Tonight we made a very embarrassing trip to the Carrefour, where we filled our basket with lovely processed American carbohydrates. We were completely sheepish at the checkout aisle as we unloaded our imported crap food for weekend indulgence: Pepperidge Farm cookies (Milano, Nantucket, and Brussels), Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, and some Nestle choco puff cereal…I know, it’s horrible. And don’t even get me started about how much it all costs, because, well, it’s imported!
We have more goodies on the way from the US as well — some wonderful fabulous friends in BA (thank you Tim and Lori) just returned from a stateside jaunt and brought us back peanut butter, soy butter (for Zelda, who has nut allergies), and hair dye for me (f*#king aging)!
Zoe, Zelda, Tom and I attended our first 3D film today (well, actually, Tom did see Jaws 3D when he was younger, so I guess he doesn’t count). We went to a screening of Monsters vs. Aliens.
We arrived at the empty theater in the afternoon, collected our 3D glasses, and bought massive amounts of junk food and a Coke, in the hopes of keeping Tom awake. The glasses were not what I expected, they were actually a darkened “Men in Black” style shade, which looked hilarious on the girls. The tinted anteojos also provided cover for Tom when he fell asleep during the movie, which he invariably does while attending children’s cinema, only this time, it was the snoring that gave him away!
I was impressed with the effects, the 3D experience was pretty neato. We all enjoyed eating too much candy and popcorn (note to self, when Zoe’s exhausted, don’t feed her sugar). The movie, well, it was okay.
A last note on dubbing/subtitles here in Buenos Aires: US releases are in English with Spanish subtitles, unless it’s a kids movie, where the reading thing can be a problem, which means the movies for little people are dubbed. I was gratified to learn that I could fully comprehend a film targeted to the younger set!
With our withering brain mass, we can’t remember exactly when we bought our MacBook Pros, suffice to say Tom’s was probably sometime in 2006 and mine in 2007. For the most part, we have been very happy (I was a Windows convert), but I do have three rants (of course):
The first knock is that this computer runs incredibly hot; so much so that I can’t really compute for any length of time with it on my lap. It has actually gotten to the point once or twice where I have taken it off my legs and peeled down my pants to see if I was mildly burned. In fact, Tom has taken to grabbing the ice packs I use on my knee and placing them between his limbs and the computer if he is going to have it on his lap for awhile! Ridiculous.
The second knock is the speakers, which are set to a level the bionic man would have trouble hearing. (I suppose the engineers did this because speakers generate a lot of heat, see first rant above.) We’ve noticed the biggest problem with older movies purchased on iTunes; for instance, the Karate Kid (Xmas present for the kids) is literally impossible to hear. We have used Audio Hijack to boost the speakers a bit, which helps somewhat…
The third knock is the wireless, which apparently suffers interference from the metal case around the computer and doesn’t work well if you are in any sort of challenging wireless environment. This was very apparent during our summer travels. Ian, who had the newest Apple out of the three of us, a MacBook with a white case, practically had a satellite link. I usually encountered medium to low signal strength if Ian could connect easily. And Tom, well, he would get zippo, zilch, nada, no signal at all unless he was seated right next to the router. (Talk about Tom being frustrated!)
Original Photo Before Heat Colorization by Flickr user TheRealGrudge used under a Creative Commons license.
The girls are generally very opposed to my sharing anything about them on the blog (so of course, I love to threaten to write about them, particularly when anything embarrassing happens in their lives). Their reticence to star in the blog does not stop them from making suggestions about possible topics though.
Today, Zoe opined that a post was the perfect forum to let everyone know about the game she calls the “addicting helicopter game.” (One of their favorite past times is finding new video games to play over the Web, and we are constantly astounded at how many new offerings they discover.)
Anyhow, Zoe somehow roped us all into playing this game tonight, each of us trying to supplant the other’s high score. Tom is currently the record holder, but I still have a few minutes left to play before going to bed…
UPDATE: Current high score in our house is 1214. Anyone score higher?
I have developed a mental image of our typical reader: a foul-mouthed, dirty-haired camper who drinks bad wine and keeps their pork chops in the fridge past the “use by” date. (In my head, he looks something like this gentleman here.) This reader profile, by the way, is courtesy of a Google Analytics report of search terms that lead poor unsuspecting Web surfers to micheleandtomdotcom like lambs, or perhaps pigs, to slaughter.
We are proud to announce that we are a front page Google search result for those worried about rancid pork! Search terms used are:
pork chop smell, pork smell, do pork chops smell, pork chops smell, pork chops smell bad, smelly pork chops, does pork smell, my fresh pork smells, pork chops naturally smell strong, pork chop smells, smell for pork chops, smell of pork chops, smell pork chop, smelly pork chop, what does bad pork chops smell like, when not to eat pork smell
The Web is not a medium where you can scratch & sniff & taste. But, that doesn’t stop our readers from trying:
wine tastes like dirt, dirt tasting wine, smells like dirt wine, this wine smells like?, what is another for dirt in wine, what kind of wine taste like dirt, when wine has a dirt smell, why wine smells like, wine that tastes like dirt, wines that taste like dirt
Are these nice Midwestern farm boys playing around on the computer? (I secretly find these searches kind of cute.)
swear like a sailor, sailors curse words, 6 sailor curse words, do you swear? like a sailor, how do you swear like a sailor, sailor curse words, sailor cuss words, sailor swear words, sailor’s curse words, sailors swear words, swear sailor, swear words sailor, what are the sailor cuss words
Dear “beauty industry,” appearance while camping is important. Maybe there is room for some product ideas here?
camping greasy hair, camping hair washing, hairwashing how to camping, how to look good camping hair, how to wash hair while camping, how to wash hair when camping, how to tame hair when camping, washing hair camping, washing hair while camping
Aside from the above searches that helped us reconstruct our average reader, there are many more one-off queries that left us stumped and/or entertained.
