creativenachos.com Blog

Recently I attended the Phillies vs. the Braves game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia with a group of friends. Please note that there was only one Philly fan among us, the rest were Yankee and Mets fans.

I do not root for either the Phillies or the Braves; I was strictly an observer which allowed me to take in the game from an entirely new perspective. The game itself was interesting, especially when the Phillies had a seven run inning which led them to victory but I was more interested in the fans and the overall experience. Things like “The Kiss Cam” were funny between innings, especially when people in their 70’s and 80’s realized they were in the hot seat and had to share a kiss or when a guy who had been sitting with his arm around his girlfriend turned to kiss his guy friend instead. Honestly, many fans struck me as very cuddly or touchy feely. All the couples sitting in the rows ahead of us were either holding hands or girls were resting their heads on guy’s shoulders. One half of me was like, “Awww” while the other wanted to shout, “Hey, this isn’t the park. You’re not sitting under a tree reading poetry, this is a ballgame. Let’s grab a beer, a dog and make some noise.” When the Phanatic which I am convinced, is a cross between a genetically engineered alligator and a gecko, did a rather provocative, pelvis thrusting dance, I laughed out loud. However, I found that the overall energy of the fans was much more subdued than I was used to, even when their team was winning.

As I looked around the stadium, I wondered how I would rate this experience. What would I use as my base line? I learned that my friend Mike rates ballparks based on their nachos. However, he could not find any there. And just for future reference so far, he believes Cleveland has the best nachos. Does anyone have any other recommendations out there? (I’d also like to give a BIG shout out to Nicole who got me to eat nachos with hot, fabulous jalapenos this weekend. I am now addicted!)

I decided that I would rate this experience as I do many restaurant experiences. I would focus on the bathroom. Bathrooms are important. They often color how you feel about a place. Think about it. If I say, “Gas station bathroom” I bet many, disturbing images come to mind including a pop queen who once thought it cool to enter a gas station bathroom in bare feet. When I say, “Concert Port-A-Potty” I bet you think of another host of lovely things. Work bathrooms can either be great or too small and can give too much information about people you work with like who has an early morning movement, who takes the newspaper to the bathroom and who pees on the seat.

So, here is my bathroom assessment. Citizen Bank Park has great bathrooms. The stalls are clean – even at the end of the game – and the things like the automatic facets actually work. There was soap and a host of hand towels – even at the end of the game. Aside from the fight that was brewing between the women who entered the bathroom where it said, “Enter”, and those who entered and formed a line in the “Exit” doorway, I’d say it was a good experience. And by that I refer to the game, the stadium, the bathrooms and the tame folks (I’ve since learned that Philly is really an Eagles town and I need to see them in action at a football game).

When you attend a concert, game or other event and you are not into the main attraction, how do you spend your time? What entertains you? AND what do you use to rate a new restaurant or other venue?
 

I have an Exciting Nacho Update!

Bridget Murphy who was featured in the CreativeNachos article, One Woman Helps Children While Chasing Her Dream, made her dream come true on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 when she completed the NYC Half Marathon in 2 hours and 28 minutes! Not only did she accomplish her personal goal, she also raised money for an incredible cause, Team for Kids.

Congratulations Bridget! Way to bring it home! Creativenachos celebrates you and your fabulous achievement!

Bridget’s feat makes me want to celebrate and celebration for me comes in the form of dancing which made me think of this guy. Have you heard about Matt? Matt is this dude who had a friend record him doing a dance while on a trip. Then a couple of years later someone found the video online and passed it along to someone who passed it along – you know how this Internet thing works – and soon he became a bit of a sensation. Finally, Stride Gum asked him if he wanted to take another trip around the world, so he did. In fact, he danced his way around the globe several times and the last time he invited the folks who’d written to him to join him. Here is his video - it’s awesome. So, in celebration of Bridget, achieving dreams, Matt, and the fun folks around the world who run, dance and live this life fully, I invite you to start off your Monday by celebrating and chair dancing or simply dancing around.

