Tucson has been great. Getting to spend time with Grandpa was really nice. I know so many more family stories now. We built quite an array of furniture, we're a pretty good team, no arguing. I finally got to see some Norway photos. My scorpion friend from the first night showed up again while I was in the bathroom. Let's just say I freaked out a bit, but we found him after he scuttled(shiver) away and Grandpa killed him with a hammer.
It's been a bit odd as well. I'm sleeping in the bed I had when I was 11 and in Sudbury. I wake up to the same mirror but I'm 11 years older and just as strange. The obvious thing is that Grandma isn't here, which is hard in the quiet way the fact of it lingers in small and large spaces in the house. The kitchen table is clean all across and no one was up at 3 in the morning, aside from some distraught coyotes. It has been nice to remember things though. I sat in a closet and went through some old photographs. I took a few clothes, some books, and a few pieces of jewelery. The pack rat and family items lover in me wants to take everything even if I won't wear it or use it. I could write forever on this though, so I'll spare myself.
Phyllis is almost completely packed, now with some extra items. It's strange because she looks less full than before. Ha, oh well. An 8 hour drive awaits us tomorrow. But Los Angeles is at the end, shouting at me. Though I'm still not sure if it's yelling "COME HERE!" or "STAY AWAY!" I hope it's the first, but it's going to be fun either way, I'm convinced. If you haven't gotten mail, I promise it's coming some time this week. I'm still pretty tired, so early bed time again.
Tomorrow life starts in more of a real way. In the way that I now must take full responsibility for myself. In the way that I now must admit this might be hard. Hard, but who wants easy anyways?
"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life. " ~ Kerouac
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
C'est etrange, non?
The night in the tent was perfectly alright. Bit cold at one point, but a sweatshirt and socks fixed that. My plan to wake up at 5 was thwarted by a 430 am wake up call from some guy hollering his lungs apart. So aside from slightly terrifying me, I was up half an hour ahead of time. I showered and packed up and it was just getting light as I left.
Heading down to New Mexico I stopped in a random small town to get some gas. It was apparently the oldest town in Colorado, swell. They also had a post office, so I finally mailed a few cards. Instead of taking the main highway down to Santa Fe, I took the advice of the guy I met on the train and went through Taos. It was a pretty cool place, lots of art galleries, something New Mexico is overflowing with, and nice shops and parks and such. I saw the fattest cat in a bookstore, and bought a caramel apple from a chocolate shop. I also met a man who was waiting for his wife by a store near my car. He noticed my plates and we struck up conversation as I was leaving. His wife was actually from Springfield, small world.
Santa Fe was really nice. For a city, and a capitol city is was like Madison, very quiet and calm and such. A lot more art galleries, but the Georgia O'Keeffe museum was closed, as was the Native American Art Institute. So I mostly walked around, looked at small places, took pictures, and bought a necklace from the line of Indian art in front of the Palace of the Governors. I spoke with one woman for a while, about her art, the market's authenticity versus the fake stuff across the street in the park, etc. She was really interesting, so I ended up buying one of her pieces. I was going to get tamales from a street vendor, but by the time I was hungry and went back they were all packed up. Which is fine and good for my wallet.
From Santa Fe to Albuquerque I took this side scenic route, instead of the main highway. It was called the Turquoise Trail, and took you past all these tiny tiny run down towns, who's only source of income is probably the tourism they try to attract. The first town, Cerrillos, was very non-existant. Their trade store was also closed, so there wasn't much to see, I took a few photos, wrote a post card and was on my way.
The next town was Madrid, but on my way there I saw this yard with signs saying "Come See!" and had to turn around a go back. This place ... I'm not sure I really have the words. The woman who owned the bit of land was parked in her car outside the gates, she was probably in her 50's, looked like she's had a biker's life, with the tatoos and the leather clothes and crooked teeth, oh and her scary dog. She had taken what used to be a putput mini golf place, and spent 10 years putting together this "Tiny Town." Creepy is the only way to describe it. Every inch was worth a photo, run down doll houses filled with dolls dressed as every kind of character. Sculptures built of of skulls and old manikins, chains of hundreds of keys, a swing set covered in old torn curtains. It basically looked like 25 five year olds had just run around and messed up all this junk. It was amazing. While I was there, this couple pulled in and started walking around. They were speaking French, and since I was lonely I ventured to talk to them. Surprise I can still speak French! They were from Belgium and were doing a North American tour by car. They had started in LA and were working their way up to Canada and the North East.
Madrid wasn't much, it weirded me out some more. Most everything was closed, and the things that were open were empty. I went into one store and the woman who was working talked to me for an hour about everything from how she wouldn't get married again if she had the choice to where she donated her anthropology books from when she got her masters. It was interesting, but I was getting a bit tired of these towns, so didn't stay all that long. Originally I had researched places to stay on this road, and the bed and breakfast in Madrid had sounded cool. It was a coffee place too, but closed when I was there, and I'm so glad I didn't decided ahead of time to stay there because I would have freaked out being there overnight.
Albuquerque finally showed up, and I met Alison, one of Aunt Sue's recently graduated TAs. She was really cool, and we just talked from the moment I got there, through a delicious Indian dinner, and back to her place. She's a photographer, and has a cat, which was nice, since I really miss Muffin.
The next morning I left around 9, and headed to Truth and Consequences. It was also very small and mostly closed, but I met a few interesting people, took a lot of pictures, and had lunch at the local Co-op which was great. I also got these organic lollipops that were quite good. From there I drove across more mountains at 15 miles per hour around hair pin curves to get to Silver City, which was much the same, if only a little bigger than T or C. I met a guy in a used bookstore who had just had open heart surgery 3 weeks before. The place smelled comfortably of used books, dust, and lingering marijuana. The next drive was the last for a few days, three hours into Arizona (another hour gained) to get to Tucson.
It was great to see my Grandpa, and be at home, and know where I am and such. We ate dinner and caught up. I had a visual encounter with a scorpion when I was checking my email, but he seems to have gone into hiding today. I've been pretty lazy, slept late, ate, showered. We're waiting for the bedroom set from IKEA to show up so we can put it together. I'm going to go through some books. And we're going out for Chinese tonight.
I think I'm skipping out of the Grand Canyon. I do really want to see it, but I'm a bit tired of being a singular tourist so I'm going to save it for another time when I can go with someone. Plus I really want to get to LA and move in and get a job and start DOING things. Haha. Not that I haven't been doing a lot the last few weeks. But limbo is only enjoyable for so much time.
" This could be the very minute I'm aware I'm alive.
All these places feel like home." ~ Snow Patrol
Heading down to New Mexico I stopped in a random small town to get some gas. It was apparently the oldest town in Colorado, swell. They also had a post office, so I finally mailed a few cards. Instead of taking the main highway down to Santa Fe, I took the advice of the guy I met on the train and went through Taos. It was a pretty cool place, lots of art galleries, something New Mexico is overflowing with, and nice shops and parks and such. I saw the fattest cat in a bookstore, and bought a caramel apple from a chocolate shop. I also met a man who was waiting for his wife by a store near my car. He noticed my plates and we struck up conversation as I was leaving. His wife was actually from Springfield, small world.
Santa Fe was really nice. For a city, and a capitol city is was like Madison, very quiet and calm and such. A lot more art galleries, but the Georgia O'Keeffe museum was closed, as was the Native American Art Institute. So I mostly walked around, looked at small places, took pictures, and bought a necklace from the line of Indian art in front of the Palace of the Governors. I spoke with one woman for a while, about her art, the market's authenticity versus the fake stuff across the street in the park, etc. She was really interesting, so I ended up buying one of her pieces. I was going to get tamales from a street vendor, but by the time I was hungry and went back they were all packed up. Which is fine and good for my wallet.
From Santa Fe to Albuquerque I took this side scenic route, instead of the main highway. It was called the Turquoise Trail, and took you past all these tiny tiny run down towns, who's only source of income is probably the tourism they try to attract. The first town, Cerrillos, was very non-existant. Their trade store was also closed, so there wasn't much to see, I took a few photos, wrote a post card and was on my way.
The next town was Madrid, but on my way there I saw this yard with signs saying "Come See!" and had to turn around a go back. This place ... I'm not sure I really have the words. The woman who owned the bit of land was parked in her car outside the gates, she was probably in her 50's, looked like she's had a biker's life, with the tatoos and the leather clothes and crooked teeth, oh and her scary dog. She had taken what used to be a putput mini golf place, and spent 10 years putting together this "Tiny Town." Creepy is the only way to describe it. Every inch was worth a photo, run down doll houses filled with dolls dressed as every kind of character. Sculptures built of of skulls and old manikins, chains of hundreds of keys, a swing set covered in old torn curtains. It basically looked like 25 five year olds had just run around and messed up all this junk. It was amazing. While I was there, this couple pulled in and started walking around. They were speaking French, and since I was lonely I ventured to talk to them. Surprise I can still speak French! They were from Belgium and were doing a North American tour by car. They had started in LA and were working their way up to Canada and the North East.
