From an interview I just read with Hugo Weaving, from an Australian magazine. He called Agent Smith a "major bastard," but said he loved him because of his sense of humor. My favorite quote:

I was delighted to play him because he was written with such joy. He's evil, but I can imagine him breaking into song and dance.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, HUGO WEAVING. Make my life. Film yourself as Agent Smith, singing and dancing, and PUT IT ON YOUTUBE. I WILL MAKE YOU COOKIES. I WILL BRING THEM TO AUSTRALIA MYSELF AND GIVE YOU A HUG, TOO.

If you're not a current or former Harding student, you'll know which one I'm talking about when you see it. If you are a current or former Harding student, then you'll be torn between whether I'm talking about the one in the upper left or the upper right. The answer to that question is "both". ^o^

I have something of an obscure request, O Flist of Awesome.

Once upon a time, there was a movie called "Toys". I was quite young, I think, when this movie came out, and I don't think I saw it in theaters. I cannot remember how the soundtrack came to my attention but I adored it. Most especially, I think this soundtrack brought Tori Amos to my attention, as there was a song on the album by her called "The Happy Worker". I am looking for that song. Do any of you have it, and if so, would you mind putting it on YouSendIt or uploading it somewhere similar? It's killing me that I cannot remember what that song sounded like, only that I loved it. I'm likely going to buy the soundtrack again anyway, but I really want to hear this song as soon as possible. It's gotten under my skin.

This sort of thing deserves to be shared.  A flight attendant gives out paper & crayons for in-flight art; that's just awesome. I wonder if Walter has ever flown on a plane with this lady? He's in the air so often the chances are really good.

I'm home. My parents brought Ganon up for supper with us last night & so we could see him on his birthday today, and Ganon & I came home with them. I am meeting the people from Wild Blue internet for the install tomorrow, after which we should have really awesomely fast internet. Whee! I'm also doing Huge Quantities of Laundry.

I think I need another haircut when we're in Texas. Lisa, the lady that the Creeches have gone to for years, is REALLY good, and I like the way my hair looks when she cuts it. Why does my hair grow so quick?

I'm exhausted because I got next to no sleep last night. I slept fitfully until a very vivid, very frightening dream and then I woke up & didn't sleep at all anymore. I'm cooking a frozen lasagna & I foresee myself falling asleep on the couch, or in Ganon's room with him after I put him to bed.

I wish I knew where to find my copy of the Cardcaptor Sakura movie.

When I explained what I was doing (taking a pic to post on the Internet) they all wanted to ham it up behind the counter.
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Just climbed Travertine Terrace to find this. I can hear another spring somewhere in the trees.
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It's ironic that my iPhone captures the steam better than my Fancy Camera. Here's a pic. I'm moving along cause it's hot as a sauna right here.
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Pictures!( iPhone Pics from today's adventures )

So this afternoon I walked around downtown Hot Springs. I bought some earrings at a place called "No Clothes". I had an almond brevé at Vicki's Coffee Corner, & had a bit of conversation with the someone I assume might've been Vicki. I toured the Visitor's Center, which is a restored bath house with all the stuff as it would've been back in the 1930s. Loads of iPhone pics, and I will be going back with my nice camera.

However, about halfway through the afternoon, before I made it to Crystal Mining Co (where I was heading), I realized that 103ºF is Really Freaking Hot. In fact, I began to feel Not Well.

I came back to the hotel and ran a cold shower, which I happily stood in for a while, then I took a catnap while waiting for Bryan to finish with his conference. I had the mother of all headaches; I'm quite sure I had heat exhaustion. I also forgot to eat anything all afternoon. e_e I can get pretty lame about forgetting to eat. I do it more than I like to admit.

Anyway, when Bryan came back we decided to go out for supper. We stopped & perused the menu for Rolando's, a Cuban place across the way. Too complicated for our tastes tonight, so we walked more & ended up down the street at Express Street Cafe, which is in a building that used to be a bordello. This led to jokes about whether the establishment sold "brothelwaffles", and if prostitute macros could be considered "brothelrofl". Oh the puns.

