

2015-12-27T12:07:00.002-06:00

November went well! And now I have almost 55,000 words to edit. It's going to be a busy 2016.

CampNaNo 2015

2015-04-06T00:25:00.002-05:00

I'm doing CampNaNo this month while completing a large new project, coordinating an event and moving. Wise? Probably not. Fortunately CampNaNo is not a 50,000 word extravaganza like November's event. For this one we set our own goals.

Given the utter madness that is April for me this year, I went with a tiny 18,000 words for the month. Yes, I'm already a little behind, but not much. The main objective is to get some words down despite my hectic schedule without losing my mind.

Some days I'm just inguistically impaired

2015-01-29T14:04:00.001-06:00

A multilingual mind is a source of great entertainment. The other day, a run to the grocery store had me laughing out loud in the middle of the fruits and vegetables section. Fortunately I usually shop with earphones plugged in and my phone in my pocket, so my fellow 21st century shoppers didn't bat an eyelash.

Some useful background: Usually when I decide to swing by the grocery store for just a few things (say less than 5), I don't write out a list. Instead, I just memorize the first letter of each item. It's usually easy enough because when I'm going for such a small amount, I'm hunting down the usual suspects: eggs, bread, ham, cheese, carrots (we juice), sugar, wine (it has grapes and thus it's health food, period).

More useful background information: I love to listen to audiobooks in my car, too. My phone's blue tooth is always on, so when I turn on the car, I just hit play and find out who dies, finds hidden treasure, or unexpectedly wakes up in Latvia. It makes travel time and errands so much more fun. If I'm not in a hurry, I deliberately stand in longer lines.

With all this in mind, one fine day, I'm driving home and gabbing on the phone with the hubby (with whom I speak Spanish) and he asks me to swing by for a few items. "Sure," I say. We make disgusting kissy noises at each other, I hang up, and my speakers switch back to playing my book (in English). A couple of miles later, I pull into the parking lot of a grocery store, pop in my headphones so that I can keep listening and make my way to the front door. As I walk through the automatic doors and take my mini cart, I pause my book and repeat my letters out loud as I head inside—you know, the ones that are supposed to help me remember what I'm there to buy. In a fantastic moment of crossed wires, I can't remember which language I used when selecting the letters!

There I am, armed with H, C and P thinking "Great. Is this huevos, café y pan or ham, carrots and... wait, what do we commonly buy that starts with a P in English?" I start to smile, sure that I've resolved my problem, but then I think of something. "Crap. Pasta. Pasta starts with a P."

Foiled by bilingualism. Realizing my completely ridiculous dilemma, I start to laugh and soon I can't stop! Because now all I can think of is that maybe it's true that having too many choices is paralyzing! At this point, I don't know what's funnier, that I can't remember the food contents of my own home or that I'm incapacitated by my languages. I'm linguistically impaired! More laughing that gets a chuckle from the guy next to me checking out the tomatoes. I start to imagine that he's confused because he left thinking T and now can't recall if that was T for tomatoes or tortillas! This new bit of absurdity feeds the hilarity. Just as my mind starts making things up about zucchini woman nearby, I text the hubby.

Oh my, I've got to say, that was a really fun grocery store run!

My Inner Geek

2014-03-03T13:15:00.000-06:00

Today I'm rather proud of myself. I managed to tweak a few things here and there in Blogger's XHTML code with no help (zero, none, nada) from any of my geek friends. Well, sort of. I didn't call anyone, but I did scour the Internet.

My point: as far as non-geeks go, I have a touch o'geekiness. I cannot boast the title Geek of the code-writing, major-hacking, bad-ass-fixing variety by any stretch of the imagination, but I have gotten in touch with my inner geek. It was beautiful.

Getting to the code and managing to do what I wanted to do with it has me doing the happy dance--the geeky all-knees-and-elbows I-fixed-it-my-self happy dance.

Wait… Are You Shrinking?

2014-03-03T12:50:00.005-06:00

Why yes.

This blog started in 2007 and is now officially enormous and probably needs to be pruned. So for now, I'm hiding some of the old so that I can edit and reorganize… or not. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it.

Then funny part is that I was going to pull the whole thing, and then I saw people are still reading it. Yay! So as long as there's potential to connect with others, I suppose I won't axe the whole thing. But yes, it needs to shrink.