Madrid wasn't much, it weirded me out some more. Most everything was closed, and the things that were open were empty. I went into one store and the woman who was working talked to me for an hour about everything from how she wouldn't get married again if she had the choice to where she donated her anthropology books from when she got her masters. It was interesting, but I was getting a bit tired of these towns, so didn't stay all that long. Originally I had researched places to stay on this road, and the bed and breakfast in Madrid had sounded cool. It was a coffee place too, but closed when I was there, and I'm so glad I didn't decided ahead of time to stay there because I would have freaked out being there overnight.
Albuquerque finally showed up, and I met Alison, one of Aunt Sue's recently graduated TAs. She was really cool, and we just talked from the moment I got there, through a delicious Indian dinner, and back to her place. She's a photographer, and has a cat, which was nice, since I really miss Muffin.
The next morning I left around 9, and headed to Truth and Consequences. It was also very small and mostly closed, but I met a few interesting people, took a lot of pictures, and had lunch at the local Co-op which was great. I also got these organic lollipops that were quite good. From there I drove across more mountains at 15 miles per hour around hair pin curves to get to Silver City, which was much the same, if only a little bigger than T or C. I met a guy in a used bookstore who had just had open heart surgery 3 weeks before. The place smelled comfortably of used books, dust, and lingering marijuana. The next drive was the last for a few days, three hours into Arizona (another hour gained) to get to Tucson.
It was great to see my Grandpa, and be at home, and know where I am and such. We ate dinner and caught up. I had a visual encounter with a scorpion when I was checking my email, but he seems to have gone into hiding today. I've been pretty lazy, slept late, ate, showered. We're waiting for the bedroom set from IKEA to show up so we can put it together. I'm going to go through some books. And we're going out for Chinese tonight.
I think I'm skipping out of the Grand Canyon. I do really want to see it, but I'm a bit tired of being a singular tourist so I'm going to save it for another time when I can go with someone. Plus I really want to get to LA and move in and get a job and start DOING things. Haha. Not that I haven't been doing a lot the last few weeks. But limbo is only enjoyable for so much time.
" This could be the very minute I'm aware I'm alive.
All these places feel like home." ~ Snow Patrol
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Somehow the RV campsite I'm in has internet
I am a strange combination of things at this moment. I'm eating dinner. 630 is very early for me, but makes sense since I want to wake up 430 so I can leave by 530. Dinner, since I'm at a campsite, consists of a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Cold leftover rice that I cooked in Boulder. A cheese sandwhich, since I want to eat the rest of the cheese before it goes bad. Wine. Another plum since I have a lot, and oreos. I promise not to drink the whole bottle. I'll probably only have one glass, but there was a cute wine store in Manitou Springs and I'm supporting a local business.
That's where I am right now. Manitou. It's an odd place. The town is like 2 feet big, but Pike's peak is right there looming over. I spent a couple hours wandering around taking pictures. There was a democratic rally going on. Which was awesome. A woman stopped me and asked if I would take a picture of her and the man sitting next to them. I hope it comes out. I may have ruined the roll when I changed it. Which would be terribly sad.
Then at 240 I took a train up to Pike's Peak, it took a good hour and a half to get up. The ride was beautiful though, I took a lot more photos and talked to the two guys next to me, and then to the conductor on the way down since I was in the last row. At the top it was freezing, and it even snowed a bit. The whole ride just made me feel small, the mountains are so impressive.
It's starting to get dark, so even though my tent is all pitched I'm going to stop this early and finish eating and get ready to sleep. I'm still wicked tired for no reason. I hope some day I can come back to this odd town and hike up the Mountain.
"And here I am in Colorado! I kept thinking gleefully. Damn! damn! damn! I'm making it!" ~ Kerouac's On the Road
That's where I am right now. Manitou. It's an odd place. The town is like 2 feet big, but Pike's peak is right there looming over. I spent a couple hours wandering around taking pictures. There was a democratic rally going on. Which was awesome. A woman stopped me and asked if I would take a picture of her and the man sitting next to them. I hope it comes out. I may have ruined the roll when I changed it. Which would be terribly sad.
Then at 240 I took a train up to Pike's Peak, it took a good hour and a half to get up. The ride was beautiful though, I took a lot more photos and talked to the two guys next to me, and then to the conductor on the way down since I was in the last row. At the top it was freezing, and it even snowed a bit. The whole ride just made me feel small, the mountains are so impressive.
It's starting to get dark, so even though my tent is all pitched I'm going to stop this early and finish eating and get ready to sleep. I'm still wicked tired for no reason. I hope some day I can come back to this odd town and hike up the Mountain.
"And here I am in Colorado! I kept thinking gleefully. Damn! damn! damn! I'm making it!" ~ Kerouac's On the Road
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Photos
You can now look at the digital pictures of my adventures! Just look to the right and there are 3 soon to be 4 albums. =) enjoy
September 20th: I finally made it to Today
So this is the 3rd post I've published tonight. Peter and Mike were awesome and helped me figure out how to get the internet to work. Basically my computer is very very old and ... well, we're online now so no more worries.
I got a bit of a later start than I wanted today, but since I was staying here one more night it wasn't a big deal. On my way to Denver I stopped in downtown Boulder at a farmer's market. Got some delicious plums and ate one of those honey straws. There were a lot of stands, I had to keep clear of the cheese since I have no good way of keeping it fresh. There were also local stores selling food, so I had a corn tamale for 2nd breakfast. It was amazing, and spicy, and my very first tamale ever.
Driving to Denver was easy enough. Once there, the morning was kind of like yesterday, frustrating because I didn't know how I wanted to get about. Where should I park my car? Should I ride my bike into town? Well after trying that, and deciding I didn't want to get hit I drove to the Botanical Garden Museum. It was beautiful, and very relaxing, which I needed. They had an indoor tropical jungle exhibit. And I decided that I wouldn't mind being cremated and spread around in the jungle so I can grow into that crazy atmosphere: the humid and heavy yet cool and damp air, and the plants that fight over the light and the giant leaves and, yeah okay I'm strange but I like it.
Downtown was ok. I'm kind of tired of outside street malls, but not of independent bookstore(of course). I got a Jamba Juice smoothie for lunch and only bought one book at the Tattered Cover Bookstore. I looked at all the outsides of the cool buildings like the capitol with its gold roof, but nothing was open cause it was Saturday.
On my way out I decided to go West into the mountains a bit to see if I could drive up Mount Evans. It was in one of the books Katie gave me to look through and was only 30 minutes from Denver. The drive was amazing, and Phyllis did just fine. An hour from the bottom of the mountain I was as far up as you could go. There was snow around still, and it was probably in the low 50's or high 40's. I wanted to stop the car at every turn to get out and take a picture, it's just so amazing. The road got scary and narrow and yikes! close to the edge, but I made it. There were these funny little animals sitting on the side of the road at times. The first one I saw looked right at me, and it kind of looked like a beaver only smaller and with no giant tail. So I have no idea what they were, but they were cute, and brave since they were sitting at the very edge of the road. On my way down I saw this large group of men halfway up part of the mountain, and when I listened in it sounded like praying ... in Spanish. I gathered up enough to know they were having some sort of religious event. Definitely Christian, and definitely interesting. It made me remember that I haven't put any of the Spanish CDs on yet.
Called home on the way back to talk to Mom and Dad, since I haven't posted or called for a while. And I got Chipotle for dinner. YUM. It was a very Spanish foods day. Back at the Zaidel's we went through my computer's stupidness, and I listened to them talk politics in the other room. I've loved it here, and I'm really sad to leave. I hope I make it back some day, either to hike or rock climb or live.
Tomorrow I'm leaving as early as I can force myself to for Manitou Springs CO. It's right near Pike's peak, which I may partially hike up. There's also a train that goes up it. I don't want to drive it, Phyllis did enough today, and Katie Gill said it's scary. I should really have someone else in the car for things like that, to keep me from getting too nervous. First night of camping too, yay new tent!
I need to find a good place for my Obama sticker on my car.
I forgot to mention the light. Driving back from Boulder right after sunset, when there was still light enough that ruled out the street lights. I realized that my arms were purple, and it felt like melting into the landscape outside the car. Did I mention I really love it here.
Kerouac has already made it to California, I'm taking a bit more time.
" If you are able,
Don't have a stable
With any mangers,
Be rude to strangers.
Moral: Behave"
I got a bit of a later start than I wanted today, but since I was staying here one more night it wasn't a big deal. On my way to Denver I stopped in downtown Boulder at a farmer's market. Got some delicious plums and ate one of those honey straws. There were a lot of stands, I had to keep clear of the cheese since I have no good way of keeping it fresh. There were also local stores selling food, so I had a corn tamale for 2nd breakfast. It was amazing, and spicy, and my very first tamale ever.
Driving to Denver was easy enough. Once there, the morning was kind of like yesterday, frustrating because I didn't know how I wanted to get about. Where should I park my car? Should I ride my bike into town? Well after trying that, and deciding I didn't want to get hit I drove to the Botanical Garden Museum. It was beautiful, and very relaxing, which I needed. They had an indoor tropical jungle exhibit. And I decided that I wouldn't mind being cremated and spread around in the jungle so I can grow into that crazy atmosphere: the humid and heavy yet cool and damp air, and the plants that fight over the light and the giant leaves and, yeah okay I'm strange but I like it.
