Third Person Singular

Alice had two blog ideas today...one was that this whole post would be written in the third person (and BTW... please be informed that all observations, opinions, and further annotations to this post MUST be written in the third person as well) and second that Alice wishes to resurrect a blogging tradition.

Bloggers will remember that back in the day (AKA before July 5) there was a very famous blogger whom Glavin and many others lovingly refer to as Teh Marcy (Alice never realized how much easier it type Teh Marcy and be done with it, as compared to The Marcy, which inevitably needs correction because it was initially spelled "T E H" and had to be corrected...Alice now wishes she had auto-correct available for every time she has miskeyed T H E as T E H). Teh Marcy was (and no doubt still is) a trashtastic comic genius and when she left the blogosphere for greener pastures (AKA Maine), the blogosphere wept and was sad.

Anyway, one of Alice's favorite features on Teh Marcy's Blog (which is a useless link to click on, but like many of you, Alice still has Teh Marcy's Blog in her RSS reader on the off-chance she returns to blogging one day, so I include it here) was the irregularly featured photos of Teh Marcy in public restrooms (AKA - The restroom shots).

Alice thought of the restroom shots last night when she was at a San Diego River Park Foundation* Anniversary Event with Walter. This event took place at the Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice on the University of San Diego Campus...

But first some back story... The Joan Krok Institute for Peace and Justice (KIPJ) is named for Joan Kroc, who was the wife of Ray Kroc...and for those of you who don't know, Ray Kroc invented McDonalds... yeah, the place with the golden arches and the burgers... so basically even though their life was a financial struggle, they overcame it and when Joan passed away several years ago, since they had no children, the Kroc estate went to various charities, foundations, and other worthwhile community projects (and do I say that with all sincerity... Kroc money built a beautiful community center in a part of San Diego called Rolando that sorely needed such a thing). Another local beneficiary of the Kroc estate was the Institute for Peace and Justice at USD, a place that may not be as needy as, say, Rolando.

More back story...back in the day (AKA, before Alice started running), Alice was in a doctoral program** wherein 1/2 of the classes were to be completed at one institution (a public "state" university), called San Diego State University (SDSU) and the other 1/2 of the classes were to be completed at another (a private, Catholic university) called the University of San Diego (USD).

Lets just say that the two places couldn't have been more different. SDSU was a fine institution, but as a state school, let's just say that it was pretty well kept up, but I've since taught at SDSU in classrooms where the heater only works in the summer, and the AC in the winter...you know, budget cuts and all.

On the other hand, lets just say that Alice and Elsie dubbed USD as "The Spa." It is an AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL campus...with immaculate building exteriors, impressive classroom interiors, and impeccable grounds. It makes you want to walk around in a bathrobe and slippers...(the fuzzy, furry kind that you get to wear if you ever stay at a five star hotel, like the FOUR SEASONS, and which will cost you a pretty penny if you ever accidentally pack them in your suitcase, and then you argue with the management that you would NEVER do such a thing and you have NO IDEA what happened to the robe, and slippers, and towels...not that I've EVER done such a thing... because that would be WRONG, WRONG, WRONG...)

So...why is Alice sharing all this extremely fascinating info (because she is POSITIVE that you all are still reading)?

Because last night's event was held at said KIPJ, and as Alice has previously mentioned IT IS STUNNING! We were in the "Garden of the Sea" area. The KIPJ website describes it as

"One of the most spectacular locations in San Diego, the Garden of the Sea features a reflecting pool, sculptures and beautifully landscaped gardens overlooking Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean."

Alice did not take this picture, it was shamelessly pilfered from Flick'r from this year's alumni Wine Classic, which she guesses she could attend if she did such things...

So, Alice's point with all this is (and she does have one) is that as she and Walter left, Alice found herself in the marble-floored restroom with it's golden faucets and hand-carved wood doors, she thought to herself, "Self. you should take a picture of luxurious public restroom like Marcy used to do." So she did...

Alice has to say that the photo really doesn't do the restroom justice...

Then as they were leaving, Alice also took notice of the tile floors (and there was a butt-load of really nice tile in the place)...100s of square feet of really nice tile... and in with tile inlays...and the tile itself were different sizes and laid in a symmetrical, but not square pattern (which, since Alice has recently had tile-work done, she can tell you that it costs extra).

See...it's a 16 x 16 tile surrounded by both 8 x 16 and 12 x 12 tiles...quite attractive...and can you see the marble sink countertop?

And this was not low-budget, off the shelf at Home Depot tile. Alice is pretty sure it was special order.

In any event, it was a nice restroom, in a really nice building, on a gorgeous campus and Alice got to thinking about how nice it would be if her kids went to a private university, and how they better keep studying so that they can get some scholarships.

After Alice and Walter left, they were still hungry because while there were hors d'oeuvres, they were sorta sparse, although that may have also been because Walter and Alice decided to start at the wine bar and not the food line. (There were two lines at the reception...we opted for the wine line first... wouldn't you?)

Anyway ever since she fell on the sidewalk in last month, and then ate the best pizza ever in Folsom, Alice has been asking around if there's a place in San Diego that has really good, authentic, Chicago style stuffed pizza, and she kept hearing about this place called Lefty's...so they went there.

As it turns out, authentic Chicago-style stuffed pizza takes an hour to bake, so Alice and Walter elected to have slices of the deep dish pizza instead, which wasn't bad, but wasn't what she was looking for. That being said, it was good enough so that next time (and there will be a next time) Alice will call ahead and order the stuffed pizza.

Also, Alice and Walter are hoping that by the next time, Lefty's has their liquor license so that they don't have to go to the liquor store down the street to bring in beverages (which Lefty's allows BTW).

In any event, Lefty's had one unisex public restroom.

Yes...it's a urinal in the background, and no, Alice is NOT in the men's room. In THIS case, the photo really makes the rest room look nicer than it really was...although by pizza-joint standards, it wasn't bad.

So...an evening of restroom photos. Don't you all miss that kind of thing? Alice hopes that Teh Marcy, if she finds out, isn't too outraged that Alice has borrowed her idea. Alice promises that if Teh Marcy ever returns to blogging, the restroom photo feature is all hers.

Alice is gonna do a 7 mile run tomorrow morning (so she should go to bed now). How Alice does in the run will be a major factor in her decision to do the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon next month.

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* Walter is a volunteer with this organization, so a few times a year he gets Alice to accompany him to one of their events. Alice especially enjoys the events where wine is served.

** Alice decided to get her doctorate in the school parking lot one day because Elsie said that she should apply to the program with her. Yes, she thought about it THAT much.