Zyrtec people are
MEAN!  Don't buy their drugs!

I was at the zoo again with CincyUpdate. And will be there next week for wine. I've been to the zoo three times this year already. And I haven't even used my membership.

Off to Keeneland and Maker's Mark for the weekend!
I told Suzanne last night that I like my bourbon in the form of candy :)

The rest of the week.
Anymore, I think the weekend starts on Wednesday. This week, One World Wednesday focuses on England. I'll get there late, after dinner with some college friends. On Thursday, I have salsa class, then of course I have to go to the Bacchanalian Society at Music Hall. And then I want to go to the sneak preview showing of The Ruins. I read the book last summer so I'm really curious to see how the movie is done. It made me want to keep a closer eye on all the ivy growing around my yard. I pulled a long vine out from under the siding on my house and thought "Oh noes! It's trying to get into the house so it can GET ME!" But it didn't.

It seems I have been remiss in updating my blog lately. It seems like there's just been so much going on. However, I doubt that my lack of posts has left a hole in anyone's daily life. But just in case, here is something interesting to peruse.
The plans for updates to Cincinnati's Riverfront Park are here: http://www.crpark.org/

Fun stuff!

Old Times

In anticipation of the upcoming 4th movie, I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark tonight. On a VHS tape. I had to rewind it when it was over! How very retro.

Afternoon At The Zoo.

On Wednesday, Sarah and I had a lunch meet with the Zoo's Director of Development to talk about partnerships with CincyUpdate. It was a good meeting, but I thought, as long as I'm at the zoo, I'm going to stay awhile, so I took the afternoon off from work. I'm so glad I did! The weather was beautiful and the zoo was freakishly uncrowded. That is the way to do the Zoo. The polar bears were my favorites on Wednesday. But only for Wednesday! Nothing beats my cheetahs!
I capture the gazelles fighting on film. It's my first video on my PowerShot digital camera!
For the rest of the photos, go to my Flickr page.

This is a cool thing.  The TAP Project is a UNICEF
initiative to provide clean drinking water to kids around the world.
 It started last year with restaurants in New York City and has expanded
this year to 16 cities including Cincinnati.  When you dine at
participating restaurants next week, you can "pay" for your water with
a $1 donation to TAP.  There are too many participating restaurants to
list here.  The kickoff party is Friday night at Bang nightclub.

www.tapproject.org

Dating Advice

What? Me giving dating advice? Yes. Just a few little tips for the men in the Cincinnati area. And I do know I am not the easiest person to date. I'm not naturally outgoing and bubbly and exciting. I need time to get to know people and warm up to them. But I can still give advice.

When you ask a girl out on a date, make an effort to plan something. Maybe you think you're being really thoughtful to agree to do whatever she wants, but really, put some effort into it. I'm not saying you should dictate the evening, but at least make some suggestions. "Would you like to go ___?" "Do you like___?" Don't show up at her door and then throw the whole evening into her lap to decide everything. And "I'm not familiar with this area of town" is not an excuse. Read the newspapers, get on the internet. Ask her, before hand, to suggest a restaurant. After dinner, again, its no excuse that you don't know what is in the neighborhood. You can at least suggest activities. Do you want to go for a drink or for coffee? See a movie or a show? Listen to music or go dancing? Have ideas! Make suggestions! We don't think the best answer is, "I don't know," or "It's up to you. Whatever you want." If she asks for your input, have some input to give! Otherwise, she may be forced to find out where her friends are that night, and then "bump into" them.

However, your plan, your ideas or suggestions should not include going back to her place with a bottle of wine. Especially on the first date!!!! If she wants you there, she will suggest it. Unless you are Andrew Dan Jumbo (TLC's Take Home Handyman) or Brad Pitt, don't invite yourself back to her place! On the first date! (Of course, if you are Andrew or Brad, you probably won't even leave her place.)

Now I'm trying to think of somewhere to take the next clueless date I find myself with. Somewhere very offbeat and strange. If he can't even give me a clue as to where we should go next, I want to take him somewhere where he'll be uncomfortable. That's what he gets for not having any thoughts about how to have an entertaining evening, besides hanging out at my place.