Downtown was ok. I'm kind of tired of outside street malls, but not of independent bookstore(of course). I got a Jamba Juice smoothie for lunch and only bought one book at the Tattered Cover Bookstore. I looked at all the outsides of the cool buildings like the capitol with its gold roof, but nothing was open cause it was Saturday.
On my way out I decided to go West into the mountains a bit to see if I could drive up Mount Evans. It was in one of the books Katie gave me to look through and was only 30 minutes from Denver. The drive was amazing, and Phyllis did just fine. An hour from the bottom of the mountain I was as far up as you could go. There was snow around still, and it was probably in the low 50's or high 40's. I wanted to stop the car at every turn to get out and take a picture, it's just so amazing. The road got scary and narrow and yikes! close to the edge, but I made it. There were these funny little animals sitting on the side of the road at times. The first one I saw looked right at me, and it kind of looked like a beaver only smaller and with no giant tail. So I have no idea what they were, but they were cute, and brave since they were sitting at the very edge of the road. On my way down I saw this large group of men halfway up part of the mountain, and when I listened in it sounded like praying ... in Spanish. I gathered up enough to know they were having some sort of religious event. Definitely Christian, and definitely interesting. It made me remember that I haven't put any of the Spanish CDs on yet.
Called home on the way back to talk to Mom and Dad, since I haven't posted or called for a while. And I got Chipotle for dinner. YUM. It was a very Spanish foods day. Back at the Zaidel's we went through my computer's stupidness, and I listened to them talk politics in the other room. I've loved it here, and I'm really sad to leave. I hope I make it back some day, either to hike or rock climb or live.
Tomorrow I'm leaving as early as I can force myself to for Manitou Springs CO. It's right near Pike's peak, which I may partially hike up. There's also a train that goes up it. I don't want to drive it, Phyllis did enough today, and Katie Gill said it's scary. I should really have someone else in the car for things like that, to keep me from getting too nervous. First night of camping too, yay new tent!
I need to find a good place for my Obama sticker on my car.
I forgot to mention the light. Driving back from Boulder right after sunset, when there was still light enough that ruled out the street lights. I realized that my arms were purple, and it felt like melting into the landscape outside the car. Did I mention I really love it here.
Kerouac has already made it to California, I'm taking a bit more time.
" If you are able,
Don't have a stable
With any mangers,
Be rude to strangers.
Moral: Behave"
September 19th...don't be fooled
Today was a mixed day, but in the end, probably the best day so far. Which is probably why I'm now messing with my schedule and extending my stay. I feel slightly bad I didn't figure this out before Katie and Peter went to bed. Oh I'm so tired ... so here's a quick recap of today and I'll type it better later when this is actually a post. ... maybe
-oatmeal: i had it for breakfast
-drive to boulder: quick and painless, easily found parking, and was intending to bike to Chautauqua Park but ...
-bike stuck on car: because i left half my key chain at the house, so i drove closer to the park, a good decision since the bike ride would have killed me (very slow incline)
-Chautauqua park!, 2 trails: took about an hour and a half to walk in the park and some of its trails. Bewared of bears and mountain lions. I'm badly out of shape, but it was exhilarating anyways, and I wished whole heartedly that I could rock climb.
-then flagstaff, phone still worked up there: i almost didn't do this. My feet were already pretty sore and I hadn't eaten lunch yet and it was like 1:15. But I said to myself (something I do a lot now) "Jess, this was the thing you WANTED to do today, so suck it up and do it." It took me an hour to get to the top, I stopped a few times, and mistook a very loud chipmunk for a mountain lion, but all was well. At the top, 6 thousand and some odd feet, I took beaucoup des photos, and ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My phone was working really well and I text/imed Erin because I was lonely and excited. It took me 42 minutes to get back down and happily tired I changed my shoes and shirt, parked where I was originally going to park and walked into downtown Boudler.
-ouch feet: blisters, just one really bad, bigger than a quarter and had to pop it after I showered
-the hill: cool university of colorado at boudler area of shops and food. I got some post cards and a crepe, yum. There was such an awesome mix of people it was unreal. All the people who look like they've hitched/hopped trains to get into Colorado made me feel ashamed, like I'm not doing this cross country thing properly.
-pearl st.: journey dancers, green tea ice cream and weird candy, obama sticker! yes there were people in their 50s and so dancing to journey at this festival that was going on. The other three items listed are things I acquired on pearl st.
-more walking: to get back to the car, but I talked to steph!!! so it was fine
-groceries: I gave in and bought some food, i was dying to cook and eat real food, so I made vegetable stir fry with rice (which took longer than usual because of the elevation). I spent the time waiting for the rice to cook watching The Brainstorms play ... oh wonderfulness.
-talk like a pirate: yes it was national talk like a pirate day. I got back to the house in time to see Katie and Peter getting dressed up to go out. Would've gone but I hadn't showered and I was starving. So I hung out with Lucia their dog and watched House and ate dinner.
-chat with katie: another awesome political discussion occurred when they got back. I really need to listen to more NPR.
-finally showered: then decided that I was going to stay one more night due to logistics and passed out
-great day: i LOVE boudler.
" Starve your canaries.
Believe in Fairies."
-oatmeal: i had it for breakfast
-drive to boulder: quick and painless, easily found parking, and was intending to bike to Chautauqua Park but ...
-bike stuck on car: because i left half my key chain at the house, so i drove closer to the park, a good decision since the bike ride would have killed me (very slow incline)
-Chautauqua park!, 2 trails: took about an hour and a half to walk in the park and some of its trails. Bewared of bears and mountain lions. I'm badly out of shape, but it was exhilarating anyways, and I wished whole heartedly that I could rock climb.
-then flagstaff, phone still worked up there: i almost didn't do this. My feet were already pretty sore and I hadn't eaten lunch yet and it was like 1:15. But I said to myself (something I do a lot now) "Jess, this was the thing you WANTED to do today, so suck it up and do it." It took me an hour to get to the top, I stopped a few times, and mistook a very loud chipmunk for a mountain lion, but all was well. At the top, 6 thousand and some odd feet, I took beaucoup des photos, and ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My phone was working really well and I text/imed Erin because I was lonely and excited. It took me 42 minutes to get back down and happily tired I changed my shoes and shirt, parked where I was originally going to park and walked into downtown Boudler.
-ouch feet: blisters, just one really bad, bigger than a quarter and had to pop it after I showered
-the hill: cool university of colorado at boudler area of shops and food. I got some post cards and a crepe, yum. There was such an awesome mix of people it was unreal. All the people who look like they've hitched/hopped trains to get into Colorado made me feel ashamed, like I'm not doing this cross country thing properly.
-pearl st.: journey dancers, green tea ice cream and weird candy, obama sticker! yes there were people in their 50s and so dancing to journey at this festival that was going on. The other three items listed are things I acquired on pearl st.
-more walking: to get back to the car, but I talked to steph!!! so it was fine
-groceries: I gave in and bought some food, i was dying to cook and eat real food, so I made vegetable stir fry with rice (which took longer than usual because of the elevation). I spent the time waiting for the rice to cook watching The Brainstorms play ... oh wonderfulness.
-talk like a pirate: yes it was national talk like a pirate day. I got back to the house in time to see Katie and Peter getting dressed up to go out. Would've gone but I hadn't showered and I was starving. So I hung out with Lucia their dog and watched House and ate dinner.
-chat with katie: another awesome political discussion occurred when they got back. I really need to listen to more NPR.
-finally showered: then decided that I was going to stay one more night due to logistics and passed out
-great day: i LOVE boudler.
" Starve your canaries.
Believe in Fairies."
Sliding Into Colorado
So I forgot to mention at least one pretty spectacular thing. And that was doing the cupid shuffle with Ginger and Mal at the bar, on a sort of stage ... and yes we danced through the whole thing. Oh and I saw two kids laughing hysterically at a painting of a naked lady because the boy kept going and poking her butt. Kids are great.
Anyways. I'm in Lafayette Colorado!!! I spent yesterday driving through Iowa and then stayed the night in Omaha. The people I stayed with were really cool, and we didn't even have that much get-to-know-each-other time. Cecilia Martinez was the girl who I officially stayed with. Her brother is a student of my Aunt Sue's .... haha, yeah random, but it worked out. When she and her roommates got back we chatted for a while, about everything from political signs, to the inaccuracies of some beliefs held by pro-life people. Needless to say, it was pretty sweet. I also bought apples, bread, and cheese while there. Yum. And I ate at a Sonic, because I hadn't had fast food yet, and Sonic is a specialty we don't have in Massachusetts.
One thing that's really neat is that everywhere I stop I talk to people about the election, or issues surrounding it. I really need to learn more to be a better conversationalist on that part though. But its cool anyways. To learn what so many different people are thinking. So far I've only met Obama supporters though, I guess I'm just too deeply in the liberal chain, but I was surprised seeing as I was going through the Midwest where I thought there were more conservatives. Anyways, I need to get an Obama sticker for Phyllis, and brush up on my knowledge of the race and issues etc.
