Laura's Adventures in Houston

obama the iguana

2010-09-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Again, I know this is not meant to be a study on the animals around me and my reactions to them, but come on. I sat down two feet from a giant iguana today. I've named him to Obama in an effort to make him seem like a friend to all. I also saw a small, worm-sized SNAKE that is apparently blind. Can't make this shit up. I think this was told to me in an effort to make it seem less scary. I don't think this is a plus for me though. It just means it could accidentally come near me. Can you imagine. Of course I threw both myself and my bag up on the table which was a totally appropriate reaction in the middle of the music school courtyard... obviously.

In other news, M&M's has come out with two new products; pretzel filled and coconut filled M&M's. I had both of these in my arms to try, for purely scientific purposes of course, but I looked down and I was also holding oreos, chips ahoy, and wine.... so it seemed like I needed to edit. However, next time I need a chocolate fix, i.e. tomorrow, I'll let you know how these are!

Navigating Canada

2010-08-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Quiz: Is this a good idea?

1. Is it a good idea to let Laura borrow your car to drive in another country?

2. Is it a good idea to send Ian as her navigation partner?

3. Is it a good idea to take bets on how late she will be getting back?

Answer key: 1. no (2 points), 2. no (2 points) 3. absolutely no (give yourself negative 6000 points if you answered yes to this one!) It's not funny!

Day one at University of Miami... an odyssey as told through bugs... again

2010-08-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Ok I did not intend for the Miami adventure to be mostly about bugs, and that is also not my intention here, but come on. Have you seen the size of these things down here. I went to use the restroom today and saw a cockroach that could only be described as a cantaloupe sized bringer of heart attacks. It seems most fitting to start by tying Miami into Houston through none other than ICE CREAM! Now, since last time I wrote, I became lactose intolerant (gasp). This means I went like 3 months with no dairy whatsoever while I sorted out how to deal with this. However, THEY HAVE BLUEBELL ICE CREAM DOWN HERE!!!!!!! So, obviously the strike is over! I was so excited, I bought a gallon of the great divide (half chocolate, half vanilla) scooped a bowl, and danced around my kitchen to hotel California while eating it. I then got sick... but that's not the point! I don't know what the point is... but it was fun! So anyway, I will try and post every week or so in an effort to document this DMA but you and I both know this will end up being almost exclusively about bugs. And mark my words, the day I see a snake I am moving straight back up to Michigan... or possibly Indiana where I can bum off of a wonderful Geiser and Tarta.

Miami here we come

2010-02-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

I'm leaving for my final audition in Miami, Florida in a few days. I'm ready for this to all be over! I tend to come up with brilliant life plans for myself every week or so on average... so it's weird for me that the idea of a doctoral degree and opera direction has stuck for as long as it has. I figure if I don't get back into school, I'll move somewhere fabulous like St. Lucia and stand on the beach singing for food. There is, of course, also the back up plan of selling fresh bagels out of a van, or the lifelong dream of hosting an infomercial, but it's important to be realistic in one's dreams and perhaps the infomercial idea creeps slightly beyond that. No matter what happens, I would just like to state now, in writing, that I will be at least successful enough to have an entire brand of chocolate named after me at some point... is that so much to ask? Unwrap a Laura!

I should rename the blog, but the lack of resulting confusion would be no fun

2010-01-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought there was a strong possibility that I would end up back in Houston after a nice break living back in Michigan. That seems to no be in the cards anymore though, and as the great saying goes, when one door closes, don't pinch your fingers. So onward with the adventures of Laura in where ever she finds herself. This week, that means a road trip with Merry Beth to Maryland! I'm extremely excited to get the doctoral auditions underway, but also equally excited to spend some quality time singing loudly in the car with MB. Don't worry, she's in charge of navigation. You know you've been friends a long time when you don't even have to tell her she's in charge of navigation. To put Laura in charge of navigation would be such a hysterical joke, no one would even consider it a possibility. I was momentarily navigating on the 24 hour drive down to Houston, only to miss the ONE turn in the first 18 hours of the trip due to an enthralling game of 20 questions with Kal. Go ahead, ask him about it. He remembers! So anyway, wish me luck!!!!