Last weekend there was a Doggy Fashion Show at Bang to benefit the SPCA!! It was great! I think nightclubs should have "Bring your dog" nights more often. Everyone had such a good time, but its too bad there weren't more people there. I do hope they do it again. My favorite was this little 8-week-old pug! So cute!
There are good photos of the fashion show on CinWeekly. I haven't seen the other photo galleries although there was a group of professional photographers at the end of the runway snapping pictures as each dog strutted down. Just like New York Fashion Week. But with four-legged models.

I like to look at the Freakonomics blog from time to time.  Recently they ran a contest to
come up with the best 6-word motto for the United States.  The top five
mottos, and the number of votes for each, are as follows:

Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay (194 votes)
Caution! Experiment in Progress Since 1776 (134)
The Most Gentle Empire So Far (64) votes
You Should See the Other Guy (38)
Just Like Canada, With Better Bacon (18)

I like 1, 2, and 5.  I wonder if bumper stickers are already available.

The first Wild About Wine of 2008 was rescheduled to Monday night. The weather was much more cooperative despite some periods of light rain. Eight Australian wines were open for tasting. Not a lot of animals attended. A few birds, a snake, and a bearded dragon were all I saw. I was hoping for a koala to go with the Australian theme. The manatees were a big hit with the crowd, especially when the staff gave them a watermelon to play "football" with. Later they were munching on a big bunch of lettuce.

A lot of the zoo staff attended, including celebrities like Thane Maynard and Terri Roth (she's the one who helps make Sumatran rhino babies).

The 4-D Theater was open for free screenings of Planet Earth. I liked the Planet Earth film. I generally like Discovery Channel-type films with great wildlife photography. The 3-D aspect of Planet Earth was not really what I had expected. We had to wear ill-fitting glasses and, while the film had a little more depth, it wasn't 3-D in the sense that you felt you could reach out and touch any of the creatures on the screen. The "4" of the 4-D experience is accompanying physical sensations. Naturally Planet Earth focused on the ocean so the audience was subjected to light sprays of water, rumbling seats, a water snake attack (not as bad as it sounds) and bubbles. Overall, I was underwhelmed. But, as the film is only 15 or 20 minutes, I would still recommend going to the 4-D theater, at least once. And, with all the extras, kids will love it.

Why does the zoo have this series of wine and beer tastings? Obviously the zoo is very popular with families with young children. But you generally don't see a lot of 20 and 30 somethings there without kids. Maybe I am just a big kid but I get so excited about going to the zoo for one of these special events. I love the animal interaction and the social atmosphere. The crowd Monday night was rather diverse in age. It did seem like most people were upwards of 30. Of course, I'm just guessing based on what I saw. There were people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s there.

The August wine tasting will be held at the brand new Giraffe Ridge exhibit. It's the most popular one so far. I found out last night that over 200 tickets have been sold and the zoo staff is concerned about hitting capacity. So if you are interested, you'd better get your tickets soon.

GOOD TO KNOW

Midpoint Music Festival will be back again this year!  There were
rumors, after last year's festival, that 2007 was the last year of
MidPoint.  We were sad.  But CityBeat has acquired the popular music
festival and will keep it running.
www.mpmf.com
September 25-27, 2008.

Dancing, Yeah!

Thursday was the first of our 6 Salsa dancing sessions at ballet tech Cincinnati. Besides Robb and I, there was only 1 other student. That's kind of good for us, the students, but not so much for ballet tech. I'm not sure how long the organization has been around, but I have seen the name in connection with performances at the Aronoff and at other venues. Now they have a practice space on Montgomery Road in Kennedy Heights. It's not a pretty space, but it works just fine as a dance studio.

I think the classes for the public might be a new thing for them. I can't even remember how I found out about it. But it is a great deal: $90/couple for 6 classes! (I think it's $60 for singles which is discrimination.) That is awesome. And for once, I have a dance partner. Poor Robb. He has never taken any dance classes before and was so self-conscious about his slow process. Patience! Everything like this is hard at first, but then, somewhere along the line, it just clicks. I'm so glad to be taking classes again.

Classes just started last week, so I'm sure if anyone is interested, you could still get in.

Wild about Wine.

Last week's Wild About Wine has been rescheduled for next Monday, March 3. Same time, same place. Let's drink to the manatees!

These people make me feel like such a bum.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kristof.html

But there is a good point in all of this. Think of all the time and money being spent on all the political campaigns. All to elect a few people who will bicker with each other and, despite the potential, not get as much accomplished as the individuals in the article.