The drive through Nebraska today was very rough. Long, boring, lots of landscape that was your basic farm. I started to think about becoming a psuedo-vegetarian like Erin ... I saw too many happy cows today. I stopped quite a few times to make sure I was staying awake. Stopped for a soda and read some more Kerouac, he's made it to Colorado, and so have I!! Though I'm not partying as much as he is, or doing the deep thinking, or chasing after girls, and I don't know anyone named Dean. It would be awesome to meet one though. I finally got to Colorado and celebrated in the car, even the farms going by looked better somehow. I had this intense feeling that I was sliding down into Colorado. Which is funny since it's actually at a higher elevation. About 45 minutes away from Lafayette ( which is just outside of Boulder) I could see the mountains and I got even more excited. Mike's sister Katie was still home when I got here. We talked, she gave me some cool ideas for places to go, and I met their dog, who is adorable.
She went out for the night, so I took off down the street to this lake and walked around it. Took my sweet time, so I was gone for about an hour and a half even though it's less than 2 miles around the lake. There were a lot of people on bikes and with their dogs, and the Rockies are soooo close and look amazing, and I just LOVE Colorado. They had those exercise stations around the lake too, I played on a few of them but I was wearing my hiking shoes to attempt to break them in, so I didn't do much.
Tomorrow I'll hopefully get some hiking in, then shopping/walking around downtown Boulder, and then some pickup Ultimate?? I found a place on the UPA website but the date is old so I'm worried no one's going to be there, but I'm going to hope for the best.
Well I'm exhausted, even though here it's only 10. I made is through another hour time change today. So now I'm two hours behind Boston and only one ahead of LA! Only a week plus a few days left. Time has gone too fast, but I'm also very ready to be there.
" Lose not a button
Refuse cold mutton."
Anyways. I'm in Lafayette Colorado!!! I spent yesterday driving through Iowa and then stayed the night in Omaha. The people I stayed with were really cool, and we didn't even have that much get-to-know-each-other time. Cecilia Martinez was the girl who I officially stayed with. Her brother is a student of my Aunt Sue's .... haha, yeah random, but it worked out. When she and her roommates got back we chatted for a while, about everything from political signs, to the inaccuracies of some beliefs held by pro-life people. Needless to say, it was pretty sweet. I also bought apples, bread, and cheese while there. Yum. And I ate at a Sonic, because I hadn't had fast food yet, and Sonic is a specialty we don't have in Massachusetts.
One thing that's really neat is that everywhere I stop I talk to people about the election, or issues surrounding it. I really need to learn more to be a better conversationalist on that part though. But its cool anyways. To learn what so many different people are thinking. So far I've only met Obama supporters though, I guess I'm just too deeply in the liberal chain, but I was surprised seeing as I was going through the Midwest where I thought there were more conservatives. Anyways, I need to get an Obama sticker for Phyllis, and brush up on my knowledge of the race and issues etc.
The drive through Nebraska today was very rough. Long, boring, lots of landscape that was your basic farm. I started to think about becoming a psuedo-vegetarian like Erin ... I saw too many happy cows today. I stopped quite a few times to make sure I was staying awake. Stopped for a soda and read some more Kerouac, he's made it to Colorado, and so have I!! Though I'm not partying as much as he is, or doing the deep thinking, or chasing after girls, and I don't know anyone named Dean. It would be awesome to meet one though. I finally got to Colorado and celebrated in the car, even the farms going by looked better somehow. I had this intense feeling that I was sliding down into Colorado. Which is funny since it's actually at a higher elevation. About 45 minutes away from Lafayette ( which is just outside of Boulder) I could see the mountains and I got even more excited. Mike's sister Katie was still home when I got here. We talked, she gave me some cool ideas for places to go, and I met their dog, who is adorable.
She went out for the night, so I took off down the street to this lake and walked around it. Took my sweet time, so I was gone for about an hour and a half even though it's less than 2 miles around the lake. There were a lot of people on bikes and with their dogs, and the Rockies are soooo close and look amazing, and I just LOVE Colorado. They had those exercise stations around the lake too, I played on a few of them but I was wearing my hiking shoes to attempt to break them in, so I didn't do much.
Tomorrow I'll hopefully get some hiking in, then shopping/walking around downtown Boulder, and then some pickup Ultimate?? I found a place on the UPA website but the date is old so I'm worried no one's going to be there, but I'm going to hope for the best.
Well I'm exhausted, even though here it's only 10. I made is through another hour time change today. So now I'm two hours behind Boston and only one ahead of LA! Only a week plus a few days left. Time has gone too fast, but I'm also very ready to be there.
" Lose not a button
Refuse cold mutton."
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Another Long Post in Which the Past Three Days are Discussed
Monday morning was very successful. I had my meeting at 11, but since it was a beautiful clear day I wanted to go up the Sears tower before going to the meeting. I had figured that 45 minutes would be enough time. I apparently forgot that I haven't been a tourist in America in a long time, and was out of practice with the system. I arrived exactly at 10, was whisked through a couple elevators and lines, then security, then a photograph (at this point I began to laugh ceaselessly). I bought my ticket, walked ten steps to the left to hand my ticket to someone else, then proceeded through a maze of historical pictures only to end up in another waiting room. There was a 10 minute film and a wait for the 60 second elevator ride to the 103rd floor which was accompanied with a short movie of two talking pigeons. So needless to say I made it to the top by 1035, walked around for 10 minutes, which was sufficient, and then went back down. I was showed the photo from earlier but would've had to pay 21 dollars for it. Then I grabbed a cab to Columbia because I wouldn't of been able to walk there in 15 minutes. The cabby was really nice, and we had a short interesting conversation.
The meeting at Columbia went great. The woman I met with was really cool and we talked for about an hour. The program is very different than all the other schools I've looked at so far, and there is way less funding, so I might not even apply, which is a shame since I really LOVE Chicago. I walked around some more, took more pictures, and ate lunch before going back to Oak Park to leave a thank you note and head off to Madison.
The drive was easy enough, and I got there by 545, so I wandered around for an hour until Ginger was out of class. She showed me her apartment and the really awesome lake she has right behind the building where you can go swimming when it's warm, unfortunately I didn't feel like it the next day, but oh well. I met her roommate, an avid Prisonbreak fan who I feel I would've gotten along well with if I had spent more time there. We went out for Wisconsin food for dinner, brats and beer, which was delicious. We caught up and chatted and had a generally great time. I wish I'd had a bit more confidence to speak more ASL since she's a CODA and is fluent. Tuesday was beautiful. I walked around, went to the capitol building, then read by the other lake on this terrace where a large crowd of people was doing tai chi (spelling?) with a guy on a platform stage. I finally started Kerouac, and am feeling quite inspired and in touch with his writing since I'm experiencing a bit of what he did. Did some shopping before and after meeting Ginger when she was done with class. Got a Mars Volta cd to add to my collection of interesting-new-keep-me-awake music. I also made my own pin and bought a post card in this cute store where there was a cute little baby babbling and crawling around.
We had Mexican food for dinner at a place called Frida's along with margaritas, yum. Chilled some more, read during Ginger's ski team meeting, and then we went out with one of her friends for a few 1 dollar beers and bacon at this bar that does this every Tuesday. It was great to see Ginger and catch up. I like having small ISV reuinions, and maybe somehow I'll see every one of those amazing people again.
Madison is a really chill place. I definitely liked it and would go back.
This morning I left at 10, and the drive was kind of brutal. Long, and boring, and construction filled, and at the end my GPS got very confused but I have made it into Omaha Nebraska where I'm staying the night with the sister of one of my Aunt's students. They're all nursing students and out pretty late, but I won't be up for too long. I want to get started early tomorrow, so I have time to stop a few times in tiny little Nebraskan towns, and still get to Boulder/Lafayette by like 3 or 4.
I'm starting the snail mail now too. So hopefully I'll mail that all out tomorrow.
Missing people even more now that I don't get to see any friends of family for about a week.
I'll try to make the next few posts shorter. But even though I'm alone and the road is sometimes vastly empty, I still seem to have too much to say.
Much love to all, especially if you've read this to the end.
" Don't push with your shoulder
Until you are older."
The meeting at Columbia went great. The woman I met with was really cool and we talked for about an hour. The program is very different than all the other schools I've looked at so far, and there is way less funding, so I might not even apply, which is a shame since I really LOVE Chicago. I walked around some more, took more pictures, and ate lunch before going back to Oak Park to leave a thank you note and head off to Madison.
