Heidi came up with a great one, a real gem, over the weekend. We were wandering around, looking at homes, dreaming about the day we might own one and what the possibilities would be for our approximate price range of $190,000-$220,000. That might sound like a lot...or it might not. In Denver today, that range will get you a 4-bedroom tri-level or ranch built between 1975 and 1985. Not terrible, but not outstanding either..."outstanding" starts at about $275K for the four bedrooms we need. But I digress...
Many of these homes had no discernible yard, just woodchips and gravel, or a small 10' x 10' square of green grass, with the rest being rockbed and sidewalk. One extreme example, on a small corner lot, has NO yard at all, even rockbed...it was completely paved because the frontage of the lot to the road was about 20' long and they needed most of that for driveway and city-mandated sidewalk, so they just paved it all. So Heidi saw one and said, "That's part of that zero-scaping, isn't it? Really low-maintenance, you don't have to do hardly anything." All I could do was laugh and laugh. Go here to see what she was really talking about. I like her idea and name for it, "zero-scaping" much better...much more apt, frankly.
From the Be-True-To-Yourself Department:
Quite some time back, I went to Panda Express for the first time. Now, this isn't a big deal; PE actually has some decent "Chinese" food and very affordable when compared to other offerings. What immediately struck me, though, as I stepped up to order, was that there was not a single Asian in the place. I mean, NONE, even behind the counter. All the cooks and other staff were Hispanic. This is certainly a big departure from the typical American "Chinese food" restaurant, where the folks preparing and serving the food are usually Asian, at least a few of them. Aside from great amusement, I ordered and ate and all was well.
This weekend, I noticed something I really hadn't noticed before, this time on Food Network. If any of you watch it at all, you've no doubt seen the ads for the new show, Simply Delicioso. This isn't odd, in and of itself, until you see the hostess is a lady named Ingrid Hoffman, who doesn't look or sound or in any way, shape, or form seem Latino. She looks much closer to Rachel Ray, actually. I hate to seem like I'm stereotyping, but let's be honest; the world does it (as we'll see, and minorities are as bad or worse about it than we whites), so let's run with it.
Ms. Hoffman actually was born and raised in Columbia, so she has some real Latino credentials, but I somehow doubt she'll get real street cred looking like she does, speaking with almost no accent, and walking around with the decidedly un-Latino name "Ingrid Hoffman". She's run into this before, in fact; a Google search for Ms. Hoffman reveals that she used to be a Latino soap opera star, but couldn't find work in that industry here in the States because she was told, "You're not Hispanic enough." She's true to herself and it still isn't enough...especially in the highly-charged, highly-stereotyping, highly-preception-driven world of television and minorities. When I saw the ad myself, my first trip to Panda Express popped into my head, and I wondered how she gets away with saying she's Latino when she's "obviously" not. Maybe she should try a stage name, at least. I won't watch her show, but I wish her luck in any case.
I have yet to put up the adventure of my trip of Mount Bierstadt and Mount Evans via the Sawtooth...that's coming very soon. Thanks for reading along.
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