Que?

I've been avoiding posting because I don't have an answer to "que?" Nothing to post in the q's!
Oh well.

Instead I will give a quick update.

1. Survived another wedding. Phew. It was fun, Jamaal and I had a nice time kicking it around the DC area, though we avoided the city. We went to Mt. Vernon which was phenomenal. It really hit me this time around that I was walking in Washington's footsteps and that he and Martha totally used to chill on the porch we were all sitting on - crazy. It made Jamaal a little sad, understandably, as Mt. Vernon was a plantation completely dependent upon slave labor. I guess the one redeeming factor was that Washington freed his slaves in his will. Not that that makes up for it really, but you know, it was sort of a light at the end of the tunnel. Actually during one hilarious moment, one of the guides there kept talking to us, yelling something we couldn't understand. Finally I just nodded and said "hi how are you?" and as we walked away he shouted "EH! You from Ghana??" Jamaal gets this all the time. He's been asked if he's been from: Ghana, Nigeria, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Guyana, all over the West Indies. It's kind of funny, but it's probably irritating too because he'll tell people "no, I'm American" and they'll say "oh but that can't be true, you got xyz blood in you." Um ok. Anyways, as Jam is laughing I shout "no he is from New York!!!" Well the guy seemed to think this was pretty funny and was laughing. I told him that when I brought Jamaal's picture to Kenya the Africans wanted to know to what tribe he belonged and I told them the Brooklyn tribe. This also brought about additional laughter from the guide. Jamaal was laughing too, then I got the Brooklyn tribe thing and he did his characteristic "Oh my god, Allison, let's go." Funny.

2. I just looked at all 1865 of my friend's wedding proofs. They're fantastic, though in most of them I had this odd mark on my arm. I was about 12oo in when I realized that it was the watermark that said "proof" and not some tattoo I forgot about.

3. I helped my parents clean out my cousin's house a bit last night. It really depressed me. I hate it when people die in general, but my great auntie, for instance, was 95 - old. So it sucks but it's sort of like the natural progressions of things. With Catherine it's so backwards. I mean she still had laundry in the hamper, her calendar is on April 2008. It's just odd. I felt like a trespasser as I went through all her bureau drawers, separating clothes for the Goodwill and Interfaith, taking the occasional Sigrid Olsen/Talbots/Henri Bendel top with the tags on it that I liked. The woman had amazing taste in clothes, but it's hard to get excited about taking this stuff because it feels wrong. We're donating most of it, and it makes me happy to think of all the women she will help, especially at Interfaith, where they take clothing suitable for job interviews and career-wear in order to help women get back on their feet. Still though, I understand now why my dad comes home sad from her house sometimes.

4. On a brighter note, a duck on our island in NH has decided that the perfect nesting spot is a planter full of geraniums. This house is about a dozen our so down island from ours, but we nevertheless enjoy their webcams, and to my delight, they put up one of Daisy duck. I spend way too much time looking at it!

5. After reading DoctorMama's blog, I've been inspired to resume running. So inspired, that I stole an idea from her - running with an iPod shuffle. Why did I not think of this? I have spent so much on athletic-type cases/holders for my nano that I probably could have bought two shuffles by now. Because I'm such a spastic runner, I hate anything attached to me (except clothes!) and carrying things. Realizing the shuffle could clip to my t-shirt, I took myself down to the new Apple store on Boylston to buy me one....except....no one waited on me. After milling around and making lots of eye contact, nothing. WTF? So I'm not buying a new iPhone, so what? Does that make me less important than everyone else? I guess so, because there was some serious ass-kissing going on in the iPhone corner. ick. I was so turned off I left. I'll go to Derby Street where someone will hopefully give me the time of day. Bitches!

I think that's all my news. This weekend I get to stay close to home. Of course it's all booked up, but it's mostly local. I might even get my kayak out. Sigh of happiness.