Under the Arch

First, I would like to say if you've sent me an email or other such internet based message and I haven't responded, I apologize. I can't remember the last time I checked my email and I haven't been on twitter in weeks. I've hit a point where my real life is more interesting than my internet one, and I've spent all my spare time playing with friends and enjoying the sunshine when it graces me with its presence.

Because of this, I won't be going to BlogHer this year, even though it's only a few hours away. I will probably go to Chicago this summer (IKEA is calling my name) and my friend Will and I are tentatively planning a road trip to California at some point, where he has promised to teach me how to surf.

I had jury duty last week, but I'm all talked out about it, so I won't say anything more than it sucks ass, and if I ever get it again, it better be a civil case this time. (Oh, and if you were as dismayed as I was to find out that knitting needles aren't allowed, I found that no one says anything if they're plastic.)

I had to finally get mean with the jealous ex-boyfriend. A couple of days ago, he essentially said that he thought something would happen between us further down the line. I as bluntly as possible told him that wasn't going to happen. He didn't take it well and spouted the bullshit that guys say when their pride is wounded. I'm beginning to realize that this is a typical reaction and after I stopped laughing, I was just relieved that it was over and I don't have to placate him anymore. (Lies said to hurt or undermine someone's confidence piss me off like you wouldn't believe.) I decided to be the better person and not tell him what I really think. ;)

I also forgot to tell you that I'm moving, which is something else that has kept me busy. My friend Will lives on the next street over and his building is cheaper than mine, so he talked me into moving into the apartment above him. No more ghetto neighbors with a crying baby below me using my washing machine! It's actually a slightly bigger apartment with a different set-up, which will work well with my furniture. We already have big plans to build raised garden beds in the backyard for flowers and veggies. I spent most of the day today sorting and packing, I should be in the new digs by the end of April.

You probably noticed that I haven't posted any photos for a long time. It's not that I don't have photos to share, it's just that my computer won't let me show them. Trying to work with photos, even uploading them slows my laptop down so much I can't do anything. So, I'm computer shopping with my tax refund and I'm hoping to remedy that soon. ;)

I'm not really sure how this works, so I'm going to go with things that make me happy today. Trying to stay positive. Staying positive while WINTER IS TAKING OVER is important. I hate winter and so I'm trying to find grace in small things is what I'm saying. This wasn't my idea. I'm a joiner. It was Schumtzie's idea. She even started  a social network here. Join if you'd like and we can all practice being more positive finding grace in the small things.

1. Winter doesn't last forever.

2. This is the first winter in years that I haven't felt the need to be medicated. (yet. keeping my fingers crossed.)

3. My AT&T UVerse and DVR

4. Forgotten tax return money that will arrive just in time to buy me a new computer to replace my 5 yr old laptop which is about one blue screen of death away from a meltdown.

5. Having a boy in my life that I feel comfortable enough with to show him my apartment

6. spiced tea

7. an unlimited number of recipes to try and the confidence to try them

8. grocery shopping from my couch

9. steak and roasted potatoes with Country Bob's sauce for dinner

10. Trivia nights with the boyfriend and MP

11. Impressing people with my cupcake baking skillz

12. laughing so hard at work that I fall down

13. a boyfriend that finds it charming that I fall down a lot

14. filling a wall with my photography

Why, yes, I did eventually get around to putting together interview questions for my lucky, lucky volunteers. (I had a bit of a typo there and typed licky on the second one. Freudian slip? You decide! lol) Questions have been emailed, watch for answers soon!

Nathan's questions
1. If you found yourself, entirely by accident, on a nudist beach, would you go native?

2. Would you rather see only in black & white or only see the colors green & orange?

3. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

4. This is a multiple choice question. You must choose one of the provided answers. Like it. Or not.
When you're driving down the highway and someone catches you catching them picking their nose, what do you do?
A.) Point and laugh.
B.) Pick your nose too so they don't feel so awkward.
C.) Start honking to get other drivers' attention so they can watch the nose picking display themselves.

5. What is your best memory?


KBO's questions
1. What’s the dumbest purchase you’ve ever made?

2. Where is your favorite travel destination?

3. What is your strangest habit?

4. Describe the most disgusting thing you've ever eaten.

5. If you had to choose between being covered with ants from head to toe or being stuck in an elevator for three hours, which would you choose?


