what a great salad

I haven't quite decided how I will use this outlet of expression. So today I think I will just include my thoughts of the morning.

Also, I should warn you that I like lists. A LOT. You should see the yellow legal pad currently sitting on my desk stained with a Sharpee scribbled list (currently being avoided) of things to do.

1. Yesterday I had lunch with an old companion. We hadn't seen each other in months, thus on an extremely over priced lunch date at Panera Bread we tried to catch each other up on our lives. blah.blah.blah. Long story short he proceeded to tell me, after we barely had time to sit down at the table, that he is moving in with a girl he has been dating for approximately two months. After I heard this, all I could manage to talk about was how good my salad was. What could be a more appropriate response to such strange news other than a series of statements praising the Greek salad I was eating?

"We are moving in together."

"This feta is amazing. Do you love her?"

"I don't tell her I love her."

"And these olives, delight! Guess what, I like tomatoes now. What do you even know about this girl?"

That salad was by far the most bizarre conversational defense mechanism I have ever used. Moving on to thought two.

2. Another conversation I had with a friend yesterday is lingering on my mind this morning. After some banter about the recent oil spill in the gulf, I got to express how I feel about the oil spill in the gulf. After a friend told me he knows someone who is considering leaving the country because she was so outraged by BP, the U.S. government, etc. I shared my opinion. Sharing of opinions in casual conversation is not a regular habit of mine however, I was pleased with what leaked out.

I basically told him that this lady needed to snap out of it and that yes, it is an unbelievably awful natural disaster, but there have been unbelievably awful disasters before (i.e. Katrina, 9/11). Even though there is no solution yet, we need to have faith that there will be a solution. It's unfortunate that our government is again, inevitably, going to have to literally clean up after a major corporation but, I have faith that they will. I told him that in the grand scheme of the world there are so many terrible things that happen to people and places (i.e. tsumani, war), that it is selfish of privileged white Americans to exercise their privilege in the face of disaster to pick up and move to another country.

After this statement gushed out of my mouth like an oil spill. He looked at me like I had just personally poured oil on a baby seal. I paused for a moment and thought, "Geez Mel, that was harsh." Harsh? Maybe. How I really feel? Absolutely.

It has been ages since I have made some sort of statement during a conversation about something newsworthy or political. Damn, it felt good. Right or wrong, it felt good to have an opinion again.

3. This list will stop at number three. So let's have a brief recap. Number one, funny story. Number two, bold statement. There it is, this will be the general theme of my blogs. Funny stories, which I always have plenty of, and bold statements, which I sure as hell need more of.