special michigan update

2009-12-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

I obviously never intended this to center only around creepy crawly things, but I find myself settled back in Michigan, only to find a GIANT SPIDER in my house! I know I have a tendency to exaggerate stories in an effort to make them more entertaining, but in the interest of pure accuracy, I will present actual facts for once. The spider, though I thought it was a tarantula at the time, was a wolf spider, about the size of half of my palm and very very fuzzy. I was alone at the time of discovery, and used prior knowledge of a bucket, a shoe and a glove, as adapted from the Houston lizard tongs, bucket, and shirt scenario. I did manage to get the spider (let's call him mortimer in hopes of making him seem cute and non threatening so I have a hope of sleeping ever again) outside without giving myself a heart attack, though some shaking was involved. I did consider standing in the room, on the table of course, and waiting until someone else got home to take care of it, but I had rehearsal and this counts as the ultimate example of the show must go on. I considered just walking away, but the only thing worse than a huge spider in your house, i's a lost huge spider in your house. The alarming end to mortimer is that I couldn't find him outside a few minutes later. I'm telling myself he's well on his way to a warmer land... maybe mars for example.

why 110 degrees is ridiculous

2008-05-09T21:03:00.002-07:00

It was 91 degrees today with a heat index of 110. What is a heat index? It's how hot it actually feels with the humidity. That is too damn hot. Seriously, hot. In the car, hot. Outside, hot. Inside, hot. In the freezer, not hot, but not safe either if you remember that one punky brewster episode where she gets stuck in the fridge and dies... maybe she doesn't die, but I think that was the moral of the story. So the only way to deal with this is to flee the state. Sadly I have to wait two weeks to do this, but as long as I don't melt before that, things should be great.

possible book title

2008-05-09T21:03:00.001-07:00

A bucket of fried chicken has never sounded worse

Termites

2008-05-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

Well, now we have termites. I'm not making this up. I could, but why bother when good shit actually happens anyway. So I've learned several things about bugs here...

1. When the bug guy shows up, you're supposed to have caught a bug so he knows what kind it is. I know you're thinking I can't be serious, but this was actually said to me)
2. Termites don't eat people, only wood, so unless you're made of wood, no worries.
3. Windex kills termites.
4. Termites are not welcome here.
5. The bug guy gets offended when you follow him around with soap telling him to wash his hands and not touch the bugs, they're gross. Well, I'm sorry bug dude but it's true.
6. Termites are different looking than fleas and you're dumb if you can't tell the difference.
7. Houston sucks.
8. Bugs suck.
9. Vodka doesn't suck.
10. Dyed shoes are stupid.

Ode to snow caps

2008-05-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

Oh snow caps you are so good
like a chocolate river of joy
yummy

oh well apparently an Ode has a specific number of syllables... who knew... well anyway I just can't be bothered with stupid details like that (no offense if you take offense to bad poetry, but in fairness there are better things to worry about in a day, I'm not judging, but relax a little, seriously)

Fleas

2008-04-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

It's official... the apartment in oh so wonderful Houston had fleas. Eww gross yuck, how the hell did that happen... all solid reactions to this. We have no idea how this happened. The place is clean, there has never been a pet in here, and yet, Lindsay and I are covered in ichy bug bites. Thanks to enough chemicals to kill (insert something you detest here) we are now bug free... but this leads me to complain about the educational state of bugs in general. Months ago, shortly after we realized that this is a wild kingdom of creatures down here (did you know that Armadillos really exist... I thought they were just funny looking cartoon creations) I put up a very neatly written sign explaining to the bugs that they were not allowed inside our place, upon penalty of death. I also had Andrea translate this into Spanish in the footnote, as Texas has a very large Spanish speaking population. How could this be any nicer and clearer you ask... it couldn't. We have upheld our part of the agreement, and frankly we expect the same from the bugs. So if the bugs happen to be reading this, we are disapointed. You have let down your educational system... much like Bush... and you should be ashamed.