Heather's questions
1. As a teenager, what was your ultimate fantasy?

2. If human life on earth were about to end and you had to choose two people to re-populate the earth for a fresh start at humanity, who would you choose? (Or if you would like to be the female in this equation, who would be the male?)

3. Which type of natural disaster are you most afraid of?

4. How much money would it take for you go to a crowded restaurant at lunchtime, stand on a table and take off all of your clothes?

5. If you could go to the mall and buy a new person to replace someone that is already in your life, who would you replace?

mommymae's questions:

1. Would you rather walk naked through the grocery store or lick all the meat at the butcher counter?

2. What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?

3. What are the contents of your purse at this moment?

4. What is the naughtiest thing you've ever done?

5. What is your favorite restaurant and why?


Most (ok, all) questions were compiled (ok, stolen) from others who were gracious enough to submit questions. You can find the whole list for ideas (or stealing) here.

Jason from The Jason Show asked last week if anyone would like to be interviewed and started a 5 question chain of silliness! Follow the directions below to join in!

1. What do you like the most and the least about living in St. Louis?

My favorite thing about living in this city is the freedom I feel to express myself. I can wear just about anything and no one blinks an eye. Coming from a small town in the bible belt, I appreciate this!

The worst thing about living here, in this region really, is the weather. We get both extreme cold and heat and the weather changes on a dime, in the 50's one day, 20's the next, you never really know what's going to happen next.

2. Would you rather streak naked through your neighborhood at noon or accidentally throw up on the queen of England?

I hate to throw up. HATE it. And I don't really have too much trouble with nudity, so streaking through my neighborhood at noon is really a no brainer. ;) With a little friendly supervision for safety, I'd do it.

3. If you could be any famous person, who would you be and why?

I don't know that I would want to be famous. I think it would be interesting to be a touring singer for a day, can we do that? ;) Otherwise, I prefer my anonymous existence, thanks.

4. What would you do if you had a billion dollars?

I would have to assume that I won a billion dollars, since the chances of me earning that amount of money is....not good. The biggest thing would be travel, after paying off all my debt and that of my family I would travel, travel, travel. I think I would donate a ton to charity and maybe create some sort of foundation to provide scholarships for education students. WE NEED MORE TEACHERS WITH PASSION!! After that, who knows!

5. If you had to choose between cuddling with an eel or a cuddling with a piranha, which would you choose?

Oh please, neither!! The thought of getting close to either one gives me the shudders!! (To prove that I'm not a complete ninny, I have no problem with mice or bats!)

Want to be part of it? Follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will get to ask them five questions.

Guess who got a new camera for Christmas? Guess who hasn't completely figured out how to use it?

As far as New Years goes, I don't really do resolutions. (I think last year I called them self-delusions, though I did manage to follow through on a couple.) I do have the new camera that needs to be broken in and Moosh in Indy mentioned a 365 project she will be participating in, so I thought I'd give that a try.

I do have some ideas for things I'd like to try this year, but I think I'm going to keep those secret a bit longer til I figure out if I can. ;)

I did volunteer to write about my online dating experience and to round that out a bit, I'd love to hear stories from others, blogger or not, especially guys. Email me, k?

Yes, I did start dating someone new since Christmas and we are getting along swimmingly. My head is sort of spinning actually and I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or terrified. ;) (He's not a blog reader, isn't that nice? lol)

Until, I can get the photos I've already taken uploaded, here are a few posts from last year that I especially liked.

My resolution to keep knitting is off to a roaring start

Making fun of my brother

Enjoying the weather

Where I first talk about my issues with food

Taking a walk in the park

One of my more popular Naked Monday posts that was discussed over drinks

Bossy's visit

The first time I was mistaken for a hooker

Meeting a Cardinal's baseball player

My cat goes crazy

The post with the most hits (it's the bikini post, are you surprised?)