Before you go to watch the video, I have to ask….

What is the one place in the world you would want to dance? I would want to dance on top of a mountain peak in New Zealand.

If you were invited to travel the globe doing one thing, what would it be? I would want to laugh with as many people as possible in as many places as possible around the world.

We all have some strange talent or skill at which we excel. Those types of things make good material for any number of creative projects. So, here is my question to you.

What are three, bizarre things that you are good at?

Here are mine:

1. Wiggling my ears. Our neighbors growing up showed me how to do it. They said it required the use of a muscle we no longer use. Well, I found it and I’ve never forgotten how to use it; it’s especially fun to whip out at parties.

2. Picking up things with my toes. I can walk from one room to another, see a pen on the floor and scoop it up with my toes without breaking my stride. I rule!

3. I can always tell you when the time is 9:11. Well, the only exception to that may be when I’m sleeping. It doesn’t matter if it’s A.M. or P.M., for some peculiar reason I always look at the clock when it reads that specific time.

And you?

Photo by Natasha Reilly

Last week, I was lucky enough to get a chance to see Billy Joel in concert at Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets.  An old friend first introduced me to Joel a million years and one moment ago. I was sixteen and we were standing in McDonald’s when the static-filled version of Piano Man began to play. My friend sang and, as I listened to the words, I fell in love.

Unlike the aunt who makes you suffer through the same tale each and every time you see her, Billy Joel’s songs are the stories we never grow tired of hearing. Some of his songs, like New York State of Mind, capture our own longings. As my friend Claire said, “There isn’t a New Yorker alive who doesn’t get what that song means.”

Others allow us to relate in a way we may not be able to otherwise as in Goodnight Saigon which harnessed a moment in time that made some men in the audience stand and sing with closed eyes.

I read that Joel worked on an oyster boat on Long Island when he was young. It makes me wonder if that was his inspiration for one of my favorite songs, The Downeaster Alexa. It’s a moving portrayal of events within the lives of people of the North Atlantic fishery. In Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, we learn of Brenda and Eddie’s highs and lows; we all know people like that, ones who have risen and then fallen and split apart.

Perhaps that is why people like Billy Joel because he talks about regular folks living regular lives; he provides connection. Whatever it is, he’s an incredible lyricist, and he’s also an amazing performer because he can make you feel like you are sitting in his living room even while sitting in an arena.

Are you a Billy Joel fan or have a song of his that you like?

If not, what musician really speaks to you? Whose songs do you love to sing for the meaning as much as for the joy of simply singing?

From time to time, we all find ourselves living in either the past or the future. We plan for what is to come, all that needs to be done or we mourn for what is gone. It can be incredibly hard to focus on the now, the moment right here in our hand. However, this weekend I found myself standing at a point where my past, present and future all intersected.

As a kid, I spent many a summer at my aunt’s house in Long Island. It was my summer haven. This weekend, I watched a woman I’ve called friend for the last thirty years, one of my summer buddies, exchange vows, and begin a new life with the man she loves on the very beach we played on every summer.

At one point I stood at the water’s edge in my evening dress, the ocean tickled my feet and, once, rose to my knees. It was then that I was flooded by the memory of my tiny hands wrapped around my Mother’s fingers the day she introduced me to the water and ignited my love affair with the ocean on this beach. Overhead, a seagull hovered on a slight breeze and I could almost hear the laughter of my late swimming teacher, someone who had shown me how to do the backstroke in this ocean, my Grandma.

Just then, the bride’s sister, another lifelong friend, came running toward me. We hugged the way we did when I first appeared each summer; like two people reunited after years apart. I showed her the seashell I’d found; we’d often spend hours collecting them. We shared mischievous tales, laughter and jokes. It amazes me that we can always pick up right where we left off as though not a day has passed between us.