Nicknames for Laura

2008-04-26T06:40:00.001-07:00

I have decided that Nats on going quest for the perfect nickname for me should definatly be made into a public forum discussion. Honestly, I see no other option. So, family, friends, whoever else reads this thing (does anyone?) please feel free to offer suggestions as to wonderful / appropriate nicknames for me. I'll start the ball rolling, and perhaps, Nat, you will find something to your liking... though somehow I strongly doubt that.

Wonderful
Beautiful
Hey sexy
Gorgeous
Is that chocolate I smell?
Laura dora (still sticking Dad)
B (this one makes no sense with my name, but kind of stuck in high school)
LN (Ian's name of choice but always reminded me of the name of a cow... not that I know any cows by name)
Amazing
Sweetie
Honey
Babe
No you shouldn't cut your hair
Fabulous

OK, so let's get the ball rollings and see what happens here...

Why staying up until 5:00 a.m. is not a good idea

2008-03-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

Marta asked if I wanted to help chaperone her middle school choral lock in at the fun zone place last night. It was from midnight to 5:00 a.m. Since there was free go-karting in it for me, I said sure. First off, I'm not one to start an activity around midnight, so the obvious solution was to inject caffeine directly into my veins. I am, however, not going to do that, so instead I drank two huge cups of it... same difference. Don't worry, one was a milky way, which could best be described as a yummy milkshake with almost no taste of coffee at all, and the other was a mocha, so I didn't actually have to put up with the fowl taste of coffee. And if you are one that likes that flavor, I say you must not have milk shakes often enough, because they are much better!

Anyway, I was under the impression that this place was like ten minutes away... I was wrong. It was over 30 minutes away, plus my GPS got me lost. Now I know that you're thinking... that's not possible... oh yes it is! I ended up about two miles from the place, in a construction site, with no go=karts... though admittedly the crane looked fun. I asked at a gas station, the man thought I was asking where the gentlemen's club was... he thought I was a STRIPPER. I had on an MSU sweatshirt... geez. Also, how exacly does "the putt-putt place" bring to mind a gentlemen's club? I don't go to them, so I'm really asking. In fairness his english was not fantastic... obviously.

So I finally found the place, thanks to Marta, two chaperones, and the bus driver. We go-karted, putt-putted and played dance dance revolution for 4 hours. I sucked at that, so I just kept pushing Marta off... very funny. All in all, well worth the fun night, and the really funny story.

my right boob

2008-03-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Good title right? I seem to have pulled a muscle in my right boob. I guess I either did this running with the dog, or at the gym. Either way, I'm beginning to appreciate the male brain, as I have now honestly spent most of my day thinking about my boob. Now, in fairness, I'm only doing this because everytime I breath / move a stabbing pain hits it, but still... it's a sliver of what it must be like to be a man... well a man that likes boobies...

Scroll down for the picture...

Are you kidding. Do your honestly think I'd put of a picture of that?

superman

2008-02-02T20:02:00.001-08:00

So the news of the week would be that my father fell off the roof on Wednesday night. His ladder slipped, and he hit the driveway on his face. Insert blood, screaming, and the ER... he's OK, THANK GOD!!!!!! Good even, considering one isn't specifically crafted to fall onto one's face from the roof... Now, this is a terrible, life changing event, but since it did not end in catastrophe, let us speculate on what we can learn from this:

1. People don't fly well... at least not on their own.
2. After falling off a roof, you can actually be called lucky.
3. Live in the moment, because you might fall from a roof soon.
4. You actually can't break steel... way to go Dad! (You can, however, bruise it, give it a large gash on it's head, get blood all over the driveway, and make it feel like it was run over by a train for a week or two, so we are NOT suggesting you try this at home)

I love you Dad. I'm glad you're OK... let's keep both feet on the ground for a while, shall we?