The ones about my car accident

The BlogHer posts, plus the hostel and my first troll

Exposing my messy side

Blogging while online dating can be hard

It's Christmas Eve and I leave tomorrow for the land that time forgot, where I have to fight my little brother for access to a computer with dial-up. I was truly freaking out today when I heard that they had shut down part of the interstate where my parents live due to ice and snow. I called around and found someone to take part of my shift tomorrow so that I can leave before dark. Here's hoping the weather holds on rain. ;) I hope everyone has a lovely holiday without any unnecessary drama and that travel is safe if you have to travel.

p.s. I somehow managed to get a paper cut on a plastic bag tonight, which of course started bleeding everywhere.

p.p.s. I started talking to a new guy on Match, completely by happenstance and I have a date with him saturday. We've talked for HOURS on the phone, which is completely unlike me.

p.p.p.s. I usually pack xmas presents and such in these huge IKEA shopping bags that I have, but I can't find them anywhere. Hmmm.

p.p.p.p.s Oh, and I should be back sometime on friday. ;)

Have you ever started a project or just read something and you wake up from the trance that you were in with no recollection of how much time has passed? Yeah, I did that tonight with a blog. Yes, really.

Start at the beginning here, and prepare to lose some time. ;)

Also, there's been a link floating about twitter for a while now that is really entertaining. If your black heart goes all soft and mushy at the sight of puppies, go here.

That is all.

It's so funny to me to say that phrase. All the silly adolescent fantasies of the rock and roll boyfriend that now make me roll my eyes with embarrassment. It's ridiculous the things we think are cool way back when. Now, when I actually get to say it out loud, I felt like an idiot. ;) I was sitting on a barstool and a guy asked me what I was doing there, alone in a bar and out it came. "I'm with the band." Inside my head, I'm giggling as I explain to total strangers why that is so funny to me. Then, of course, I'm trying to quietly and unobtrusively listen to the music, when the band raises their glasses to toast my Saturday off work. As the room's eyes switch to me (ok, so maybe it only felt like it) I'm sure my face turned ten shades of red. (Thanks guys!) As I listened to music and sipped my spiked cider, I was also wishing I had an ink pen, for I was once again itching to record my surroundings here, in this place. ;)

There was the couple to my right, who lived next door and were shocked to see a man taking photos of two very naked women in another apartment across the street. Apparently, they stumbled onto porn production in our fair city. If that wasn't enough, a guy at the table to my left was shouting about republicans in strip clubs. (Nope. No idea what that was about.)

I dedicated my Saturday to being as lazy as humanly possible with T. (The guy with the cute dog now has a letter, he's moving up in the world. lol) We watched TV and cooked dinner and....that's pretty much it. I succeeded at my goal. ;) Oh, I did finish a new hat that I was knitting, so, you know, there's that. lol

Sunday, I spent chasing down a pair of shoes I wanted and making the changes you can see here. I'm still working out the bugs and fitting in all the bits of things I had before, bear with me, even starting with a ready made template I still made changes that I had to figure out as I went. Which means, I was working on it all afternoon and evening and I'm still not satisfied. There's an "about me" that's new and I updated the Naked Monday page to include all the posts.

Ok, that's all for now, I have work in the morning and should already be in bed. ;)

Why yes, I did fail spectacularly at NaBloPoMo this year, thank you for asking. :)
Let's just say I haven't been home much and when I am, I haven't felt like writing. I've been cooking a lot, made a turkey pie, a pumpkin cheesecake, and my cheesy enchiladas. The grocery delivery was a rousing success, I recommend it for all the lazy out there who hate grocery shopping. They even offered to carry it up the stairs to my apartment for me, but with my curious cat, I didn't think it was a good idea. The website saves my list, so I can add things as I think of them and make an order when I have enough to make the fee worth it. Enough talking about food, I'm getting hungry. Thanks for caring enough to give me shit about it you guys, love you too. ;)

I think NaBloPoMo is an excellent time to find new writers and if you are looking for funny today, I've got a couple of posts you might enjoy.

If you aren't reading Jenny, who has to be the funniest person I've ever met, you should. She is laugh out loud funny, not just lol, but funny enough to type it all out. This is just one of her posts that had me giggling hysterically, but try this and this and this one too. ;) Really, they're all funny, I promise.

Read. Enjoy. ;)

To make this post a little more substantial, here's a photo for your trouble that I took outside my apartment. ;)

This is a meme, I was tagged by Sonrie at 1017.

Why, yes, I AM cheating and you will be shutting up now.

1. There will be a new post up today at Photo Bliss authored by little ol' me. I figured out how to put photos in blogger posts without losing your mind.