Over the years, the bloggers that I interact with have changed, probably in part because I post less here than I used to. In looking at my Scribbler Pad visitors, there are quite a few of you that I don't know and would love to, so feel free to say hi in the comments and share your blog link (or twitter or wherever you like to publish).

15 Reasons to Travel

2013-08-31T14:06:00.001-05:00

Don't ask me why 15. I have no idea. It's the first number that popped into my head, so let's see if I can manage to limit myself to it. OK, so why travel?

1. To get away from this heat. Seriously, no one ever really gets used to being over 100F.

2. To be near a body of water. And yes, this directly relates to number 1. Jumping in the pool helps, but even at 10 pm, it's so warm it's like swimming in pee.

3. To be able to walk around. Again heat-related, but also to do with living in the suburbs of a highway town where nothing can really be called walking distance.

4. To hang out at the airport. I know most people hate dealing with the airport, but I actually like it.

5. To read non-work-related texts without interruptions. That's one of the perks of hanging out at the airport. At first I really hated the new security regulations that didn't let non-travelers accompany you to the gate, until I realized it gave me time to read.

6. To get another stamp in my passport. A well-worn passport with multiple stamps is just art.

7. To add quirky slang to my vocabulary. I like to adopt words that don't exist in my languages or work them into daily conversation. Among my favorites: yalla!

8. To discover what I'm like in a completely different context. Anyone that says that we're all nature and no nurture clearly never travels.

9. To experience us in a different context. Travel adds fun to marriage.

10. To eat! I love to eat and it's an awesome way to find out about places. Food always comes with history and great conversation.

11. To see my own life and culture from someone else's point of view. Commercials, ads, chats with locals, newspapers all add up to a really interesting perspective I could never see on my own.

12. To have new stories to tell, good and bad. The best part is that sharing travel stories with friends and family always inspires them to share their own stories, and I just love a good story.

13. To buy cool stuff I can't get at home. And no, not everything on earth is sold on ebay or Amazon; it just feels that way sometimes.

14. To make friends in far places. There are too many good reasons to do that!

15. To get away from winter. That's right, winter. The whole reason I have traveling on the brain is because we're planning and plotting to fly south for the winter—or at least par of it. It's time to check out what the South Americans are up to. Chile, here we come!

What are your reasons for traveling? Oh, and if you've been to Chile and know of something awesome we should experience, now is the time to tell me!

2013-07-11T12:57:00.001-05:00

So I've got a little side project going and could use some help!

If you are a pet owner and you have 3 minutes you can give me, please answer this 10-question survey.

The sooner I reach my goal, the sooner I can go to the lake and read a book. So please pass it on to other people with critters. Thanks!

Click here to take survey

(Zero personal info required an nothing sold to you at all. Promise.)

NaNoWriMo 2012

2012-12-01T15:02:00.001-06:00

The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers

2012-11-28T02:02:00.002-06:00

It's time for a life makeover! Not sure what that means yet, but I'm ready. Tons of amazing projects have found there way to my mighty list.

I love major shifts. Big changes are exciting and a great opportunity to get rid of the clutter. And I don't just mean the boxes of unused stuff we still hang onto; I mean naysayer clutter, too.

We've done a good job of surrounding ourselves with good, kind, and inspiring people who are true friends always. Still, there's always an Eeyore around. Sigh, I say. And as I admit to my own inner Eeyore (he's small, but there), the weight of someone else's pessimism is, well, exhausting.

So, time for new clothes, a different home (more on that in a few months), unknown places and spaces to dream together. Prophets of doom, we love you, but you'll just have to chill out and roll with it or just know you'll have to pout sans us. If ever you're looking to get in touch with your inner Tigger (T-I-double guh-er), we'll be around and happy to come out and play. We're easy to spot: We're the super happy people.

The Not-As-Short-As-Planned Run

2012-10-29T21:31:00.000-05:00

I ran today. That's a small scale miracle, by the way. Ever since I graduated high school, I've adopted an only-when-chased policy. But lately I've been kind of curious. Maybe I am a runner. Got knows I need some sort of physical activity beyond a few sun salutations a week. So, to make sure I didn't back out, first chance I got, I went by the store, got a pair of running shoes, and made my way home.

