"This Ain't Yo Mama's Ice Cream Truck"

I suppose I can take a break from all of the nothing I'm doing to write a blog.

Ashley and I went to a block party across the street from her apartment on Friday night. Believe it or not, we met fellow Iowans there who live in this neighborhood in Seattle. I didn't stay long enough to enjoy much else than the food, but Ashley stayed late to mingle with her neighbors. She met a couple of girls her age who went to a high school near ours in Iowa. This world is REALLY way too small. They invited Ashley and I to join them on Saturday at a sports bar downtown to watch the Iowa vs. Iowa State football game. I expected to see a small crowd of Iowa fans in the bar, but on Saturday as we walked nearer and nearer to the bar we saw more and more people sporting Iowa gear. Inside the bar there was a sea of gold t-shirts. Some simply had IOWA printed in bold across the front. Some displayed the Hawkeyes logo. Some said BEAT STATE. One said "Keep tailgating until he's cute". (that's the spirit) My sister and I squeezed into a booth with our new friends and watched the bar become packed with Iowa fans. (one person came in an Iowa State shirt... he got lots of dirty looks) After about an hour of eating and talking about how awesome Iowa is the game started. I don't know much about football so all I can really say about the game is... poor Iowa State. The Hawkeyes dominated! Iowa won with 35 points.. affectionately giving Iowa State 7 points for a courtesy touchdown at the end of the game. What I CAN talk about is the mid-western sporting spirit in the bar. After every touchdown (and sometimes during dull moments like when the Cyclones were trying to score points) a random guy stood up with his trombone and played the Iowa fight song. About 8 times throughout the game the whole crowd participated in the I-O-W-A chant. (one corner of the place says "I!", then the next corner says "O!", the next corner says "W!" and the last corner says "A!". Repeated about 5 times each round) GO HAWKS!

After the game, Ashley and I did a little shopping. Walking around the streets in Seattle we heard some obnoxious rap music with the bass blasting. When we got closer to the noise it seemed to be coming from an Ice Cream Truck. I thought it was an interesting way to target ice cream sales to an audience more diverse than just small children. Later when we were walking away from downtown the truck drove by us. "Yo yo yo! This ain't to mama's ice cream truck!" rapped the guy in the front seat. Indeed... it was not.

Then we went home haven't done much else since. I love this. You know, you don't have to go somewhere warm with beaches to call your time vacation. Last night as I went to bed after sitting around doing nothing for several hours I started to feel a little bit restless about my lazy behavior since I've arrived here. Much of my time has been spent laying around.. literally doing nothing. BUT I LOVE IT! I told my restless self to chill out. It argued, "but now you're laying in bed pretending like you're going to sleep but you're not even tired! You could be reading! Or doing you sister's dishes! DO SOMETHING!"

"No." I replied, "I don't think I will." And I snuggled into cozy covers and thought happy thoughts to keep me warm until I fell asleep an hour or two later.