2. Speaking of photos, I had my hair cut again.

3. Speaking of hair, I color my hair several times a year, lighter in the summer, darker in winter. It's time to make it darker.

4. I also have something interesting in mind if I can find the stuff I need. It's a surprise, you'll have to wait. ;)

5. I use laundry detergent that is dye and fragrance free. If I can remember without going down to the basement, I think it's ALL. (the brand)

6. I ordered some yarn to make a baby hat and booties for a girl at work. She's having a boy. She almost cried when I asked if that was ok, but I just have to have someone in mind when I knit, I don't know why.

Rules for this meme are simple, link to the person who tagged you, list your 6 things and link to 6 people. Not sure if all of these people will play along, but what the hell...

Roseyland

Mocha Momma becuz she's on a hiatus, but she might want something mindless to do

Kendra of A Thousand Words

Heather of Desperately Seeking Sanity

Jason of The Jason Show

Whitney of The Ugly Green Chair

I hate Facebook. As social media goes, it's not very...social. But you have to have a profile for all those people who hate Myspace and wouldn't know a blog if it smacked them in the face. (And can someone explain to me why a person from high school that you never talked to IN high school or since would seek you out and friend you? I have no idea either.) I hate all the notifications and applications and the superpokes and the zombie requests.....shoot me now. BUT. (You knew there was a but coming, didn't you?) I am addicted to the Pieces of Flair application. It's a real time suck and I'll spend hours quite some time looking at silly buttons and sending them on to unsuspecting friends. Here are some of my favorites:

I've had a couple of BlogHer posts in my draft file for days now but I can't seem to get anywhere with them, so I'm going to a share a little self-contained story with you from that weekend. The Shutter Sisters sponsored a photo walk after the Photography session and I went, hoping to see a little more of this city that I was visiting. I spotted a few people I knew in the crowd, Bossy and Y among them, but most of the women were strangers to me. We split into groups and descended on the city like a flock of very strange looking birds, cameras attached to our faces. My group voted to head for Chinatown and we wandered, shooting as we walked, though it wasn't long before I lost most of the group. I found myself wandering  with two lovely women that I'd never met before, Megan and Jennifer, and we decided to head downhill to the financial district and then back up to Union Square. We were having a great time snapping away when we came upon a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk. He asked us to take his photo and though we weren't supposed to take pictures of people for the photo walk, it seemed easier to take a quick photo to make him happy than to argue and explain what we were doing. (The purpose of the photo walk was to compile a collection of photos to be used later in a book. Without a photo release from the man, we couldn't submit his photo for the book.) The three of us took his photo and started to walk on when another man passed us by on the sidewalk and almost immediately started yelling at us for taking advantage of a homeless man, taking his photo without paying him, then proceeded to very loudly call us any number of foul names, including worthless whores and tramps. I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly used to hostility from complete strangers, but after the initial shock I got really angry and informed the loud-mouthed moron that the man had asked us to take his picture and I was hardly going to worry about what some idiot carrying a boom box (!) thought of me. (Ok, I said the first part, not the second, but I did say it after he stomped off.) We kept walking and after about half a block I turned to Megan and Jennifer and said, "Hey guys. You know what just happened? We just got trolled! In person!" So, now, every time a troll bothers you on the internet, just picture a badly dressed, psychotic homeless man carrying a boom box on his shoulder ala 1984, and remember, his opinion doesn't matter. ;)

He made us wait for him to put on the hat and sunglasses, then posed before he asked us to go ahead and shoot.

I'm going to share more about Blogher, but first I wanted to tell you a couple of things that happened since I came home.
My car is in fact totaled, I found out for sure a couple of days ago, so I'm trying to figure out how to live my everyday life without a car, something I've never had to do before. It's interesting how incredibly LONG it takes to get anywhere now. Ugh. Other than that, it's not so bad. I'm fixing up my bike so that I can take quick jaunts to Target and the grocery and if I start this new job soon, (fingers crossed) riding my bike to work will be possible. So, basically, I've suddenly become very green. ;)
The other thing I wanted to mention is a sort of epiphany that I had. That guy at Walgreen's really made an impression....I think I'd like to start dating again. I'm ready. Sort of. I'm sort of ready. I'm interested in being ready. Something like that. ;)

