Rob and the Rubik's Cube (and Random Potluck)

At times in my life, I have had multiple Rubik's cubes lying around. I can't solve them myself. In fact, some serious Rubik's cubers get mad because they can't solve mine because, when I was a child, I used to take the stickers off as my way of solving this silly puzzle (this is the only thing I have ever cheated on, I promise!), screwing up the method. I admit that patience has never been a strong point of mine. In any case, now, my rubik's cube is used as a doorstop when I am expecting people to my apartment (my old building doesn't have a buzzer system or anything).

Anyway, Tia and Rob (a cuber) came over on Saturday night and we talked a bit about cubing. He asked me whether, on this cube, I had moved stickers around because the "configuration" was not what he was used to. Apparently, he likes blue on top and white on the bottom (to which Tia and I responded, "what's top on a cube??"). He clarified that he likes to solve it with white on one side ("the bottom") and then works on getting the opposite side ("the top") all blue. My cube had the colors in a different order, however, which initially threw him off. But just for a couple of seconds. I had NOT moved any stickers around on this one, thank you very much.

He was able to solve the cube while Tia and I talked about medicine, or "equally boring stuff" (I think his exact words were "equally boring s***") :). It's pretty amazing. I never like to "undo" it when he does this because it looks so cool. But I don't know that I could ever get the "strategy" down.

Apparently it's not that difficult. Rob said you just have to be prepared to have no friends while you study "the cube" (he sacrificed 7th grade). I found this site online written by this guy Lars Petrus, a world competitor who can solve one in fewer than 15 seconds: Solving Rubik's Cube for Speed. I think sometimes that maybe I could learn. But then when I start reading about his distinction between a "twist" and a "turn" and my head starts spinning, I don't think I have the mental capacity for this. Here's the official site if you care to check it out: Rubik's Cube. Here's Rob with his finished cube.

Despite talking a good deal about Rubik's cubes, we did talk about other things, and ate as well. I had bananas that were even past my consumption, which I turned into a banana bread loaf that tasted decent! I tried this curried chicken dish for the first time, which also turned out well (or else Tia was being her super-nice self and just saying that). Tia recently came back from a two-week trip to Belize, so I picked her brain about that. There are only 70 or so days until their wedding in April (and her mom did get the wedding invitations, despite her threatening not to because Tia was going on this trip!). Here's a pic of the couple by my very pretty door (ugh- I should have chosen a different location for the photo!).


And now for a random last note on random potluck, or what the Kits, Joneses and I had for dinner on Friday. It was sort of a last-minute thing, so we were told to just "bring whatever" (i.e. what I took to mean stuff in the fridge that you were going to eat anyway or throw) to Lesley and David's house. So I come toting lettuce that I needed to rescue, week-old pickle wraps which I was planning to have for dinner, and some powdered soup I found in my cabinet. And then I was embarrassed by JB toting gourmet mussels and Lesley with a barbeque chicken pizza she just "whipped up." Oof. We all liked the idea of this random potluck dinner (Lesley and I agreed it really appeals to our desire never to waste any food!), but I think I was the only one who was really, really random. We'll have to do it again sometime soon!