How did these Web surfers end up at our blog after entering these search terms?
hunks in sweatpants (Not that Tom isn’t totally smokin’ in his sweats!)
bowling jokes
how much babies cost
guy not there in the morning (Tell me about it sister!)
interesting facts about marco polo
camping walmart parking lots
What were these Google users really trying to find?
Official mexican restaurant review. (Think about it…)
As I have mentioned before, the Zs’ capacity for embracing the process of living without caring so much about the end results is a lesson Tom and I need to relearn every so often.
The theme of living in the moment has been on my mind since I’ve met a lot of people recently who have asked me whether it is difficult to post on a blog 4 to 5 times a week.
As I thought about it, I realized that blogging frequently isn’t so much difficult as it requires a phase shift in how you view your life. Now, my whole family likes to joke about my posting frequency and that there is no event too trivial for me to consider it blog fodder. But the truth is, if you sit and reflect on your day, there is nearly always something interesting, whether it be bad or good, about which you can write.
And while there are many things that I have appreciated about this blog — it provides a nice repository for memories of our travels and keeps my writing skills honed — most of all, it makes me contemplate recent events, allowing me the time to reflect on the moments that comprise my life and appreciate them for the special times that they are.
The girls started tennis lessons this last week. On our first day at the club, the girls’ instructor was late (as in, had to be called to be reminded about our lesson), so we sat outside and watched a young guy practicing, hitting forehands and backhands. No, not just hitting them. Crushing them. The pace he put on the ball was astounding. And, every shot, shot after shot, was hit with deadly accuracy.
As I watched, my estimation of his game grew and grew. In about 10 minutes, I went from “Hey, he’s pretty good” to “Wow, I don’t know what he’s doing here, but this guy’s good enough to go pro.”
The good news: 1) We have moved. 2) Our deposit was returned at the old place. 3) We’re still talking to each other.
The bad news: The high-speed Internet access that I was assured was functioning at the apartment…well, it’s not actually functioning. That means I may not post so much in the coming days, unless I can break away to a WiFi cafe (like I’m doing now.)
“No Internet” is a great excuse to go out for helado and WiFi!
[Tom talks history…and World Cup fútbol highlights on YouTube.]
It may not feel like a holiday in the US, but, in Argentina, today is Malvinas Day. Schools are out, banks are closed, and all of Argentina honors the 649 fallen soldiers who died 27 years ago in what the English-speaking world calls the Falkland Islands War, but is referred to here as la Guerra de las Malvinas.
The girls didn’t know anything about the war, so it was off to the Internet to cover some of the basics for a special worldschool lesson. The question we studied was “If the islands are so close to Argentina and so far from Great Britain, why do they belong to the British? (It’s complicated. Both countries have claimed sovereignty over the islands since the early 1800s.) What language do the islanders speak? (English.) Why did the Argentine military junta leaders attack the islands after decades of stalled negotiations? (They were trying to boost their flagging popularity.)
Ironically, the invasion of the Falkland Islands led to the end of military junta rule in Argentina and ushered in the return of democracy. However, Argentines still strongly believe in their sovereignty over las Islas Malvinas and continue to press for their return.
In addition to covering some political history, Malvinas Day also gave me a great opportunity to pull up a couple of YouTube videos and fill the girls in on another important figure in Argentina history:
Diego Maradona.
Greatest Argentine fútbol player ever. A larger-than-life figure who has had his share of larger-than-life problems, but who has battled back, and is now the head coach of the Argentina national team.
But, what does Diego Maradona have to do with Malvinas Day?
Well, I hadn’t realized it until recently, but two of Maradona’s most legendary goals occurred in a 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match against England. Just four years after England defeated Argentina in la Guerra de las Malvinas, Maradona achieved a bit of revenge.
In fact, these two goals are so famous, they are referred to by name.
It’s hard to tell from the video, but as the photo at the top of this post makes perfectly clear, Maradona’s goal was the result of an uncalled handball. After the game, Maradona explained that the the goal was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.”
My daughters didn’t really buy his poetic explanation. “But, that’s cheating!” they protested.
Next, just four minutes later, “The Goal of the Century.” No assistance from Dios on this one–just pure Maradona magic.
One of the fabulous side benefits of living overseas, submersed in a language that I have to concentrate in order to understand: I get no ancillary media information. (I feel rather like George Bush!)
I tune out the news on the radio when I’m vegging in the back of a cab. I don’t try and piece together meaning from the news feed on the ubiquitous televisions located in nearly every restaurant. I refrain from scanning the Spanish headlines when I walk by the newsstand. (Even though we didn’t watch the news in the US, I didn’t really realize how much external media I was inadvertently exposed to, and how depressing it was, until we escaped it and moved to Argentina.)
So, as I dive into headlines from around the world, at my leisure, on the Internet, I happen upon myriad “news” stories that I am utterly relieved to skip, secure in the knowledge that I won’t have to hear another word about them!
I can impose my own media blackout on issues such as exposed arms, teleprompter presidents, bowling jokes…
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