The drive was easy enough, and I got there by 545, so I wandered around for an hour until Ginger was out of class. She showed me her apartment and the really awesome lake she has right behind the building where you can go swimming when it's warm, unfortunately I didn't feel like it the next day, but oh well. I met her roommate, an avid Prisonbreak fan who I feel I would've gotten along well with if I had spent more time there. We went out for Wisconsin food for dinner, brats and beer, which was delicious. We caught up and chatted and had a generally great time. I wish I'd had a bit more confidence to speak more ASL since she's a CODA and is fluent. Tuesday was beautiful. I walked around, went to the capitol building, then read by the other lake on this terrace where a large crowd of people was doing tai chi (spelling?) with a guy on a platform stage. I finally started Kerouac, and am feeling quite inspired and in touch with his writing since I'm experiencing a bit of what he did. Did some shopping before and after meeting Ginger when she was done with class. Got a Mars Volta cd to add to my collection of interesting-new-keep-me-awake music. I also made my own pin and bought a post card in this cute store where there was a cute little baby babbling and crawling around.
We had Mexican food for dinner at a place called Frida's along with margaritas, yum. Chilled some more, read during Ginger's ski team meeting, and then we went out with one of her friends for a few 1 dollar beers and bacon at this bar that does this every Tuesday. It was great to see Ginger and catch up. I like having small ISV reuinions, and maybe somehow I'll see every one of those amazing people again.
Madison is a really chill place. I definitely liked it and would go back.
This morning I left at 10, and the drive was kind of brutal. Long, and boring, and construction filled, and at the end my GPS got very confused but I have made it into Omaha Nebraska where I'm staying the night with the sister of one of my Aunt's students. They're all nursing students and out pretty late, but I won't be up for too long. I want to get started early tomorrow, so I have time to stop a few times in tiny little Nebraskan towns, and still get to Boulder/Lafayette by like 3 or 4.
I'm starting the snail mail now too. So hopefully I'll mail that all out tomorrow.
Missing people even more now that I don't get to see any friends of family for about a week.
I'll try to make the next few posts shorter. But even though I'm alone and the road is sometimes vastly empty, I still seem to have too much to say.
Much love to all, especially if you've read this to the end.
" Don't push with your shoulder
Until you are older."
Sunday, September 14, 2008
And I've Started to Get Behind
I have a list of things to talk about that I wrote out Saturday night, so I'll attempt to tell you most of it.
I suppose I should start back on Friday evening. Dinner was good, in downtown Champaign at a burger place. Met more of Andres's friends and smart PHD people and cool people. After that we went back to the place we had pizza the night before for a drink and some poorly played pool. Got back early for lots of talking and youtube video watching as well as the end of Rocky IV with the inspirational unintelligible speech at the end.
Saturday morning there was a tailgating cookout of sorts that one of Andres's roommates, Ben, was having. I believe it started at 8. Quite early if you ask me. So I packed up and had a brat before saying goodbye.
I was very tired on the drive, and eventually stopped for the most expensive gas yet (4.35) and a very large coffee. I didn't drink much of it, I think the size alone made me feel energized. It was nice for a bit, but got rainy after a while and by the time I was within sight of Chicago it was complete downpour. Traffic and all I still made it to Tom and Holly's by 2ish.
Tom and Holly went to SUIC where Tom knew my Aunt Sue and Uncle Peter. They're both artists who work together on these cool political statement pieces that have to do with commercialism and it's just awesome. When I got here they were in the garage painting one of those giant blow up Santa Clauses people put on their lawns at Christmas. They were getting it ready for an art fair show for the next weekend.
I went out around 3 and even though it was raining a lot it was really warm and I didn't mind at all. Chicago is really amazing. Definitely one of my favorites. The first place I stopped was the library, of course, it was basically just fantastic, architecturally and space/book wise. I then spent about half an hour in the Art Institute because it closed at 5. But I got to see the photography display, these miniature room things, and I got to try on a glove made of medieval mail for knights. I then wandered around Millennium park for an hour taking pictures. I can't wait for the sun to be out tomorrow(fingers crossed) so I can go back and take more pictures with the giant silver bean. I chatted with Mel, yay, and watched this funny fountain get people even more wet. Then I did some more walking around, got some soup, then some Garrett's popcorn, which was great, and took more pictures before heading back to Oak Park for dinner. Dinner was great, at this southern style restaurant where I had this veggie over hoe cakes thing which was delicious.
Back at Tom and Holly's we moved some very large pieces of ceiling into the house (they're doing a lot of work on it), and then had some Evan Williams bourbon and went to bed.
Today=Sunday, I slept a bit late since I was so tired. Eventually got myself to the subway after lots of emails and a phone call. And I just got a message back from the people in Boulder and they say I can stay with them! Yay! It was raining loads again so no luck going up the Sears tower, hopefully tomorrow. I got lunch at this cool place and then went to the Cultural Center, which is also a really awesome building. There was an exibition of art that was about/inspired by Marilyn Monroe, and another with artwork from Illinois State Prisoners. I hit the Contemporary Art museum next, which was interesting for sure, and then I actually saw lake Michigan! Yay! Still quite dreary though.
I went out to Wicker Park after. Tom and Holly had told me about two really cool independent bookstores, so of course I went to both. The second one, Myopics, I was in for quite a number of hours. I bought 9 books(woops?), and finished reading The Joy Luck Club, which was an amazing book. Met Tom and Holly again for dinner out there, and then we played some pool before getting a cab back. I got a mini tour in the cab and Holly pointed out the hospital that ER was based on. Now I'm pretty tired again. Have to make sure I'm going to make it to my meeting at Columbia College tomorrow. Then its goodbye Illinois and hello Wisconsin.
I'm having a fantastic time, but I'm starting to miss people. So please don't be shy, and call me. =)
" Take care of a candle
Shut a door by the handle"
I suppose I should start back on Friday evening. Dinner was good, in downtown Champaign at a burger place. Met more of Andres's friends and smart PHD people and cool people. After that we went back to the place we had pizza the night before for a drink and some poorly played pool. Got back early for lots of talking and youtube video watching as well as the end of Rocky IV with the inspirational unintelligible speech at the end.
Saturday morning there was a tailgating cookout of sorts that one of Andres's roommates, Ben, was having. I believe it started at 8. Quite early if you ask me. So I packed up and had a brat before saying goodbye.
I was very tired on the drive, and eventually stopped for the most expensive gas yet (4.35) and a very large coffee. I didn't drink much of it, I think the size alone made me feel energized. It was nice for a bit, but got rainy after a while and by the time I was within sight of Chicago it was complete downpour. Traffic and all I still made it to Tom and Holly's by 2ish.
Tom and Holly went to SUIC where Tom knew my Aunt Sue and Uncle Peter. They're both artists who work together on these cool political statement pieces that have to do with commercialism and it's just awesome. When I got here they were in the garage painting one of those giant blow up Santa Clauses people put on their lawns at Christmas. They were getting it ready for an art fair show for the next weekend.
I went out around 3 and even though it was raining a lot it was really warm and I didn't mind at all. Chicago is really amazing. Definitely one of my favorites. The first place I stopped was the library, of course, it was basically just fantastic, architecturally and space/book wise. I then spent about half an hour in the Art Institute because it closed at 5. But I got to see the photography display, these miniature room things, and I got to try on a glove made of medieval mail for knights. I then wandered around Millennium park for an hour taking pictures. I can't wait for the sun to be out tomorrow(fingers crossed) so I can go back and take more pictures with the giant silver bean. I chatted with Mel, yay, and watched this funny fountain get people even more wet. Then I did some more walking around, got some soup, then some Garrett's popcorn, which was great, and took more pictures before heading back to Oak Park for dinner. Dinner was great, at this southern style restaurant where I had this veggie over hoe cakes thing which was delicious.
Back at Tom and Holly's we moved some very large pieces of ceiling into the house (they're doing a lot of work on it), and then had some Evan Williams bourbon and went to bed.
Today=Sunday, I slept a bit late since I was so tired. Eventually got myself to the subway after lots of emails and a phone call. And I just got a message back from the people in Boulder and they say I can stay with them! Yay! It was raining loads again so no luck going up the Sears tower, hopefully tomorrow. I got lunch at this cool place and then went to the Cultural Center, which is also a really awesome building. There was an exibition of art that was about/inspired by Marilyn Monroe, and another with artwork from Illinois State Prisoners. I hit the Contemporary Art museum next, which was interesting for sure, and then I actually saw lake Michigan! Yay! Still quite dreary though.
I went out to Wicker Park after. Tom and Holly had told me about two really cool independent bookstores, so of course I went to both. The second one, Myopics, I was in for quite a number of hours. I bought 9 books(woops?), and finished reading The Joy Luck Club, which was an amazing book. Met Tom and Holly again for dinner out there, and then we played some pool before getting a cab back. I got a mini tour in the cab and Holly pointed out the hospital that ER was based on. Now I'm pretty tired again. Have to make sure I'm going to make it to my meeting at Columbia College tomorrow. Then its goodbye Illinois and hello Wisconsin.