The bride finished with her pictures and came over. There were hugs, some laughter and then suddenly a photographer was screaming, “Stop. Lean in again.” So we mimicked the pose that had come so naturally just moments before and he snapped a photo. A present moment captured which is now another part of our past. The daughters of my friends buzzed around us teasing one another as we once did. My daughter is too young for this yet but the girls tell me they cannot wait till she is in the mix. Now, they are our future.

There are many places that contain moments from my past but few where I can find the past, present and future wrapped into one. Those places – my daughter’s face, in the sound of my brother’s laughter, tucked safely within my husband’s palm, in my father’s smile and here at the ocean – are precious to me.

Someday we would return to this beach, to the grains of sand that hold our memories. We’d take in the beauty of another moment and look out to the horizon where waves would just be beginning to journey toward us. But for now, we walked back toward the pavilion; celebration and adventure lay ahead as a new couple, a new family stepped into the future together, friends held hands, children raced along the shore and the thunder of waves grew distant until finally, we could no longer hear it.

Where does the past, present and future come together for you?
 

The other night, my hilarious friend Claire shared her thoughts about what she would send her “double” to do if she had one. And I started thinking, if I had a carbon copy of myself that I could send out into the world to handle all the things I don’t want to so that I could spend more time playing with the ones I love, what would I make my double do?

I’d have her:

-attend all the boring meetings I dread

-clean the apartment, especially the bathroom

-go to my dentist appointments

-visit the tax guy once a year

-be the one who waits on hold forever to talk to someone about screwed up cable stations

I’m sure there is more but I want to know about you? What would you make your double do?

Ok Nachos, I’m looking for the TOP TEN Worst Movie Lines of all time; the ones that are SO bad you can’t help but laugh.

I’ll start. Although the music from Dirty Dancing makes me move my booty, I really dig the film because of the following two lines. They’re so awful they’re great! They make me laugh every time I hear them said and, of course, when given the opportunity I try to land them in the middle of random conversations.

TOP TEN MOVIE LINES THAT ARE SO BAD THEY’RE GOOD

10. “Nobody puts Baby in the corner!” - Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) in Dirty Dancing

9. “You’re wild!!” - Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Grey) in Dirty Dancing (By the way, click on Jennifer Grey’s name and check out her photos. Holy Different Look, Batman!)

And yours?

Lines submitted by Nachos as of July 17th, 2008

8. “Let’s do it for Johnny man, do it for Johnny” The Outsiders, Dallas “Dally” Winston, submitted by BigJohn

7. “You’re breaking my heart” Star Wars movie, Natalie Portman, submitted by Bridget

6. “Run, Forrest! Run!” Forrest Gump, Jenny, submitted by Kim

5. “Whoever wants pizza, come to Larry’s room…” Stewardess School, Larry, submitted by JJ

Four to go…anyone?

Photo by Natasha Reilly

Do you ever have those days where you wake and realize that the only place you want to be is at the beach? And no matter what you do, you cannot get yourself motivated to do anything else?

So, you give in and decide to go but what will you tell work or those people you were supposed to meet with to work on that project today?

I’m looking for the TOP TEN excuses to give to work or anyone else you were supposed to see when you’re heading for some sun and fun….

I’ll start….

10. I have to get my dog fixed TODAY. It’s been humping everything in my house all weekend! I’ve got no place left to sit.

9. Someone broke into my car and stole my steering wheel.

8. ???

Can’t wait to hear yours!

Nacho Reader Additions as of July 15th, 2008:

8. Someone stole my bikini wax. – Lisa
7. I gained a half a pound. – Lisa
6. Got an urgent message from Aqua man that just said “meet me at the shore.” – Lorrie
5. I can’t come in today. Sorry. Be back tomorrow. – Rowena
4. I’m having eye trouble. I just can’t see myself at work today. – Kim
3. My favorite for my male manager–anything to do with “women issues.”  – Katy

Just 2 to go!! Anyone have any left?

