Inside Jokes

Here are quotes from inside jokes between family or friends over the years. See if you can pick out the jokes/good times that we've shared. Some are in my distant past, and some are in my distant recent. Remember, these are inside jokes, but you might still find the quotes amusing.

"Ok, I'm going over there to hide and you come and find me, ok?"

"I don't know man, she has a Chewie thing going on."

"Louder! bigger!" "Ahe blough mai nouse ein your gen-e-rahl dahe-rection!" "Bigger, BIGGER!" "Yough dou naught fraighten us, yough Ainglish Piegh-doghs!...."

"What would Superman do?"

"I can't go. I have two finals to study for, a paper to write, my country's 500th anneversary to plan, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped."

"I give them 3 months." (6months later) "I give them 3 months" (1yr after) "I give them...I don't know! and I don't get it!"

"There's nothing you can't cure with white-monkey juice. Go climb a tree."

"No, no! It's pronounced Goo-mie Bears, right?"

"What have I gotta do that I can't spare 15 minutes?"

"What is that?" "Shhhhhh! It's the secret popsicle- and lolliepop-stick burial grounds." "But it's right out in the open." "Well it's still a secret."

"Shut-up Cas. Would you please shut-up?!"

"Shut-up Koubi. Would you please shut-up?!"

"My toenail is severed on three sides" "you're an a**hole!"

"It's a hot night and I'm doing push-ups in nothing but a tool-belt. And I'm drinking Budweiser."

"I'm lonely and my pockets hurt."

"Hope all's well! Heading to the sea and will vomit in a cafe for you!"

"Anna gets around."

"One divided by three is.....Zero!"

"So, after seeing you across the conference table last friday, I have come to several conclusions: 1. You're cheerful, even during meetings. 2. You don't make wandering eye contact very well in said meetings. 3. Or you were avoiding it. 4. The dudes are right."

"I, too, went slumming once."

"I see you have braces. I, too, have braces."

"Haro!"

"Where did you get that cut on your forehead?" "Don't you remember? You threw me across the room last night."

"I would take the high road, but it's too high."

"Mr. Ingrao, you're a genius. Or you don't care about your car-seat. Anything else here for us to pick?"

"It's a non-issue." "What's a non-issue? We have to talk about it and that means it IS an issue." "Whatever, I'm declaring it a non-issue. I can do that."

"If it gets too expensive to feed them, kill and eat the rabbits."

"Did you guys just hootie-hoo that girl?" "HOOTIE-HOO!!!"

"This is the best movie ever. I love this movie, sooo much. (10 mins later) yeah, I don't like this part either. (and 10 mins after) no, you have to look past this at the whole picture. (and 10 more mins) yeah, this movie sucks."

"GUS. Okay, that's perfect. Who's G?" "Well, you know, she should be." "Why?" "well...because of the string, the spot, all that."

"Well, I trust that the KDR radar will take me safely home tonight."

Coming soon: The thrills of fast-food, Bulgarian style

What am I doing?

My current interests: Working out, Mere Christianity, LOST, Viennese coffee, making fun of site-mates.

Working out:

I have not been running much. When I ran in the cold, I got sick. Consequently, I have decided to keep my runs short (1-2 miles) and spend time in the gymn. I joined a fitness hall that is adequately equipped, cheap, and close to home. Most of the clientelle is younger, but they keep away from me and let me just work out. Once or twice, they have obviously tried to show-off or intimidate, but I ignore their efforts to get and keep my attention. One young man started to punch a bag as I walked by, but he was hitting it with vigor and at angles. His wrists weren't straight, and I told him that if he hits the bag that way, sooner or later he would break them. He was surprised I spoke Bulgarian and asked about me. No problems after that. I lift weights and run 3 or 4 days a week.

Mere Christianity:

Mere Christianity is a pithy, dense book. It has so much meaning and has had such an effect on me that I have taken months to read it. CS Lewis makes so many important points that I cannot ignore, he so plainly and logically discusses what christianity means to him and many thoughtful christians, and it is so important to me as a christian to be careful in my reading, that I have trouble reading too much of it at any one time. Consequently, I read little of the book at any time and think about it frequently and persistently. I will finish it soon, and pass it on. Thanks, Greg, for passing it to me.

LOST:

The television series LOST has become one of my obsessions. I was not interested in the show until last November, when I inherited copies of the first 9 episodes of the second season. I had ignored it, even when friends had raved about the quality of the show. When I was bored one evening and had no other new material, I popped the DVD in and began to watch. It grew on me, and by the 6th or 7th episode, I was hooked. Recently, I borrowed the entire first season from a friend. It cleared up a few points for me, but I'm less taken now with the plot or the characters. It wasn't really necessary to see, though I am glad to have seen it. Not many people seem to really like the characters I do, nor dislike certain characters as much as I do. After having seen the first season, I think the whole group would have killed each other off. The plotholes are more apparent to me. In any case, I'm still looking forward to seeing the rest of the second season. It's a good, safe escape and the scenery is beautiful.

Other stuff:

I have Viennese coffee almost every day at my favorite cafe, and the few minutes of alone-time has almost become ritualistic. My closest friends in Bulgaria have begun to make fun of each other, but in a friendly, comfortable way (most of the time, anyway). Am I the butt of any jokes? Of course I am. More on that later.

Putting on the gloves....

The chill has arrived. In the last 2 days, the temperature has dropped an average of 12 degrees celsius, freezing puddles and covering trees with thin coats of frost. I awoke last night to the sound of my chattering teeth, so I piled more covers on and turned on the heater (a momentous occasion). The apartment was warmer than ever this morning. I couldn't fall back to sleep. I looked out the window at the cloudy, moonlit sky and watched the moonbeams shift quickly with the racing gaps in the cloudcover. Winds must have been terribly strong, as the entire sky moved with amazing speed.

For a year, I have been trying to work on a recycling/garbage collection system in my city. I have had small meetings and conversations, I have been welcomed by some and maligned by others. All of that was done in the name of health, modernization and progress. My efforts have now officialy been snubbed. The city has placed recycling bins in a few places, but has not emptied them in weeks. They fill with garbage, which is to be expected without an information campaign or at least a bit of advertizing. It's a bit discouraging, but there's hope brewing: some of the youth and children in the community understand the need for recycling and environmental care and are interested in learning about recycling and its social effects. Slowly (little-for-little in Bulgarian), the community might become waste-conscious and change.

In the coming weeks, work will take me back to Plovdiv, Topolovgrad, Varna and other Bulgarian regions I love. I'll be teaching and leading discussions on geology, project design and amnagement, among other things. Gonna be busy. Ciao!