Another group of teachers from the conference were there at the same time we were. After sitting there with drinks for a while, they decided they'd waited long enough & began to leave. Please note they'd put in their orders already, so this extremely tiny local kitchen had already started their orders. It isn't a fast food place and they hadn't waited that long, but they got up to leave, and get this: CONTINUED after their food began coming out. Seriously--their food was leaving the kitchen, THEY KNEW IT, and they left anyway. I can't begin to tell you how immature I think that was. There was only ONE cook in the back of the restaurant. Yes, it was a bit of a wait but nothing horrible or unreasonable, and this is a very small mom-and-pop business, which could really be hurt by such behavior. We felt it was awful & inexpressibly rude, and we told the owner so (she was one of the waitresses). I bought a piece of pie to make up for the other teachers' rudeness. It was darn good pie, too; sweet potato pie with apples in it!

So now we're in the lobby on the 2nd floor of our hotel. The internet works really well here; not so much in our 8th floor room. We're in our swimsuits & coverups because ostensibly, we were going to internet for a while and then go swimming in the pool, which is atop the 1st floor lobby roof overlooking Central Ave. That is cool. However, we are still interneting and have not made it to the pool. It's okay really, because we have the whole week to swim. I am still not really feeling that great from this afternoon, so that might be for the best.

iPhone photos to follow.

I can't believe I never posted this pic from our last trip to see the Texas grandminions.
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Here I am, hanging out in a hotel room eating what has to be the tastiest piece of ham I have ever had.

This morning we got up really early (6 am!) to get ready to go to breakfast. We had breakfast at the Pancake Shop, which is this highly recommended local place. I had buckwheat pancakes with blueberries, which were evidently extremely fresh & not frozen at all. Bryan had "the special" which is sort of scrambled eggs with a little of everything thrown in. We split a "small ham" because all of the reviews of this place (and there are many, and all of them good) said "don't you dare get a meal with no ham". They were correct; it was a smoked ham, but the slice was fried just enough to warm it. It was salty like country ham, and not sweet at all. Perfectly delicious; and I wish I had some to take to momma-in-law. She'd love this.

I walked Bryan to the conference at ASMSA because I wanted to see the building & all. Very big; the dorm looks like it might've once been a hospital or something similar. I took a few pics at the Presbyterian church across the way, because they have pretty stained glass.

After that, I hopped a bus to the transportation plaza to buy a coupon book of bus tickets. Cheaper if you do it that way. The transportation system here seems to be efficient and much-utilized; many people were riding it and one gentleman had a pin that said "Dump the Pump". I like that. The buses are clean and nice, and the drivers, riders, really everyone I've met associated with the bus system, are all really nice. I rode to the mall and basically just around town to get a feel for where everything is. My phone died after the mall, so I opted to come back to the hotel & let it charge all the way up before I venture back out into the heat.

And OH is it hot! The forecast is 103º in Hot Springs today. It feels every inch of that for certain. I'm spending the hottest part of the day inside in the air conditioning; it's a suffocating wet blanket outside. If I do much of anything, it SHOULD be hitting the pool on the 2nd floor, but Bryan might want to do that after his classes are over today, and all the adorable little shops on Central Avenue are calling me! I might take my camera & hit the strip, and when I get too hot I'll duck into shops to cool off for a bit.

So we forgot our toiletries bag & had to go to walmart for the essentials. For mr that involved some ultra-cheap Jane makeup: tinted moisturizer in "medium", bronzer for blush, eyeshadows, & mascara. Already had lip glosses & powder in my purse. I love the eyeshadows; I got a single in vanilla from Cover Girl, but I especially like the jewel tones from Jane.

Our hotel's wireless is epic lose, thus the iPhone post. We're hoping for a nice street cafe with some wireless tomorrow. Think I saw a coffee shop down the street.
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This car is sitting in the "motor entrance" of our hotel, The Springs Hotel & Spa. I can already tell you there'll be a lot of photo updates this week! Am starting to regret having turned down ASMSA in high school.
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