What, no picture?

A picture of two dead vices. There are actually three dead watches, but the third didn't make the picture.

Upon consideration, I think my father might have helped and encouraged my love of watches. He gave me the one on the left - my first Sunday dress watch. He also gave me a Big Bird watch, which I still have. It works, but needs a band. And he gave me a beautiful Seiko watch with the A&M seal for my graduation. That one is, ahem, 12 years old. 12. Whoop!

Vices... (alternate title: Gadget Girl)

My friends know I'm into gadgets. I love them. I occasionally buy new gadgets. Sometimes I avoid buying new gadgets. I justify purchases by giving away old gadgets or by saying I only have a few vices...

I was using IM the other day to chat with a friend. I told her of a recent gadget purchase (and the excellent rebate(s)). She called me "gadget girl." I said, "Proudly. I have so few other vices." She began to list them: watches, bags... I added one: hats. I love hats. For the record I went a whole year without buying a hat. A self-imposed hat fast. I'm currently on a self-imposed watch fast. I think I have two more years to go.

I will leave you with this question. Can a REAL "gadget girl" break her VCR? I might have broken mine. A tape is stuck in it. I can't get it out. I needed to record a third show the other day, because my DVR can only record two things at once. I guess it wasn't important, because now I can't remember what the third show was...

Is a DVR a gadget?

Do you mean that as a compliment?

When flames shoot out of the switch on your lamp, it could look like this!

I haven't written in a while. I've been busy, but not with things that are bloggable. (Is that a word?)

Something happened to me on Sunday that struck me as funny and reminded me of two other similar events. I will relate them to you in the order in which they occurred, leaving the most recent for last.

1. Long, long ago, when I lived in NW Houston I was in the local Gerland's grocery store at about 1 o'clock in the morning. There was a man in line behind me who appeared to be either drunk or just very disheveled. He mumbled something to me as I was leaving. I asked him to repeat it because I couldn't understand him. He said, more clearly, "You're pretty, but I just woke up." He pronounced pretty as "preeettty" using a voice like Dudley Moore in the movie Arthur when he says, "It doesn't suck!" (to be rich). A compliment? You decide.

2. Quite a while ago, I was visiting friends (the Lowders) and their new baby at a hospital in Houston. I'm in the elevator with a middle aged woman. She doesn't say anything for a while, then looks at me and says, "Have you ever thought about wearing contacts?" No elaboration, no explanation of her thought process. I said I had once worn contacts, but they had irritated my eyes and I'd returned to glasses. Surely she meant that I had beautiful eyes and shouldn't hide them with my glasses? Again, you decide.

3. Last Sunday, after church, I was in a nice gas station waiting to go into the ladies' room. A Hispanic man about my age, dressed as if he'd just come from church as well, was waiting to go into the men's room. We smiled a hello and continued to wait. A few minutes passed and he said, "Do your eyes always look like that?" I said, "I'm sorry, what did you say?" He repeated himself. I said, "Do you mean - blue?" (Thinking he probably meant blood shot or with dark circles underneath.) He said, "Yes, blue." Then, "Beautiful, beautiful." Of course I said something like, "Oh, that's nice of you, thank you very much!" I proceeded to giggle when I was finally in the restroom, thinking back to the elevator incident. Compliment? Heck yeah! But still funny to me!

Some of you know that I have sarcastic friends. I mean, I don't know why I attract friends who are sarcastic, do you?? Anyway, most people know the "You're preeettty" story, and a few of them make serious fun of me about it. My friends, the Lowders, are as fun and witty as they come; they had much fun with the "Have you ever thought about wearing glasses?" comment. For years!

Of course the third comment restored my faith in humanity. Ha! Really, it just brought all of this back up and inspired this entry.