I'm having a fantastic time, but I'm starting to miss people. So please don't be shy, and call me. =)
" Take care of a candle
Shut a door by the handle"
Friday, September 12, 2008
Carbondale to Urbana ... oh the corn fields
Thursday morning. I woke up early, 715, to say thank you and goodbye to Hallie Ben and Peter before they went to school and work. Aunt Sue was around a bit longer, made me a giant cappuccino again, and wished me luck. I then spent from about 8 until 2 getting things done. Laundry, emails to schools and people, found somewhere to get my oil changed. I drove over there, and then biked back to the house so I could finish packing up my stuff, then biked back to pick up Phyllis. The guys were really nice, said that everything looked fine and that made me really happy. By the time I left it was 2. I then stopped at a Barnes and Noble ( I know, weak ), to pick up a couple books, and by the time that was done and I'd gotten gas it was 3. I passed a few sign's for Lincoln's log cabin, but didn't stop. I also passed a sign for a Raggedy Ann factory, and we all know that must be amazing.
So my arrival into Urbana Illinois was later than expected, 6pm. My gps got a tad confused at the the exact location of Andres's house, so I drove by it a few times, but eventually just turned off the phone and used my eyes to figure it out. Urbana is nice, the streets on this side of campus are cute and lined with little houses that could be real people. I suppose Andres is a real person, no matter how long he's been in school. He lives with 3 other PHD students, so I'm in a very smart house. Andres gave me a quick tour of the campus on our way out. It's really big and spread out, so perfect for biking. They have a spot like in front of Moses, only more obvious, where you stand and clap and the echo bounces all around you. I thought he was trying to make a fool of me, but it was actually really cool, and then I felt bad.
We met one of his roommates at the bar and then went for pizza before coming back pretty late and chatting before bed. Lots of good times remembering the good old times of ISV. And only a bit of making fun of Andres for being old, which he actually does on his own without my help.
Today I got up a bit early, 830 I guess, and didn't take my bike because it was raining, so I was 15 minutes late for my meeting. It was fine though. Spent about an hour talking with two professors and 4 of the fiction MFA's who were around. Helpful as always, but it's getting hard to remember which school gave me which advice and whatnot. Met Andres for coffee and then checked out one of the hundreds of libraries they have here. It was so pretty. With marble staircases and books books books.
Went out for Indian food for lunch, which was really good, and my piece of nan was the biggest I've ever seen. Now, I'm just emailing and updating and chatting, and attempting to get myself to call Matt's teamate Mike's sister-in-law(yeah I know, complicated) who lives in Boulder Colorado to see if I can perhaps stay with them for a couple of days. Who knows.
I think curry does make you a bit tired.
" Drink beer, not porter.
Don't enter the water
'Till to swim you are able.
Sit close to the table."
So my arrival into Urbana Illinois was later than expected, 6pm. My gps got a tad confused at the the exact location of Andres's house, so I drove by it a few times, but eventually just turned off the phone and used my eyes to figure it out. Urbana is nice, the streets on this side of campus are cute and lined with little houses that could be real people. I suppose Andres is a real person, no matter how long he's been in school. He lives with 3 other PHD students, so I'm in a very smart house. Andres gave me a quick tour of the campus on our way out. It's really big and spread out, so perfect for biking. They have a spot like in front of Moses, only more obvious, where you stand and clap and the echo bounces all around you. I thought he was trying to make a fool of me, but it was actually really cool, and then I felt bad.
We met one of his roommates at the bar and then went for pizza before coming back pretty late and chatting before bed. Lots of good times remembering the good old times of ISV. And only a bit of making fun of Andres for being old, which he actually does on his own without my help.
Today I got up a bit early, 830 I guess, and didn't take my bike because it was raining, so I was 15 minutes late for my meeting. It was fine though. Spent about an hour talking with two professors and 4 of the fiction MFA's who were around. Helpful as always, but it's getting hard to remember which school gave me which advice and whatnot. Met Andres for coffee and then checked out one of the hundreds of libraries they have here. It was so pretty. With marble staircases and books books books.
Went out for Indian food for lunch, which was really good, and my piece of nan was the biggest I've ever seen. Now, I'm just emailing and updating and chatting, and attempting to get myself to call Matt's teamate Mike's sister-in-law(yeah I know, complicated) who lives in Boulder Colorado to see if I can perhaps stay with them for a couple of days. Who knows.
I think curry does make you a bit tired.
" Drink beer, not porter.
Don't enter the water
'Till to swim you are able.
Sit close to the table."
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Salukies and Huskies In Carbondale
I got to sleep last night. It was beautiful, as a certain French monk would say. I got quite a tour of Carbondale. Sat with Aunt Sue for an hour discussion with 3 students from her feminism in film class, which was great, and I didn't feel completely lost ... apparently I did get a good undergraduate education. Then I met with Beth Larden, from the creative writing department. She was very nice and we talked for 45 minutes about the program and now I know that I do really want to go back to school. I also met a few of the current mfa grads and was invited out to R&D(read and drink), but couldn't make it. I would have been very awkward and nervous, though I'm getting good practice developing my social skills during this trip. I also talked with the people who run their literary journal publication, which was awesome, though I forgot to ask for tips for the B-36ers.
Aunt Sue found someone for me to stay with in Chicago! An old MFA student of her's or Peter's. I'm super excited because it means I have somewhere safe to put my car and interesting people to meet.
I had lunch and took a couple pictures at the house before going out to get my bike tire fixed. At the bike store there was this beautiful Siberian husky with great big blue eyes. We were friends for about 15 minutes before he started to use me as a chew toy.
Went with Uncle Peter to pick up Hallie from dance and Ben from the high school, and then had a good home cooked dinner. We walked to the local co-op to get some muffins and I bough yummy looking apples and pasta and a scone ... and a cookie. Grocery stores are a weakness in me.
All together it was a good day, quite relaxed, which was nice after yesterday's hectic-ness. Early bed time though, because I'm still quite tired and want to wake up early to say thank you and goodbye.
The old white couch from the Sudbury house is here, and I'd forgotten how much I loved it.
" Shut doors behind you
(Don't slam them mind you)"
Aunt Sue found someone for me to stay with in Chicago! An old MFA student of her's or Peter's. I'm super excited because it means I have somewhere safe to put my car and interesting people to meet.
I had lunch and took a couple pictures at the house before going out to get my bike tire fixed. At the bike store there was this beautiful Siberian husky with great big blue eyes. We were friends for about 15 minutes before he started to use me as a chew toy.
Went with Uncle Peter to pick up Hallie from dance and Ben from the high school, and then had a good home cooked dinner. We walked to the local co-op to get some muffins and I bough yummy looking apples and pasta and a scone ... and a cookie. Grocery stores are a weakness in me.
All together it was a good day, quite relaxed, which was nice after yesterday's hectic-ness. Early bed time though, because I'm still quite tired and want to wake up early to say thank you and goodbye.
The old white couch from the Sudbury house is here, and I'd forgotten how much I loved it.
" Shut doors behind you
(Don't slam them mind you)"
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
I was in Indiana?
Carbondale Illinois is where I am now. Sitting of the couch attempting to do some emailing, but it's difficult with my mind constantly whispering for me to go to sleep. I left Ohio at 630am this morning. It was raining and dull and I wasn't in a great mood. But it was beautiful by the time I reached Purdue in West Lafayette Indiana. I didn't meet with anyone in the creative writing MFA department due to several factors. I hadn't received a email back from them, the director was out when I found his office, and I got phone numbers confused between Purdue and Indiana State. Took a few pictures, wandered around their campus and then made myself a peanut butter and honey sandwich and went on my way.
Indiana State has a really nice campus. It's huge, but all foresty and the buildings all look like the hall of languages at Syracuse. Didn't meet with anyone there either, so perhaps I wasted my day, but I did get to see the actual campuses, which I feel is important.
I started using my recorder today because I kept seeing very interesting things. Once I listen to it I'll remember everything. Using it just reminds me of how terrible I am at expressing my self out loud. I much more prefer writing. But you sometimes can't get around the fact that language is insufficient.
I saw real live Buffalo. I saw a real un-live stone giraffe. And I saw the biggest cross in the world.
Ohio and Indiana have pretty landscapes, but it mostly all looks the same. I did get to drive through a few tiny towns that were cool.
Cruise control is my new best friend. As is my good sense of direction.
12 hours driving is a lot, but I don't feel destroyed, just good and tired.
" Don't waste your money
Abstain from honey"
Indiana State has a really nice campus. It's huge, but all foresty and the buildings all look like the hall of languages at Syracuse. Didn't meet with anyone there either, so perhaps I wasted my day, but I did get to see the actual campuses, which I feel is important.
I started using my recorder today because I kept seeing very interesting things. Once I listen to it I'll remember everything. Using it just reminds me of how terrible I am at expressing my self out loud. I much more prefer writing. But you sometimes can't get around the fact that language is insufficient.
I saw real live Buffalo. I saw a real un-live stone giraffe. And I saw the biggest cross in the world.
Ohio and Indiana have pretty landscapes, but it mostly all looks the same. I did get to drive through a few tiny towns that were cool.
Cruise control is my new best friend. As is my good sense of direction.
12 hours driving is a lot, but I don't feel destroyed, just good and tired.