To properly trap myself in this new scheme, I called my hubby on the way home and invited him to run with me for about 15 to 20 minutes—yes, I fully realize how very little that is. I really didn't want to over due it. Early last month I asked my brother to train me, but his workout was more than I was ready for just yet, and I woke up so sore that the training just faded into nothing after the second session. So I tell all of this to my hubby an remind him that this is a short quick run just to get me started.

By the time we're walking out the door, he's already established a route. It sounded fine, though to be honest, I was only half listening. Like I cared which way we went. Nope, just worried about getting out the door before changing my mind to that I could get through my 15 to 20 minutes. Why on earth I let him set the route for my first run, I'll never know. Apparently a 15- to 20-minute run in his brain doesn't include my walking warm up and or my walking cool down or the water stop or the multiple I-can't-breathe walks. So 15 to 20 minutes turned into something like 40 to 45 minutes. Sadist. Yes, it was a good workout, but I can already feel my thighs complaining and it's only been 3 hours.

Argh! What part of 15 to 20 minutes was unclear?!

Then again duh. I should've known better than to go for a run with a 26.2 man. He's so not picking the route next run.

In Texas

2012-10-28T20:50:00.001-05:00

Originally Posted on Amerobiz.

Running shorts are the leading cause of exercise avoidance in Texas. Any exercise clothing is to blame, really. I can’t count how many times I’ve lost my resolve while digging for a t-shirt. By the time I grab a top, it’s so hot outside that I’m already sweaty inside. There are days my poor AC unit’s desperate attempts hover at 85 degrees. It’s hard to see why on earth I should put on my sneakers and go anywhere at all.

By June, we’ve already hit our first day over 100. You’d think by now Texas heat waves would’ve helped us all evolve into skinny people with fast metabolisms, blissfully unencumbered by extra padding, but no dice. Instead we can boast having two of the top ten fattest towns in the country. Thank you Beaumont and McAllen for your significant contribution to the elevated national BMI.

Frankly, I’m shocked Dallas isn’t on the list. As a whole, we’re big eaters and not big walkers—it’s the land of ten thousand restaurants and ten neighborhoods with sidewalks. At my last community crime watch meeting, this one guy from the west coast raised his hand—and just about got it smacked down by the rest of us, too.

He asked the police officer why cars fail to stop for pedestrians on crosswalks like they do in California. Because he knows, of course, that in Texas—just like in California—the law requires cars to stop. Why he always—both here and in California—stops even if the pedestrian is still on the sidewalk. I swear, that dipweed must’ve said in California at least four times in his first sentence. Yes, I know that he’s right about the crosswalk, but my Lone Star loyalty wants to ask him to go back to his economically broken state and proceed with his comparisons there!

Back to the crosswalk issue though. As a person that dares to walk around here, it would be great if cars stopped and I didn’t have to play Frogger as I cross the street, but I know why they don’t. Ok, fine: I know why we don’t. It’s a million degrees outside and only a stupidly tiny fraction of a percentage of our population ever goes anywhere on foot, other than directly to their car. Truth be told, it’s not that those in cars don’t care about those walking; it’s that pedestrians are an endangered species in North Texas.

You know how in most states cars slowly circle parking lots burning half a tank of gas in hopes of getting a space as close as humanly possible to the front door without actually parking inside? Well that only holds true in Dallas during the winter and the five minutes of spring and five minutes of fall that we get. The rest of the hot-as-hell year, those front row spaces are empty and we duke it out for anything under a tree. You’d think bird droppings would be an issue, but not so much. I’m fairly certain birds keep pushing south until they find a godforsaken breeze. Either that or they are so dehydrated that any droppings either bounce or disintegrate mid air.

And where are drivers going? Anywhere with major air conditioning and commercial insulation: mostly malls, movie theaters, and restaurants. Yes, yes, yes, I know! In California, perfectly tan thin people walk around the eighty-degree outdoor mall decorated with palm trees and edible organic walkways singing “Kum Bay Ya” and achieving enlightenment. Well, here we walk around an enclosed mall and get nachos, warm salty pretzels, and lots and lots of over-sweetened, fatty Starbucks drinks as we try not to freeze to death. Why our commercial indoor spaces have to be fifty degrees cooler than it is outside, I’ll never know.

