Easily Excitable and a Critique of Obama's Ice Cream Choice

I'm kinda loving life right now. Just little things completely thrill me. For example:

Voting. It's just so dang fun. I wasn't enthused about any of the ballot measures this year, so I almost thought (for half a second) of not voting. Then I thought of my first wave feminist foremothers watching over me with jaws agape at my lack of gratitude and decided it was my duty. Then I got into it.

Oregon has a mail-in ballot system, so usually when I vote, it's while eating apple pie and hamburgers at my kitchen table and squaking loudly to my husband who is always, it seems, ill versed in the candidates and ballot measures. It's pretty much a hum-drum, run of the mill night at the Smith house, but with more envelopes.

This year, however, was an Event. Not only did I wait until the last possible HOUR to begin to vote, but when I began to fill out the ballot that had been kicking around my kitchen for weeks, I discovered it was not mine, but some previous tenant's. Logan and I burst out the door at 7:15, got lost on the way to the voting offices. Explained my ballot situation at 7:30 and deposited my ballot with minutes to spare before 8:00.

It felt so real! So American! So vote-y! So is this how people who go to the polls feel? I like it.

Going out and Ice Cream and Eugene Ice Cream. Though we adore going out for dinner and dessert, we're stingy bastards. We pretty much save everything we earn (and shamelessly borrow on the government's dime, as may be the case) for education and vacations: the two great "tions" that are pillars of the Motion deSmith family.

But after voting, we went to get ice cream at Prince Puckler's--get this--even though we had ice cream in our freezer. It was pretty momentous. And I loved it. When I was at U of O, my roommate and I used to walk to Prince Puckler's occasionally for the Tuesday night special of a hot fudge sundae. And it was Tuesday night. And I got a hand crafted chocolate malted milk hot fudge sundae and a walk down memory lane.

PP's is just so much cooler than its BYU equivalent, "The Creamery." I'm going to indulge in some dissing right now, so if you're uptight about the Lord's University, just skip this part. Still with me? Okay. The Creamery sells mediocre ice cream at best. It always smells like cheap fried oil and suffers from a lack of any unique flavors. The urge to be "cute" and name an ice cream "Bishop's BBQ" (or whatever) grates on me. The service is terrible, and did I mention how bad that place smells? Plus you are, by default, forced to watch awkward BYU freshman PDA. The Creamery? Never been my cup of tea.

P. Puckler's, on the other hand is just awesome. No fried food. Wonderful, delicious smells only. The place is fun and down to earth. It's not trying to be a 50's diner/grocery store/bad fried food purveyor. It knows what it is and it's comfortable with itself. Employees are friendly and make hilarious, artistic, and punny signs for the flavors. The ice cream is fan freaking tastic and their hot fudge is a semi-dark chocolate from Euphoria (a local chocolatier).

President Obama visited Prince Puckler's two years ago, and the sign indicating "Obama's favorite" still points to chocolate chip mint. Obama's choice in flavors was a wee bit confusing. A little conservative, don't you think? The employee countered that it was "An American Classic." I don't know...I thought he liked choice. I think it would have been cool if he picked Black Tiger Stripes. It could be his ice cream symbol--a little vanilla, a little mocha, and a little tiger. Come on, Obama.

So that's Prince Pucklers: Frequented by Eugene's quirkiest and our nation's most prominent, it has something for everyone. If you're feeling conservative--get a cookie dough (it will be the best you've ever tried). If you're feeling funky, why not try a Chai Tea flavored cone? Middle of the road like me? Then get a chocolate malted milk.