" Don't waste your money
Abstain from honey"
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Albino Squirrel of OSU
Today was a small stone wall of challenges. Fortunately, I managed to clamber over. Woke up nice and early at 615 with Tuna, who made me delicious toast and sent me off to Ohio with presents. The drive was fine. Lots of construction but no traffic. My bluetooth ear thing had no battery but it wasn't too much of an issue. I just had to turn down RaRa when I wanted to hear it direct me. At approximately 1030ish a small rock hit my windshield and made a nice circular crack, this will have to be fixed but for now it's not getting larger or in my vision at all. Poor Phyllis.
Columbus is ok. Nothing exciting as far as I can tell, but I never made it into the city. I managed to get myself to the Ohio State University campus only 5 after 3. Parked in a garage I found without the gps and took my bike since the campus is huge. The meeting went really well. The woman in charge of the program administration was really nice and enthusiastic. She did a good job of making me want to join the program. I now have a lot of reading to do, and obviously will have to make sure I apply. I also got to talk to one of the 2nd year MFA grads who helps run their Journal publication, which was even more helpful.
Then I explored a bit. Went through the quad and down to their version of Marshall st, called Small North. I found this really awesome music store called the Singing Dog and proceeded to spend an hour looking for some new used cd of something I didn't have. They did not have and Daft Punk, and I finally went for Ethan's advice and got Jimi Hendrix. On my way back to the car my back tire went flat so I had to walk. Which was fine since I called my Mom. Oh. And. I saw an albino squirrel. No lie. He was awesome.
Back at the hotel I was too tired to go out again so I started organizing and figuring out what I'm going to do tomorrow. Thankfully Aunt Sue called me because it totally slipped my mind, as did a lot of things once I realized I'd lost my bluetooth entirely. Hours of checking later, and through severely repressed tears I managed to find it, and did a small dance of joy.
Tomorrow will be rough. 12 hours of driving and two Universities to see. 530 wake up call.
Day one on my own complete. I'm still here. I'm exhausted. Good night.
" Eat Bread and Butter
Once more, don't stutter."
Columbus is ok. Nothing exciting as far as I can tell, but I never made it into the city. I managed to get myself to the Ohio State University campus only 5 after 3. Parked in a garage I found without the gps and took my bike since the campus is huge. The meeting went really well. The woman in charge of the program administration was really nice and enthusiastic. She did a good job of making me want to join the program. I now have a lot of reading to do, and obviously will have to make sure I apply. I also got to talk to one of the 2nd year MFA grads who helps run their Journal publication, which was even more helpful.
Then I explored a bit. Went through the quad and down to their version of Marshall st, called Small North. I found this really awesome music store called the Singing Dog and proceeded to spend an hour looking for some new used cd of something I didn't have. They did not have and Daft Punk, and I finally went for Ethan's advice and got Jimi Hendrix. On my way back to the car my back tire went flat so I had to walk. Which was fine since I called my Mom. Oh. And. I saw an albino squirrel. No lie. He was awesome.
Back at the hotel I was too tired to go out again so I started organizing and figuring out what I'm going to do tomorrow. Thankfully Aunt Sue called me because it totally slipped my mind, as did a lot of things once I realized I'd lost my bluetooth entirely. Hours of checking later, and through severely repressed tears I managed to find it, and did a small dance of joy.
Tomorrow will be rough. 12 hours of driving and two Universities to see. 530 wake up call.
Day one on my own complete. I'm still here. I'm exhausted. Good night.
" Eat Bread and Butter
Once more, don't stutter."
Last few days in the Cuse
I apologize for the large gap in my upkeep of this blog. Friday through Sunday in Syracuse was whirlwind and amazing. Though I was very sad to leave, it felt like enough time. I managed to see most all the important people.
Friday was relaxed mostly. Had lunch with Erin, Sarah and Court during Court's lunch break. We went out to the Irish festival downtown. There were a lot of proudly Irish people celebrating the fact that we were halfway to St. Patrick's Day. Kids in Irish step outfits, men with giant walking sticks, live Celtic music, food, and of course wine and beer. We went to sushi after checking out Soundgarden. Erin and I tried the octopus. It was odd, very chewy, but at least there weren't any suckers on it. Lisa and Tuna finally arrived while we were watching Superbad and making this crazy brownie-cookie-cheesecake pie at around midnight.
Saturday we got up a little early to make it to the regional farmer's market. I got cheese curds, which I just remembered I left in the 2nd floor fridge. We had mini doughnuts, and there were more booths open then I've ever seen before. Tuna got her concord grapes and was very happy. I also ran into Terry, my sign language teacher, and her son Chris, which was great because she's amazing. We went to practice and were the old graduated Foxes. Then Lisa napped and we lay around and talked, read, watched a movie, before making Moose pasta for dinner (the leftovers which Sarah later put on top of a frozen pizza, and it was delicious). We went out to Alto Cinco, then to Vu's crazy German rave, and then Laura Graham's and Beth's. Later, we went back to Vu's and it had devolved into a country music fest so we didn't stay too long.
Sunday was beautiful. I slept in Erin's bed and woke up on my back feeling like I was lying in a large vat of cheesecake. I knew it was unreasonable, but that's where I thought I was. Ate some brunch, Tuna scared Ethan with a polar bear, and headed over to South Campus for Juice Jam. They wouldn't let me in with my 35mm camera because of the detachable lens, which was very sad, but Tuna let me use hers for a while. Tri-del tried to wave Tuna and I over as we walked through the tent of activities. Kelsey gave us lollipops/suckers, and Tuna threw sunflower seeds at Ethan. The ultimate table was randomly in the middle of the field with no tent. Ra Ra Riot was so much fun to watch and dance to. I bought one of their awesome t-shirts and Lisa and I split a cd so I had new music to listen to all day today on the way to Columbus. Ate delicious Alto Cinco and then went to Gannon's for pumpkin ice cream even though I was quite full already. Gannon's was the site of a large spectacle courtesy of us. We really should have had more time to laugh like that. The re-packing of all my things was slow. I kept forgetting things and getting frustrated with my lack of space. But I managed to get everything into the car, except for my coffee pot which I forgot of course. I said goodbye, only cried for about 3-5 minutes, and Tuna and I left. We arrived in Colden at about 10. Dana had made a fire outside for us, but my tardiness caused us to miss that.
Tuna and I kept having tired but semi-serious conversations, so the ride to Buffalo was lots of fun, but tearful.
Syracuse is home. And I will miss home. But I will be back. I have a new home waiting. And due to new fangled technology I talked with Erin and Neil today anyways. No getting rid of me loves, sorry.
" Drink tea, not coffee
Never eat toffy"
Friday was relaxed mostly. Had lunch with Erin, Sarah and Court during Court's lunch break. We went out to the Irish festival downtown. There were a lot of proudly Irish people celebrating the fact that we were halfway to St. Patrick's Day. Kids in Irish step outfits, men with giant walking sticks, live Celtic music, food, and of course wine and beer. We went to sushi after checking out Soundgarden. Erin and I tried the octopus. It was odd, very chewy, but at least there weren't any suckers on it. Lisa and Tuna finally arrived while we were watching Superbad and making this crazy brownie-cookie-cheesecake pie at around midnight.
Saturday we got up a little early to make it to the regional farmer's market. I got cheese curds, which I just remembered I left in the 2nd floor fridge. We had mini doughnuts, and there were more booths open then I've ever seen before. Tuna got her concord grapes and was very happy. I also ran into Terry, my sign language teacher, and her son Chris, which was great because she's amazing. We went to practice and were the old graduated Foxes. Then Lisa napped and we lay around and talked, read, watched a movie, before making Moose pasta for dinner (the leftovers which Sarah later put on top of a frozen pizza, and it was delicious). We went out to Alto Cinco, then to Vu's crazy German rave, and then Laura Graham's and Beth's. Later, we went back to Vu's and it had devolved into a country music fest so we didn't stay too long.
Sunday was beautiful. I slept in Erin's bed and woke up on my back feeling like I was lying in a large vat of cheesecake. I knew it was unreasonable, but that's where I thought I was. Ate some brunch, Tuna scared Ethan with a polar bear, and headed over to South Campus for Juice Jam. They wouldn't let me in with my 35mm camera because of the detachable lens, which was very sad, but Tuna let me use hers for a while. Tri-del tried to wave Tuna and I over as we walked through the tent of activities. Kelsey gave us lollipops/suckers, and Tuna threw sunflower seeds at Ethan. The ultimate table was randomly in the middle of the field with no tent. Ra Ra Riot was so much fun to watch and dance to. I bought one of their awesome t-shirts and Lisa and I split a cd so I had new music to listen to all day today on the way to Columbus. Ate delicious Alto Cinco and then went to Gannon's for pumpkin ice cream even though I was quite full already. Gannon's was the site of a large spectacle courtesy of us. We really should have had more time to laugh like that. The re-packing of all my things was slow. I kept forgetting things and getting frustrated with my lack of space. But I managed to get everything into the car, except for my coffee pot which I forgot of course. I said goodbye, only cried for about 3-5 minutes, and Tuna and I left. We arrived in Colden at about 10. Dana had made a fire outside for us, but my tardiness caused us to miss that.