Photo by Rebecca Schavulski

When my friends, Faith and Dan got married, Faith knew that she wanted one of her wedding photos to include a picture that was filled the spirit of NYC because, after her wedding, she was moving to Canada. The result was this magnificent photo taken of two of the most magnificent people I know. It not only captured the happiness of these newlyweds but it captured the energy of the city in the heart of Grand Central Station and the beauty of our nation with the flag. Sometimes, we grab hold of the very moments we dreamed of capturing, perfectly.

 Photo by Brian Moynihan

My husband and I were driving along a road in Hawaii when we spotted the sun on the water. It was incredible. He stopped the car for just a moment, rolled down the window and snapped this photo. It is one of our favorite pictures. We never dreamed it would turn out to be so beautiful.

Whether it’s a planned photo or one that happened spontaneously, I invite you to partake in a community photo project called, “The One That Didn’t Get Away.” This project is open to everyone from professional photographers and those who enjoy snapping a photo every now and again to people who never take pictures but once took a fabulous picture by accident. Please feel free to extend this invitation to others.

If you don’t have a photo that you would like to share, I encourage you to think about a picture you hope to take one day and tell us about it. Maybe you’d like a self-portrait or a photo standing before a Wonder of the World. Whatever it is, I’d love to hear about it.
As for me, I have a couple of photos I’d like to take in the future including one taken while lying on the ground looking up at the swarms of butterflies I have heard you can find in Mexico in the Spring. And I’d love a photo of me when I go surfing for the first time.

Let’s see if we can create an incredible gallery of those images that exceeded our expectations. The ones that didn’t get away.
 
HOW TO SUBMIT A PHOTO:  Please go to the Contact Me page on this blog by simply clicking on “Contact Me” at the very top of this page. You will find my email address. Send your photos along and I will create a Flickr page that will link to my blog for this art project.
 

Nachos, are you ready for this? Are you all poised on the edges of your dippin’ bowls to hear my latest saucy news? I won an award. That’s right, me. And from what I hear, only sixty-five thousand other bloggers have won it…at least that’s the word on the street from Lorrie, the Mud Blogger of Our Name is Blog. She is the one who bestowed the award on me and I’m quite honored. Your wit and humor, Lorrie, bolster my rainbows and brighten my sunshine.

The Arte Y Pico Blog Award is given to bloggers who inspire others with their creativity, and for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. After reading that sentence, I’m kind of psyched to be one of the sixty-five thousand spreading a little creativity. The Arte Y Pico site is written in Spanish by someone named Esey, you can translate it if you use the “Translate this Page” button on Google which I did and found that to translate Art and Pico it would be quite difficult but if one had to it would translate to something like “Wow, the Best Art. Over the Top.”

So, thanks to all my favorite Nachos for reading, commenting, sharing and just being you. You guys ROCK! Seriously.

Ok, so there are some rules that go along with this award. The Arte Y Pico Award rules are:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.
3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.
4. Please include a link to the “Arte Y Pico” blog so that everyone will know where the award came from.

And now, for the brand new Arte Y Pico Blog Award winners…..drumroll please…..

Flossie Teacakes – I simply love the way Florence writes, especially in her Snail House post. Oh, and the doggie doorstop she made for a little boy who loves dogs was adorable.

The Camera and I – Jon’s adventures in the Middle East are so incredible. They shouldn’t just be on a blog, they should be a book. Seriously…it’s addicitve.

Warrior Girl, You’re a Warrior Mama Now – Rowena’s posts often challenge me to think about life, creativity and being a mom from a different perspective. How can you not dig that?

Portabello Pixie – With vibrant fabrics, beautiful photos and fab music, how can you not enjoy Sandi’s blog? 

37 Days – What would you be doing today if you had only 37 days to live? I mean, you read Patti’s sentence and doesn’t your mind just race?

And now here is my question for you, if you were going to give an award what would it be for? AND what would it be called?
I would give an award for most hilarious person in life and it would be called the PeeN’Pants Award. PP for short….and you??