Caroline, or Change

2008-01-16T07:17:00.001-08:00

flowers from Marta and Guy

2008-01-16T07:14:00.000-08:00

These are beautiful. Thank you!!!!!

ouch

2007-12-19T23:50:00.000-08:00

My finger hurts. Here's a picture of the specific finger that hurts. I don't think you can see the spot too well, but it hurts and is tender to the touch. While I do acknowledge that you might not care about this, this is my blog and I can write about whatever I want to. OK I just found the Neosporin... hold on... k... soothing...good stuff. To be continued....

The sewer

2007-12-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

I got out of my car, innocently stepped onto my front lawn, stepped on something black in the grass, and promply fell through the "black thing" and into the sewer! No, I am not making this up... how could I? I would like to take a moment to personally thank Nat for his reminder that snakes, rats, lizards, swamp thing, and quite possibly big foot all live in the sewers. Thank you for that. I'm fine... until the creatures get out of the now uncovered hole, or as I like to call it, scene of the catastrophe.

the frog

2007-12-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

There was just a frog on my mailbox. This shit does not happen in Michigan. Seriously. Geez.

Lindsay's scream

2007-11-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

Lindsay: (screams) Laura get in here right now!
Laura: (grabs her phone in case 911 is needed and runs to the bathroom)
Lindsay: (in her underware... which is relevant to the story, I swear) There is a lizard in the bathroom on my shirt.
Laura: Oh my god! Are you serious?
Lindsay: I can't make shit like this up. I have to leave in ten minutes!
Laura: Wear something else!
Lindsay: I can't, the lizard is on top of my costume!
Laura: shit
Lindsay: What do we do?
Laura: We need a bucket.
Lindsay: I have a bucket (Lindsay gets the bucket)
Laura: and tongs
Lindsay: Well don't kill it!
Laura: Are you crazy! I'm going to scoop it AND the shirt into the bucket and take it outside.
Lindsay: You're so brave.
Laura: (armed with tongs and a bucket tip toes into the bathroom, approaches the counter, and runs out screaming)
Lindsay: Sarah (girl that lives upstairs) likes snakes. Let's call her.
Laura: Yes!
Lindsay: Fuck, my phone is under the Lizard.
Laura: Are you kidding?
Lindsay: No!
Laura: fuck!
Lindsay: We'll have to move out.
Laura: Yes.
Lindsay: fuck
Laura: ok I can do this... but we'll still have to move.
Lindsay: yes
Laura: (bravely approaches the counter again still with tongs and bucket in hand) What if it jumps?
Lindsay: Well it must have been fast to get into my cloths while I was in the shower.
Laura: fuck
Lindsay: maybe it has magical powers
Laura: what if it went through one of our rooms.
Both: impossible
Laura: ( slowly grabs the edge of the shirt with the tongs and pulls it into the bucket. She gets the shirt and the lizard into the bucket and runs outside to dump it. She then retrieves the shirt, with the tongs, or course, and puts it back in the bucket)
Lindsay: oh my god you did it. Where'd you put it.
Laura: Outside. You'll have to burn the shirt.
Lindsay: clearly
Laura: You can't leave me here all by myself!
Lindsay: I'm so sorry!

gorgeous flowers from Nat

2007-11-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

Nat did good! Look how beautiful these are! Thanks babe!

Pumpkin Drilling

2007-10-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. Guy let me take his drill to my pumpkin. Need I say more? This could be a sport!!!!! I assure you we'll be doing this again next weekend... as if that needs to be said!

Fall Festival Dinner with Marta and Guy

2007-10-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

I spent a very eventful weekend with Marta and Guy. Marta and I decided to treat Guy by cooking dinner while he watched football / did homework. We made baked apples (by the way, if you haven't tried the honeycrisp apples yet, you MUST buy one!!!! they're heavenly... I even convinced a random women at the grocery store to buy them), acorn squash, and steak (Guy grilled that). We also made this fruit pizza Marta got growing up. It is AMAZING!!!!!!

