there were tires popping everywhere

2001-10-22

I love fairs, and it would be hard to tell you exactly why. We attended the state fair yesterday and it was just exactly like it was last year and the year before and the year before, but it was still fun. The least fun thing we did was get cheated out of a few dollars on the midway, but then again that's what the midway is all about. Boy doesn't understand that yet; he approached the midway with his typical optimistic excitement and anticipation, and I think that made me hate the midway even more than usual this year, because of course he was disappointed. Luckily he snaps back quickly and was happy again in a few minutes. Here is what we did at the fair:

Rode the Big ferris wheel (the one with little cars instead of those rickety bench seats).

Rode the Gravitron (just me and Boy--Francisco gets too motion sick).

Watched Boy ride the thing where you sit in the swingset seats and get spun around in a circle--can't think of the name.

Shared a "Blooming Onion"; oh my aching arteries.

Looked at the cows--the Brown Swiss variety is my favorite.

Looked at the goats and pygmie goats. I really really love goats--they are my all-time favorite outdoor animal. We watched one baby pygmie goat for several minutes as it attempted to conquer a canvas folding chair; it was freaking hilarious.

Ate elephant ears.

Bought Boy a heavy plastic skull pendant necklace--he chose it as his fair souvenir.

Got overheated and drank a lot of water. It was an unseasonably warm day and my black tshirt sucked in the heat.

Looked at the olde timey crafts. Eh.

The best thing we did deserves a section of its own, because it was just so great. Ready? We attended the Destruction Derby. Probably most people know what that is, but on the off-chance this entry is read by someone from a country where they are less wasteful of their resources, I will describe it. People take old cars, drive them around in a small arena, and crash them into each other. The winner is the driver of the last car still able to move under its own power. There are very few rules. As far as I could tell, the main rules were 1) You're not allowed to intentionally hit someone head on or right in the driver's door. 2) You can't team up with another driver. 3) You have to cut a 14"x16" hole in the hood of the car, in case the engine catches on fire--the hole makes the fire easier to extinguish.

There were 4 different "heats". I think I enjoyed the first heat the most. It was only 4 cars, and they were grouped together because they each had 4 cylinder engines (whereas all the cars in future heats had 6 or 8 cylinder engines). Since there were only 4 cars they had a lot more room to maneuver in the arena, and they were pretty quick. Wow, the smashing, the tires popping (I loved that sound), the smoking engines; it was just Really Fun. The other heats were entertaining, but there were lots more cars involved which meant less driving room and too much to watch; I know I missed some good crashing. The last round was for the big cash prize of $3,000, and there were 22 cars competing, which meant lots of dead cars for the final few to work around. As soon as a winner was declared, we fled the scene and went home. I'll tell you, that Destruction Derby stuff is some good shit, although, as Francisco observed, "it's a long way from LACMA" (L.A. Country Museum of Art--we were members there when we lived in Pasadena). We had never been to a Destruction Derby before, but I think if we get the chance to go to one again, we will, for sure.

One other thing about the fair, we saw a concession stand selling deep-fried candy bars. Please think that over for a minute. Deep-fried candy bars. The mind boggles.

I was getting a headache toward the end of our time at the fair. I think the hot sun, the loud noise of the car crashes, and the rampant cigarette smoke took their toll. By the time I got home I had a baby migraine that quickly developed into a real skull-splitter. I haven't had a migraine like that in quite awhile; it was the kind that make my stomach sick, and frankly, there is very little that makes my stomach sick. I laid in bed and watched television, even though I knew I shouldn't because the light from the tv would aggravate the headache. I knew I should just lay in the dark, but I wasn't sleepy and I wanted to be entertained, so I disregarded my inner M.D. I watched The American President, or half of it anyway. Francisco came to bed while I was watching it, and at some point I told him I couldn't look at the screen anymore but I wouldn't mind listening to it if he wanted to watch it, so that's what we did. It lulled me to sleep and when Esther had an asthma attack at 1:45, the headache was gone. I pilled her and was able to go back to sleep without much trouble. When I woke up this morning, I was amused by the way the cats had arranged themselves. I sleep on the left side of the bed (or right side, if you're on the bed, on your back), and the cats had me nudged over to the edge. Lucy was heaped up against me at my waist. Esther had insinuated herself under the covers and was laying perpendicular to us, with her head toward me. [Francisco, as usual, got the ass end; he is used to it.] Esther had managed to bypass Lucy's weight on the covers and shove her head against me. The girls and I were like installation art; it cracked me up. If a photo had been taken, it could've been called The Pride.

Saturday we went to the gym and I did cleaning and laundry things, and I also made a cabbage/potato soup for dinner which turned out really well, especially considering I didn't follow a recipe. I made cornbread to go with it and it was a pretty good dinner. Otherwise this weekend I made some good progress on that scarf I'm knitting. It's going okay but will definitely look homemade.

I think that's all I had to update about, and I'm leaving in a few minutes for my lunch hour. A coworker and I are going to a couple different tattoo studios today, just to check them out, because she wants a tattoo, and I want another one, and I still don't know where my tattoo artist vanished off to. I'm hoping there is some kind of tattooist rumor mill, because I think I will ask at the studios today if they know anything about Choice Peach and where Tom went. It's a small community; I would think they'd know.

Okay then.

Love,

E |

cats-kittens

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