So, these are the things that I remember from the first night:

I arrived in San Francisco on the BART from the airport(thank you, thank you, thank you to Blogher for the specific instructions on how to get from the airport to the hotel!) and as I stepped off the escalator onto Powell Street, I looked up to see a giant mall and a giant Forever 21 (everything's bigger in SF! Like Texas! Only cool and humid!) The cable car line was right there, but I needed to find the hostel and I knew it would only be a short walk. I found the hostel with little trouble, checked in, and found my room, where I changed for the parties that night. Deep breath and walk to the Westin. Wandering around the lobby (helllloooo, did not fit in there AT ALL!), wearing my favorite Forever 21 dress, skinny jeans, and chucks, I spotted bloggers that I recognized in the bar, but couldn't tell if that was really a party or just where people were congregating. As I struggled to scrape up the courage to make a decision about where to go, I noticed two girls(women? females about my age?) wandering around too. Without even thinking about it, I went up and asked them if they had any idea where to go. They didn't either. We decided to go to the Newbie party and see if anyone knew where the People's party was located. Up we went in the tower elevator (where I saw Ali Martel! And freaked her out with the staring! because I wasn't completely certain it was her! I LOVE name badges!!!) got our badges from the Blogher peeps that we would need for the rest of the weekend and attempted to mingle. There were servers wandering around with fancy appetizers on fancy platters and I didn't recognize ANYONE. Dammit. After a few minutes standing there awkwardly, I spotted Kelley walking across the room. Ok, I know her. Sort of. Well, ok, I've met her. And we've spoken. So I should be able to just walk right up to her, right? I'm not sure if this was all said internally, or if it all just spilled out as I thought it, but after another deep breath, I walked over and acted like I should be there and should have no problem speaking to someone I barely know and well, of course she'll remember who I am, because I am just. that. fabulous. Kelley was her gracious, lovely self and told me how to get to the People's Party. I went back over, grabbed Whitney and Regan and dragged them downstairs to the other party. Here's where it gets fuzzy. There was drinking involved (tequila sunrise! yum!) and swag, and again standing about somewhat awkwardly, but easier with lubrication. I met the Bloggess in the bathroom, apparently before she started holding court in there. I had my picture taken with her in front of the urinals. (most of the men's rooms were renamed ladies, or something) Yes, she really is that funny in person. Times 10. LOVE HER. At some point, we went back upstairs to the Newbie party, muuuuch easier drunk. I was introduced to Stephanie, who works for Blogher. She gave me her card, and I OF COURSE shouted, "Oh my gawd, you're the crockpot lady?!! That's awesome!!" Because I am a dumbass. And there was TEQUILA! And it was FREE! She (Stephanie) was hilarious and I love her to pieces. She's the bestest. (She introduced me to another Missouri blogger. From Kansas City. Not realizing that they are hours apart. She apologized for her lack of geography knowledge. lol) And then I filled out a mommy survey to get a free flash drive. I'm not a mommy. They didn't know that. I hope I didn't ruin their survey. I don't remember what it was about. ;) I saw Crystal outside the People's party at one point and I wanted to go up to her, but she was talking to someone and I thought I would see her again. And then didn't. Boo. I introduced myself to Heather B. I don't remember what we talked about. I saw Megan for about 30 seconds, introduced myself, we agreed to talk later when she wasn't trying to host a kick ass party and....never saw her again. Boo. I got a swag bag....and a free tshirt and talked to many other people, but I'm still sorting through my cards. (Did anyone else think they had a ton of those things and then realized when they were laid out at home that you really didn't have that many? Just me?)(Also, I made them all into magnets. Cuz I am crafty. And a giant dork.) When I get it all sorted and have a chance to go visit everyone, I'll link to all of them in a post. Most of the people I met at Blogher, I had never read, which I think is great, but I can see that my Google reader will be less than thrilled. ;) More Blogher to come, feel free to tell me when you're tired of hearing about it, I won't care, but I encourage everyone to share their feelings. (ok, I'll care, but not enough to stop talking as any of my co-workers can now tell you lol)

I have so much to tell you all, but I just woke up from a nap on the couch, and jet lag, she is a bitch, so tomorrow! Or today, since it's 12:30am!! With pictures!! And links!!