Still, it gives us options. We can either bike everywhere—like I hear they do in California—and fry. We can also hang out by the spectacularly un-refreshing bath-warm pools or shade-less lakes and fry there instead. Alternatively, we can opt for catching pneumonia in the mall or bundle up mid summer and go to the movies.

Notice how none of those things require the use of a crosswalk! Here’s a news flash: In Texas it’s hot. We bitch about it all the time. The only thing that we care less about than heaters in June is what the hell they do in California.

If there’s a surefire way for a newcomer to never fit in in Texas, it’s to negatively compare our home to theirs. I guess some have a misguided hope for a self-deprecating response whereby we bag on ourselves and they bask in their conceit. They must think we’re from New York.

Now, I can’t speak for everyone in the state, but I like Texas. I even live here on purpose! So when I’m forced to hear a battery of criticisms that start and end with in California a jillion times, it inspires me to reform our “inferior” local behavior by dialing 311, the non-emergency police line, and reporting my smug-pug neighbor… a lot.

What a great North Texas activity! And it doesn’t require dealing with the heat. Would it really be bearing false witness against the new self-righteous neighbor to report his every sin—as I’m sure he must dutifully do in California? I mean, maybe the scruffy tubby misfit from the west coast (probably in fact tossed out by California) doesn’t consider that he’s being too loud or too disruptive or that his car is parked incorrectly or his porch too dirty or his particular hello waves creepy. Maybe his behavior is quite normal in his estimation. But then again, how in tarnation would he know what is and isn’t normal ‘round here? I’m mean after all… he’s no longer in California.

NaNoWriMo 2012

2012-10-24T14:43:00.005-05:00

It's been a while and with a new novel collaboration in sight, I think it's NaNoWriMo time again. I'm pretty excited about this one. This is the third person that has invited me to co-author a novel. The first two projects didn't really take off, but I have high hopes for this one. Engaging in 30 days of writing mania will at the very least give this new manuscript a fun jumpstart.

Anyone else NaNoWriMo-ing this year? Leave a comment and maybe we can be writing buddies. Most of my writing buddies from years past on NaNoWriMo have fallen off the radar. Then again, I haven't done NaNoWriMo in a few years. Maybe my buddies have moved on to fame and fortune. I can say I knew them when.

Lunch at the Soleil in Austin

2012-07-22T14:52:00.001-05:00

Having a great lazy Sunday wandering back from San Antonio, stopping in Austin to take in the view. Ahhhhhhh...

The lake is shockingly low, though. Sometimes Island that's only visible every now and then for brief periods is huge and green. Not good! The low levels did make us feel like we were sitting higher up, though, so that was kind of cool.

The Oasis is now a full blown commercial center with several restaurants. We opted for the Soleil. And I have to say, we chose well. Nice staff. And lunch had a touch of awesome: strawberries, blueberries, goat cheese, candied pecans, avocado on a bed of lettuce with white wine vinaigrette.

ADD Books... Hmmmm

2012-07-17T15:34:00.000-05:00

So I'm in Barnes and Noble browsing, and I see in the psychology section a whole bunch of self-help books for adults with ADD. Books. Long books with many many words and no pictures. Self-help books no less. For people with ADD. Really?

Videos, I understand. Live sessions? Great! But full length books that demand patience and focus? That makes zero sense to me.

Chinese Snuff Bottles

2012-07-16T16:21:00.000-05:00

Walking around a museum on a lazy, gray Sunday afternoon is a perfect end to a hectic and stressful week. It's quiet and calm, and there's something very soothing about being surrounded by beautiful things.

So after a short and pleasant trolley ride, we walked over to The Crow collection of Asian Art. (For Dallasites familiar with the trolleys, we rode on Petunia. I love that they have names.)

Some of the displays that especially caught my eye were these snuff bottles. There were, I think, four or five separate sets.

Asian art in general seems very detailed and delicate, so the smaller pieces are especially fascinating to me.

Each one of these snuff bottles is only maybe three inches tall. I know it's hard to see online, though I increased the contrast on the pictures a little, but every little element of every scene is still clearly there despite the small space.

Some are made of glass, others of porcelain, and others of jade. In all of them you can see every facial expression and the features of even the smallest hand.

