OT: Lincoln

[MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan]

Some thoughts/observations/commentary from my recent trip back for a friend's wedding...

- After flying into Omaha, I hadn't even made it off of the ramp from the plane before I saw a sign directing me to the nearest tornado shelter.

- It's still humid there and it still smells like farm.

- Jean shorts seem to be quite popular.

- People still have those "Support Our Troops" yellow ribbon magnets on their cars.

- The quote of the weekend was "I like this champagne. It tastes like pop."

- At the motel, they had a list of all the TV channels and they were even grouped into convenient categories, such as "Sports," "Kids," "Music," "News," "Family," "Movies," "Educational," and my personal favorite, "Women." The "Women" category included Lifetime and Oxygen obviously, but also Soapnet, Food Netowrk, HGTV, and E! I guess that's because a woman's place is in the home, watching soaps, gardening, and cooking for her man.

- We went downtown for a beer at O'Rourke's, and the streets were practically teeming with hot, vapid, 20something, bleached blonds. I don't recall that being the case back in the mid 90s, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a change for the worse.

- They tore down our old house at 315 S. 19th St. (all the houses on that side of the block, actually) and replaced it with... nothing. It's just a grassy field. Once again, I wouldn't necessarily call that a change for the worse.

- On my way to the airport in Omaha, I saw a gas station called Kum & Go. I laughed out loud all by myself, probably because I have the sense of humor of a 15-year-old.

The two highlights of my weekend...

1. Eating breakfast at this little cafe/bistro place on 10th St. called the Green Gateau ( http://www.greengateau.com ). I'd never been there or even heard of it before. It was recommended to me by a random construction worker on O Street after the place I was originally recommended turned out to be closed. I had chicken fried steak, scrambled eggs and hash browns, all covered in sausage gravy, and a single whole grain pancake that was about 1/2-inch thick (I slathered it in butter and syrup to counteract the whole grain healthiness). All that and an iced tea came out to $12.47 after tax. I couldn't even finish it all.

2. Winning $72.07 on a horse race. I met up with a friend, her roommate and several members of the local roller derby community at the horse races at the state fairgrounds. I ended up winning one of the Superfecta Box bets I made. I had no idea what the hell a Superfecta Box even was until about 5 minutes before I placed the bet. It's a $2.40 bet, so that's not a bad payoff. I didn't win any other bets, but I still finished about $30 up, which came in handy at the airport bar when my flight was delayed for almost an hour and a half.

[Cornhusker]

[I guess that's because a woman's place is in the home, watching soaps, gardening, and cooking for her man.

And this is a bad thing? You left out feeding the livestock and laundry. You've been gone too long. Bitch best not be watchin' TV though.

The two highlights of my weekend...

1. Eating breakfast

2. Winning $72.07 on a horse race.

Sound like the wedding was a real [stayinginthenebraskatheme]hoot nanny.[/stayinginthenebraskatheme]

[PSUFAN]

- We went downtown for a beer at O'Rourke's, and the streets were practically teeming with hot, vapid, 20something, bleached blonds. I don't recall that being the case back in the mid 90s, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a change for the worse.

I have noticed the same about State College, when I return there and hit the bars. I'm not sure if it's a demographics change, more peroxide, or just the hopelessness of being 36+, married and moving inexorably away from the coed flesh-plying days.

[King Crimson]

- We went downtown for a beer at O'Rourke's, and the streets were practically teeming with hot, vapid, 20something, bleached blonds. I don't recall that being the case back in the mid 90s, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a change for the worse.

I have noticed the same about State College, when I return there and hit the bars. I'm not sure if it's a demographics change, more peroxide, or just the hopelessness of being 36+, married and moving inexorably away from the coed flesh-plying days.

i blame it on virtual reality, Britney and Paris H--the baby doll/skank vapidity of the heiress in bug-eyed sunglasses is a social construct that eventually colonizes the "mind" irreversibly i fear. college students are from another planet these days.

[Danimal]

I've admitted to myself that I'm way too old for the typical downtown Lincoln spots. Even though Lincoln has expanded the downtown scene is still pretty-much college bars full of folks over a decade younger than me. Chicks just dress different nowadays. What used to be considered slut-wear is now the norm(of course I can't say I don't do my share of ogling). Scares me to think of having a daughter and what she'd be trying to wear when she hits puberty.