See you on Monday!!!!

(This one's for you , Megan! Hee.)

I'm stealing this idea from Sparks and Butterflies for a BlogHer disclaimer. I've had the great fortune to meet a group of bloggers already on my home turf and I have been able to start friendships with an amazing group of women. BlogHer is my opportunity to do this again on a higher scale. That being said, I've already shown you mah bewbs and mah shoes, but here are some not-so nice-things to know.

1. Blogher parties = free drinks
free drinks = drunk Bri
sober Bri = sweet, kind Bri
drunk = funny, honest, snarky Bri (emphasis on snarky)
Please for the sake of all that you consider holy, DON'T let me drink vodka!!

2. I find many things funny that, um, others don't. I have unintentionally pissed people off by giggling inappropriately at something they said. I NEVER mean to offend, but, uh, it happens.

3. I have grown from a painfully shy adolescent to a shy adult who fakes social confidence really well. I'm also a listener and observer first, then a talker.

4. I like hugging. I may hug you. I don't bite, though, so that's a plus. I'll only lick if you ask.

5. I am extremely picky about food, so an unfamiliar eating environment makes me more nervous than the socializing.

6. I'm probably what you would call skinny, but I wasn't anywhere close to that a year and a half ago, so it's really hard to think of myself that way. I say this because if I say something about food or weight and you say something like, whatever you're skinny, like you ever had to worry about food, I'm likely to get pissy about it. Not your fault, totally mine, but there it is.

7. I'm about to start my period (wow, oversharing), so at least I won't be hormonal there. (though I am hormonal here. Can you tell?)

8. I'm not the best commenter, but I read tons of blogs, so if you give me your blog card, I will go and read, but I don't always know what to say, so I lurk a lot.

Pretty sure that's the worst of it, blech, let's talk about clothes next, k?

• pretty sure my neighbor stole food out of my grocery bags right off my front porch
• went to a meeting of the St. Louis Bloggers Guild this morning
• I joined, though I haven't put the badge up, yet
• I was hungover
• I don't think anyone noticed
• I had been out the night before celebrating a coworker's new job
• Her brother tried to impress me by buying me shots
• Vodka is bad for me
• So is Red Bull
• Did I say that vodka is bad for me?
• Good
• It bears repeating a few more times
• I had fun and hadn't expected to
• I paid for it today
• Naps are good
• Vodka is bad
• I now have hot dogs buns but no hot dogs
• I find that really annoying
• Typical....day starts out good and ends weird

As promised, the answers to your questions...

Courtney asked:Q & A for you: How did the "naked" posts begin?

Well, I was trying to think of something that would evolve into weekly posts, something that would have a natural progression from week to week, something that would interest readers, and I'd like to say that I thought it out like the plot of a book and could clearly see where it would go but, frankly, I had no idea what I was in for. I started with body parts and intended to reveal little things about myself that blog readers don't generally learn. I never actually intended to be "naked", but I'm a tease and I knew the word would be remembered. Every monday, I try to think about a body part or neuroses that I haven't revealed and any way I can tell a story that is even remotely interesting. Recently, I started asking questions, hoping that people stopping by would participate in some way. It's been fun, and I'll keeping going as long as I can come up with things to say. I think it would be great if others would join in on their own blogs, I shouldn't be the only one getting naked. ;)


Rosey asked: Are you going to school for something? I think you mentioned something in your blog about being a student. What are you studenting to be or do?

I am an education student and have been for a really long time. I started and stopped a couple of times, but I'm actually close to graduating now from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. I'll be certified in Missouri 1st through 6th grades. I would like to teach the younger ones, 1st or 2nd grade.

Mocha asked: What's the weirdest thing you've ever experienced when sharing (or oversharing)?

I've never really had a weird experience here, so far everyone in the blogosphere has been great. I've been fortunate enough to avoid the trolls. Oversharing in my real life is pretty common, I often open my mouth and lose my brain until those around my are staring in shock. This is something I'm used to, this is why I like blogging, the ability to edit. I have never regretted sharing anything here. A perfect example of oversharing in real life though is this post. I managed to create the most uncomfortable silence ever known to mankind. Luckily, he had a sense of humor and I'm sure he won't remember this story the next time I'm there. Surely not. Right? ;)