Volleying the Back Handed Compliment
Monday, Apr. 16, 2007 at 9:29 a.m.
On This Day in 1943, Chemist Albert Hofmann inadvertently experiences the world's first acid trip when a tiny quantity of lysergic acid diethylamide accidentally seeps through the skin of his finger. After leaving work early, he went home and settled into "a not unpleasant intoxicated condition." Then he had solid two hours of visual hallucinations: "I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors." It will be another three days before Hofmann gets up the courage to swallow 250 micrograms and ride his bicycle home.
Ah, such humble beginnings. You have to wonder how quickly the news spread, when you consider that Also On This Day in 1953, President Eisenhower addresses the nation concerning the relative priorities of "guns" versus "butter."
In a pinch, I'd have to bet on the guns. The only way butter works as a defense strategy is if you have enough time to wait for your enemies to have a heart attack.
In other news, the weekend was quiet because I didn�t have to work. Yippee! Hubster and I also had a cheap date on Saturday as we ushered for a play that we then got to see for free. We spent $1 on a bottle of water � this is Arizona, and the rules for �no beverages in the theater� do not extend to water bottles. We all have bottled water as a third appendage here. This is the only place where you can attend a gala and observe the high rollers of Paradise Valley in $5K gowns and tuxedos guzzling out of a plastic bottle. Bottled water is a popular item in food bank boxes. The most popular galleries in the Scottsdale ArtWalk are the ones with a tub of bottled water by the door. The attendees of said ArtWalk will double-fist it regularly � cheap white wine in one hand, bottled water in the other.
So, obviously, bottled water is very important to us here in the desert. Oh, not tap water. And certainly not Perrier. This is still the wild west, you know, and we don�t drink no pansy frog water, you varmints.
I also had the opportunity to go shopping yesterday, and actually be all girly and try a bunch of stuff on. Unfortunately, I forgot my discount card so I didn�t actually bring anything home. Hubster for some reason encourages me to go on these shopping expeditions. He�s learned that I don�t come home with oodles of stupid stuff (although I do have a penchant for shoes) because I can�t see myself paying too much for anything, even shoes. I wear size 11 and there�s no real middle ground between Nordstrom�s and Payless. Except maybe Avenue, but they carry only wides, it seems.
Conversation with Hubster:
Valkyrie: So I did something stupid at the gym today.
Hubster: Like what?
Valkyrie: I signed up for this weight-loss challenge.
Hubster: Why do you keep doing things like that? At the end of it, I�m going to come home and find you in a fetal position in bed, crying, and then you�ll impose some dumb diet on yourself.
Valkyrie: Yeah, but this time, I�m already thinking I�m going to fail, so imagine how pleasantly surprised I would be if I actually lost weight.
Hubster: Or you could just have the wobbly now and save time.
Valkyrie: I could. Should I start now?
Hubster: Can you wait until after lunch?
Valkyrie: I suppose. I�m hungry anyway.
Is it just me, or can the Hubster be both encouraging and discouraging in the same breath? You�d think he was in management or something. Like the kind of management that does things like this:
