February: Get Mortified!

So, new things for February...
http://www.getmortified.com/
This is a truly hilarious and heartwarming show. They have branches (chapters?) in multiple cities, and Tamara had been raving about this for a while. I'd missed the last time they were in town because I'd procrastinated, and when I finally went to get tickets, they were sold out! This time around, I registered early and sent notes to many friends and warned them to get on the bus or be left behind. We had great attendance: Tamara, Heidi, Aurelius, Jim, Nicole, Annmarie & her friend (Tim? Tom?), Julie and me. Not bad! Hilary & David would have been on the list too, but she pulled a Martha - waited too long.

The stories: a wanna-be-prankster but self-described prick who had a problem with stealing, and ordered a gravel truckload to be delivered to his "nemesis". a slightly punk-y girl with an attitude who wrote for the school paper and occasionally threatened to kill people. A girl who discovered her ho-side at the Explorer camp but was rather in denial over it. A guy who professed his love for his friend in hilariously over-the-top prose that included the phrase "blood no longer runs through my veins, it's replaced by passion" that concluded with a series of P.S. I love you, P.P.S. I love you, I love you, I love you. The object of said affections, after a disastrous homecoming date, wrote a theatrical monologue, complete with staging, that started with "I hate you". Tears of hilarity were shed over these. The final one was of a gay teen exchanging letters with his grandmother who was suffering from emphysema that was both funny and very heart-wrenching at the same time. Wondering if she could get a mask that matched her eyes, and her husband saying "I don't think you can get them in shit-brown, bloodshot" (or something along those lines). I'm not doing it justice. And they exchanged some terrible jokes.

Verdict: Totally worth trying something new.

Work related new item - first trip to New Mexico! I was rolling out a new change control process for our Q&R screens, and I went to discuss in person for the screen authors face to face. This was in Rio Rancho, NM, with a flight into Albuquerque. All went well - it's at a higher altitude and very dry (everything seemed brown). So it was quite cold at night. I went out to dinner with Vyom and his wife, who seem to be a very happy product of an arranged marriage, they were quite cute together. I narrowly avoided the green chili, which was their hottest chili (yikes!).

Verdict: not very convenient to get there, and if I go again - spend the time to go see the radio telescopes, which Vyom raved about, and get a clear night sky view, which his wife raved about. But worth the trip for work, and all went well.

Revisiting previous fun: Chinese New Year at the Wang's! Full house, as usual, and the scallion cakes went, well, like hotcakes. A double batch is a good size, though they could easily have gone through a 3rd batch as well. Tamara made the chocolate chip cookie covered oreos which were good fun!

Hikes: Forest Park off Germantown Road with Tam on a very nice (dry!) day. About 5 miles...