So Marta was cutting the acorn squash and I said, be really careful not to cut yourself. So of course twenty seconds later she yelled shit and ran to the bathroom (forgetting about the sink mere inches from here in the kitchen... but then, some kitchens don't have sinks... oh wait) Anyway, her mom (on the phone) said, "well that was dumb." My mom (on the phone) said do you need to go to the emergency room and get stiches?" I highlight this part of the evening only to point out differences in parental approaches :-)

There's also a picture of the dinner, and the fruit pizza thing.

Then, we made a gingerbread haunted house... didn't you?

Please note the candy corn pornography on the back :-)

2007-10-08T17:00:00.000-07:00

Today was quite a disturbing morning. I walked outside (barefoot to put something in the mail) and I felt a leaf on my foot. I looked down in what I would later recall in horror film-like slow motion, only to see a LIZARD ON MY FOOT. If at this moment you find yourself laughing, ask yourself why? Why are you so heartless so as to think that this could be construed as "funny!"

Now sadly, by the time I went back out to document this "catastrophic event" the "lizard" was gone. I have instead included a picture of the scene of the event (the porch)

and a likeness from the internet.

kangaroo's b and c

2007-09-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here's my next two!

kangaroo draft 2

2007-08-31T13:58:00.001-07:00

Everyone, I would like to introduce Norbert. Norbert is a squirrel who desperatly wants to be a kangaroo... unless you actually think he looks like a Kangaroo. Then that's a different story.

Ballroom

2007-08-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

I had my trial private ballroom lesson today with William (yes he's cute, and strong, and funny, and can dance). I think basically he just dragged me around the floor for an hour, with the occasional "graceful" step on my part, but I had a blast! So obviously I signed up on the spot for the next three weeks. I also get to go to a group class/party every Friday night from 8:00-10:00, so maybe I'll meet some fun people. Then, I went right out and purchased the proper foot attire, as pictured here. You can't see very well (well maybe YOU can, but I can't) but they're sort of a deep brown/golden material with black lace over it, then the heel and straps are black. They're suede on the bottom to minimize me sliding across the floor unintentionally, and the strap goes under the arch of the foot, which is pretty cool. Also, they last a hell of a lot longer than pointe shoes. Oh, and my lack of turnout is a GOOD thing in ballroom. Who knew.

Kangaroo draft 1

2007-08-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

I went out this morning, purchased 25 pounds of clay, and decided I'm going to start on a kangaroo chess set for Marta and Guy. Here's my first try.

My first cockroach

2007-08-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

So I saw movement in the corner of my eye... which is very bad when alone... and it was the biggest bug I have ever seen, minus a few in New York... so I took a picture, then I went to find a very hard shoe... and now I can't find the bug... which is worse because now every noise I hear is obviously going to be the bug...

Here's what I did with the flowers...

2007-08-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Dinner gone wrong

2007-08-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

I thought it might work to make gnocchi out of sweet potatoes... it did not. Here's a picture of it.

Art Project!

2007-08-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

The dining room is plain white and boring... so this calls for an art project! Marta took me to this very cool, very big, craft store that happened to have silk flowers for 90% off... so I bought like $80 of flowers for under $9.00. Now I just need to figure out what to do with them.

more apartment pictures

2007-08-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

OK...I made it down to Houston with the help of my parents and brother. The drive was endless, and we created lots of random games to pass the time. For example, guess what number I'm thinking of... (you say 7) I say no, higher... (you say 600) I say nope lower... etc... We also did the same with colors and words. 20 questions came in handy as well. The highlights were cell tower, the moon, and poop.

My job is starting on Monday and so far I have four students lined up for trial lessons. Hopefully that will increase quickly. The studio is very nice though and has been around for over 35 years. Also, the owner studied voice under Renata Tebaldi, who is my all time favorite singer... so that's just cool.

Lindsay is in Ocean City meeting her (hopefully) soon to be in-laws. Marta and Guy are on their way back to Houston on Tuesday, so I'll go visit them for the rest of the week.

Navigating is made possible by the wonderful GPS system my parents got me for graduation... thanks again! No matter where I go, I can just hone in on home again.

OK... more later... I'm off to sketch my art project for the dining room wall.

My first week in Houston

2007-08-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of my apartment in Houston.