Moving between these small artifacts and the wall hangings and the enormous Indian horse, made me enjoy the perfect tiny images of the bottles all the more.

I came home feeling relaxed, dreamy and content. This was definitely time well spent.

Greenling Delivery

2012-07-12T13:31:00.000-05:00

Promised between 9am and 2 pm, the knock of delivery came at 1 pm. I'm a happy girl. There are plenty of veggies here for two!

Coupon!

2012-07-11T07:30:00.000-05:00

As I was completing my last post on Greenling and went on a hunt for an image to use. In the process, I ran into a coupon. So of course, I started looking for more coupons.

The first one that I found was no longer valid, but the code LOCALBOX50 worked perfectly. It's a 50% discount on your first local box delivery. I got on the chat and asked if I could apply it to my order, placed about an hour ago. The answer? Yes. Yeah, I think I love these people.

Food Delivery is My Friend

2012-07-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited! A few weeks ago a vehicle painted with images of produce pulled up to my building and delivered a green crate to my neighbor. Hubby pointed it out to me, so I walked out to meet the driver and see what this veggie van was about.

As it turns out Greenling is an Austin company that just started up in Dallas, and they deliver fresh organic food. We love to cook, and we buy all our dairy and about half of our fresh fruits and veggies organic. The idea of getting an entire box of all local organic food delivered appeals to both my desire to eat cleaner foods and to my inner foodie, who just so happens to be super lazy. (Fewer store runs. Hurray!)

And yeah, I love that they list the farmers. Publishing who grew what helps keep producers honest and inspires us to want to buy from them because we now know who they are.

This is my first local box, so we'll see how the rest of the process goes. If my neighbor's reaction is any indication, it should go really well. In the mean time, I'm looking at recipes. The contents of the local box rotate weekly based on what local farmers have produced. These people are so smart. They've include weekly recipes based on the contents they deliver, a huge time saver for those who cook and a guide for those just learning how.

OK, by now you're wondering if this is a paid review. Well no. My Scribble Pad is just where I blab about whatever I want. Greenling, in fact, has no idea I'm writing any of this. I'm just really excited about them, that's all. And the fact that their driver and their chat customer service person treated me so well probably contributed to my impulse to tell you guys about them.

So I'll post again once my local box gets here. Anyone else using Greenling?

Ceviche in Paradise

2012-04-30T07:30:00.000-05:00

One of the best post-wedding parts of this trip was revisiting Tulum. I don't mean the ruins. Yes, those are nice and the beach is beautiful, but I'm thinking of another obligatory destination: El Camello. This place serves THE BEST ceviche!

Some small selfish part of me wants to keep it a secret lest it become so popular that the menu is ruined with short cuts and modifications for bland palates. But it must be shared!

In this simple, but very popular restaurant, printed menus are available, but for us unnecessary. We were on a mission: to eat our weight in ceviche and fried fish. We didn't eat quite that much, but, again, as in years past, we most certainly ate until we couldn't move. I have no idea how, after so much ceviche, I managed to consume almost an entire fish. And I wasn't even all that hungry. No, my friends, this was pure indulgence.

Sorry, I have to go back to the ceviche. I can't get over it! It's shrimp, fish, octopus, chivitas (a local river snail), tomatoes, onions, chili, lime, spices and magical Caribbean unidentifiable yum. It's crazy delicious! And the serving is huge. The one you see in the picture is the medium size. It's pretty incredible. OK, I'll stop with the seafood mania (for now).

I have to say, everything about this place makes me happy: the food, the breeze, the friendly patrons, the cheerful staff, the random street musicians, the plastic chairs, all of it. My most sincere desire is that this place never changes no matter how many tourist discover it.

I'm in love with this duck!

2012-02-25T15:07:00.004-06:00

Male Mandarin Duck

So I'm on the internet looking for images of mandarins (can't remember why) when I see a set of pictures of this duck, a mandarin duck. It's adorable!

I like animals, but I've never been enamored with any one creature. My room was never covered in bunnies or puppies or anything like that. That said, this critter really has my attention. I look at it and I just want to go all paparazzi on it. I know it's rude to stare, but I can't help it!