Restaurant Week

Go out and enjoy some of Greater Cincinnati's terrific independent restaurants!

This year's Restaurant Week will be March 3-9, when 29 locally owned restaurants offer a three-course prix-fixe dinner for $25.08, a penny up from last year.

Participating restaurants: Andy's Mediterranean Grille, Behle Street Café, Bella Luna, Brown Dog Café, Chalk Food + Wine, China Gourmet, Daveed's at 934, deSha's American Tavern and Grille, Dilly Deli Wines and Gourmet, Greenup Café, Holy Grail Tavern and Grille, Hugo, Jag's Steak & Seafood, Jimmy D's Steakhouse, Kona Bistro, Mesh, Mike & Jimmy's Chophouse Grille, Molly Malone's Irish Pub (Covington), Nicholson's, O'Bryon's Irish Pub, Polo Grille, Pompilios, Primavista, the Pub at Crestview Hills, the Pub at Rookwood Mews, Red, Tink's Café, Universal Grille, Vineyard Café and Washington Platform.

http://www.gcindependents.com/restaurants.php

I want to try Hugo, Bella Luna, Chalk, well actually I want to try any that I haven't been to before. I can recommend Kona Bistro, the Pubs, Nicholson's, Tink's. Oh, why bother trying. They're all good.

Got Plans?
If not, here's what to do this week:
Feb 21 Wild About Wine
If you’re wild about wine, then this is the event for you! February’s event has an Australian theme at the Zoo’s Manatee Springs. Guests will sample eight Australian wines courtesy of the Party Source and have the opportunity to watch a special viewing oft "Planet Earth" in the 4-D theatre. The event features delicious appetizers, animal encounters, tours, music, a silent auction and wine education. All proceeds benefit the Zoo’s Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) - the umbrella for all local and international conservation and research efforts of the Cincinnati Zoo! 6-8pm. $25/person, $30 at the door. Call 513.559.7754 or email wildaboutwine@cincinnatizoo.org

Feb 22 - Members Opening Party: Sol LeWitt: Structure and Line at the CAC
Free for Art Museum and CAC members, $15 at the Art Museum for the general public. Light hors d'oeuvres and cash bar.
6-9pm at the Cincinnati Art Museum
7-11pm at the Contemporary Arts Center
The Daniel Liebskind exhibit also opens at the CAC on Saturday.
Feb 23 - Bellydancing at Andy's Mediterranean Grill
Donna/Myrrah is my former belly dancing teacher and she is the best! She usually starts dancing around 8:00. Let me know if you're coming and we can reserve a table.

What do I have in common with Jane Goodall, Oscar Robinson and Erich Kunzel? We all support the zoo levy! Jane Goodall said, ""I am honored to have the opportunity to share with the leaders and residents of Hamilton County how respected and admired the Cincinnati Zoo is throughout the world."

We are so cool!

Don't you hate it when bloggers don't keep their blogs up to date? I do. I hate when I have to let mine lag because my computer is misbehaving! Bad computer! The screen keeps going out. For no apparent reason. So frustrating. It's not a software or system problem so I have to take it somewhere to be fixed. Aaaugh.

The cold, snowy weather has not slowed things down around here. Last Tuesday I went to the launch party for the new website Soapbox Cincinnati. The party was at the Mercantile Library which is one of downtown Cincinnati's great little secrets. I had only been there once before for a lecture. If you like to lounge in a traditional-looking library surrounded by books, you might want to check out the Mercantile.

You'll also want to subscribe to Soapbox. It's a new weekly on-line magazine about what's new and exciting in Cincinnati. There is a lot of material for them to cover. http://www.soapboxmedia.com/default.aspx

Last weekend, I saw Red Light Winter at the Know Theatre. It was pretty good, although a bit slow in parts. The sex and nudity was only a small part of the play and was not graphic or gratuitous. Still, Taylor said it was the most action she had gotten in a year. Which really does not reflect well on the dating scene in Cincinnati.

I'm looking forward to Wild About Wine on Feb. 21. I've been writing about the zoo a lot, but I really like the animals there. I do feel sorry for some of them in their confined spaces, but I think our zoo does a good job of educating visitors about the wild. And I think it's a great setting for a wine tasting. Wine tastings are everywhere these days and so overdone, but I don't know of any others that incorporate animals. Yay!