Male Mandarin Duck

Consequently, I called upon the powers of Google. And I discovered there's a fairly romantic story that goes with this beautiful animal. Here's a little piece of what Wikipedia has to say:

"In traditional Chinese culture, Mandarin Ducks represent a life-time couple, unlike many other species of ducks. Hence they are frequently featured in Chinese art and are regarded as a symbol of conjugal affection and fidelity.

Male and female Mandarin Ducks

A Chinese proverb for loving couples uses the Mandarin Duck as a metaphor: "Two mandarin ducks playing in water" (simplified Chinese: 鸳鸯戏水; traditional Chinese: 鴛鴦戲水; pinyin: yuān yāng xì shuǐ). The Mandarin Duck symbol is also used in Chinese weddings, because in traditional Chinese lore they symbolize wedded bliss and fidelity."

Apparently this connection holds in Japan, Korea and other parts of Asia as well.

Sweet symbolism, right?

WEBook.com

2012-01-16T22:21:00.001-06:00

The hunt for an agent has begun! Again. But this time it's for a different project. My 2008 Nanowrimo novel is edited and ready to go places. Let's see how this goes. So far, I've joined WEbook.com and started the submission process for six agents. Now the hard part: waiting. In the mean time, I'm sure more editing can only help. Or it'll at least keep me from losing my mind during the wait.

Android

2012-01-09T00:18:00.001-06:00

So I finally have a smart phone. It's useful and also a fun little toy. I'm still trying to get used to it and admittedly, it sucks me in a lot.

And it's more than just instant email and face book. My sister introduced me to this crazy little vice called Angry Birds. I'm not really much of a video game person, but there's something oddly addictive about catapulting birds on a mission to destroy egg-poaching pigs.

My Unique Urban Moment

2011-11-21T18:59:00.000-06:00

Public transportation is one of the more common experiences in cities the world over. Who thinks twice about jumping on the train to go to a meeting? Dallas residents, that's who. I used the train for maybe the third or fourth time ever today and it still feels like Disneyland. Theme songs from New York sitcoms started playing in my head. At one point I had a Friends-Sex in the City-Mary Tyler Moore medley going.

On the way to my lunch meeting I discovered that reading in trains is something only experienced public transportation commuters can do well. After five minutes, I was turning green. Oddly enough, though, reading all the signs didn't give me motion sickness at all. My favorites are definitely the Poetry in Motion posters. Well done, DART.

After a very pleasant lunch, it was time for another ride... and for a very unique urban moment.

So there I am texting when an older woman sits next to me (potentially homeless, or maybe just cold). A couple nearby asks her a question regarding the best stop to get them to a particular intersection. They were probably tourists, since they had a map and the unmistakable look of "I'm not from here" confusion. The barely audible conversation continues (trains are loud) and all is well. I'm kind of uncomfortable with a stranger pressed up against me, but hey, it's part of the train ride and she's just a harmless old lady with a walker. So I center my attention on my phone, periodically exchanging smiles with a couple of little girls playing with their happy meal toys.

Then, out of the clear blue, the old lady is on her feet screaming at the poor visiting couple! And I mean seriously screaming! She was cussing and spitting and running over my toes with her walker. I'm telling you, now I know what "fit to be tied" looks like!

A younger man that clearly rides the train all the time explained to the (mortified) rest of us that she was fine and would be off the train soon. He tried to talked to her—while keeping his distance—, but pissy granny was having none of it! The guy just kept telling her to calm herself and not say such things.

And what things! I've never heard a senior citizen use the f-word in so many ways and direct it at so many people! Remember the little girls I mentioned? Yup. She f-ed her way through several directives at them. When the mother encouraged her to leave the kids alone (quite patiently, actually), the angry old lady made sure the mom knew she was in fact going to hell, f-ing hell no less. It was impressive.

By the time our angry train companion started in on the teenage boys, I had managed to squirm past her. I stood at a safe distance while intervention guy kept saying, "Those aren't words God would say" and her name (which I never clearly heard).

My adrenaline was going bananas. It was hard not to be nervous, but honestly equally hard not to laugh, especially since most of the teens and kids were laughing hysterically. I was glad they weren't scared, especially the little ones, but of course I wasn't going to laugh at what was clearly an unwell elderly woman coming unglued in public.

When I saw my stop, I maneuvered to the doors, relieved to escape the f-ing yelling from agrograndma only to discover she was getting off at my stop. Oy!

Upside: I power walked today.