Tuna and I kept having tired but semi-serious conversations, so the ride to Buffalo was lots of fun, but tearful.
Syracuse is home. And I will miss home. But I will be back. I have a new home waiting. And due to new fangled technology I talked with Erin and Neil today anyways. No getting rid of me loves, sorry.
" Drink tea, not coffee
Never eat toffy"
Friday, September 5, 2008
Thursday in Syracuse
Well I've fallen easily back into the routine life of a college student. I feel quite lazy and useless, but I'm actually picking up a lot of good information here. One of the new Foxhole residents, Whitney, just drove across the country and had some great tips, and Denver (who's from Denver) has lists of people and places to stay with and see in Colorado. Though she also told me that Nebraska is very boring, which is unfortunate because I'm still driving through it.
I managed to not kill Erin for waking me up at 830, and proceeded to nap after she went to class. I did a lot of organizing in an attempt to have everything I need in the house instead of in random places in my car. I'll get the system down soon. Living out of the back of your car takes more organizational skills than I actually possess. I wrote to a couple of professors and then biked 10 houses down the street to see Vu. His house is cool, but a bit of a mess right now due to the preparation for the German rave his house mates are having this weekend, and he lives in the attic with the spray on snow foam all over the ceiling, which is probably not safe. We called Jon and Jenny who are living like real people in Philidelphia. I didn't get to recess to do any writing because we came back to the Foxhole and hung out with Neil for a while. I met Erin for an early dinner at Pita Pit and then went to ultimate practice! I do miss playing ultimate, but found that after playing a few games in a ho-stack that I've forgotten how to play in a straight-stack. Oh well. It was fun anyways and I helped teach a newbie how to throw. I tried not to get too attached to the cool newbies because I'm not going to be around to be sensai to any of them. Every Fox got a hug every time I though I wasn't going to see them again, hopefully they'll be good and sick of me when I leave on Sunday.
Thursday night means having people over, which was fantastic and fun, and I was on the porch until 4 am talking with friends who I am really going to miss.
I also got to go to Wegmans today. Love.
" Go walk of six miles
Have ready quick smiles
With lightsome laughter
Soft flowing after"
I managed to not kill Erin for waking me up at 830, and proceeded to nap after she went to class. I did a lot of organizing in an attempt to have everything I need in the house instead of in random places in my car. I'll get the system down soon. Living out of the back of your car takes more organizational skills than I actually possess. I wrote to a couple of professors and then biked 10 houses down the street to see Vu. His house is cool, but a bit of a mess right now due to the preparation for the German rave his house mates are having this weekend, and he lives in the attic with the spray on snow foam all over the ceiling, which is probably not safe. We called Jon and Jenny who are living like real people in Philidelphia. I didn't get to recess to do any writing because we came back to the Foxhole and hung out with Neil for a while. I met Erin for an early dinner at Pita Pit and then went to ultimate practice! I do miss playing ultimate, but found that after playing a few games in a ho-stack that I've forgotten how to play in a straight-stack. Oh well. It was fun anyways and I helped teach a newbie how to throw. I tried not to get too attached to the cool newbies because I'm not going to be around to be sensai to any of them. Every Fox got a hug every time I though I wasn't going to see them again, hopefully they'll be good and sick of me when I leave on Sunday.
Thursday night means having people over, which was fantastic and fun, and I was on the porch until 4 am talking with friends who I am really going to miss.
I also got to go to Wegmans today. Love.
" Go walk of six miles
Have ready quick smiles
With lightsome laughter
Soft flowing after"
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Home Sweet Foxhole
Well the internet in the Foxhole doesn't want to cooperate right now, so I'm preparing my post ahead of time. Much the same to you, of course. I made it to Syracuse! Not that much of a surprise really, but I was shaking with excitement all the same. I really did miss everything here.
Today went pretty well for day one of the adventure. I woke up at 630 when Matt and Dan got up for school, so I had plenty of time to pack seeing as I hadn't really done much on Tuesday. Unfortunately, even though I said good bye to them, Matt and Dan came home to find me still there. I managed to close all my doors and secure my bike to the back of my car, and it didn't budge a bit on the highway. I finally left at 3 to a well earned "LEAVE!" from both brothers.
Syracuse hasn't changed. Only I can't go into my room in the Foxhole and I don't have to get up for class tomorrow. Went to a great night of open-mic entertainment at Funk and Waffles with Neil. While the band formerly known as Obamarama didn't play either of Lisa's favorite songs, and open-mic was sharing the stage with another show, it was still very memorable. One man played a ukulele. I carried a bass drum. There was rap without the Kid Fresh. Ethan sang Weezer. Neil refused to play the Police but gave in eventually. I met a friend of Ethan's who's a writer and we played ping pong with the names of authors we liked.
I'm upstairs on the couch, it's a bit of an odd feeling, I keep thinking I should go downstairs and go to bed. Tomorrow brings coffee and writing and the hunting down of Professor Flowers. And hopefully internet. And contacting all the Universities I want to see in the coming weeks.
There's a national geographic magazine on the table that has a list of places to see in the US. I'm definitely home.
" Be enterprising,
Love early rising"
Today went pretty well for day one of the adventure. I woke up at 630 when Matt and Dan got up for school, so I had plenty of time to pack seeing as I hadn't really done much on Tuesday. Unfortunately, even though I said good bye to them, Matt and Dan came home to find me still there. I managed to close all my doors and secure my bike to the back of my car, and it didn't budge a bit on the highway. I finally left at 3 to a well earned "LEAVE!" from both brothers.
Syracuse hasn't changed. Only I can't go into my room in the Foxhole and I don't have to get up for class tomorrow. Went to a great night of open-mic entertainment at Funk and Waffles with Neil. While the band formerly known as Obamarama didn't play either of Lisa's favorite songs, and open-mic was sharing the stage with another show, it was still very memorable. One man played a ukulele. I carried a bass drum. There was rap without the Kid Fresh. Ethan sang Weezer. Neil refused to play the Police but gave in eventually. I met a friend of Ethan's who's a writer and we played ping pong with the names of authors we liked.
I'm upstairs on the couch, it's a bit of an odd feeling, I keep thinking I should go downstairs and go to bed. Tomorrow brings coffee and writing and the hunting down of Professor Flowers. And hopefully internet. And contacting all the Universities I want to see in the coming weeks.
There's a national geographic magazine on the table that has a list of places to see in the US. I'm definitely home.
" Be enterprising,
Love early rising"
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Night-before-the-first-day-of-school Nerves
Dan always gets really nervous and anxious the night before school starts. I'm feeling exactly the same thing. I feel very very ready, and then not at all. It doesn't look like I'm leaving tomorrow. My room is still overflowing with possessions and boxes to be stored or somehow organized into my car. The only things that made it into the car today were the wooden top of my desk and my sleeping bag. I'm having trouble organizing things at this point. I don't know where I should pack the things I'll need for hiking, versus the things I'll need to entertain myself in the car. Everything is a bit mixed up. The clutter is probably infesting my brain.
At least I got a good amount of packing done. Clothes are very important, and those I have organized and ready. AAA in Franklin saw me for over an hour today. Ozzie was very helpful and I now have many maps and complete directions. My Mimi gave me a care package of useful on the road things, and my Bubba had a beer with me. I said goodbye to my Grandma, in a way, because I know I'll see her a thousand times on my way to California.
I said goodbye to my Dad because he'll wake up before me tomorrow. The reality of what I'm doing is starting to set in. Sleep will be difficult, but at this point that's what I need the most.
" Write well and neatly
And sing most sweetly"
At least I got a good amount of packing done. Clothes are very important, and those I have organized and ready. AAA in Franklin saw me for over an hour today. Ozzie was very helpful and I now have many maps and complete directions. My Mimi gave me a care package of useful on the road things, and my Bubba had a beer with me. I said goodbye to my Grandma, in a way, because I know I'll see her a thousand times on my way to California.
I said goodbye to my Dad because he'll wake up before me tomorrow. The reality of what I'm doing is starting to set in. Sleep will be difficult, but at this point that's what I need the most.
" Write well and neatly
And sing most sweetly"
Monday, September 1, 2008
Pre-emptive explanation for flight
Packing is not easy. But I have all day tomorrow ... mostly. I've bought a lot of necessary things: new phone with gps, hiking shoes, a tent, toothpaste. I have worked numerous hours at the Dover Market in order to afford gas and my $20 rusty bike rack. I've said my goodbyes, and my see you at Christmases to my family. I've promised my Dad that I'll bring a Bible and a Koran. I've promised my Mom that I'll call twice a day.
I've given up on the hope of acquiring a co-pilot, but it's alright because now I can go wherever whenever I want. I have Kerouac's book ready, along with a always changing hand drawn calender of the month of September. I won't list the things I do not have because that list is still far too long.
I want to write a lot during this trip, but I'm not expecting anything of great genius to appear(not too hard at least.) I'm looking to see if I can handle it. I want to exhaust myself hiking into the Grand Canyon, and bore myself endlessly and happily in a town in Nebraska with a population of 12. And I suppose I'm also inspecting the different universities I might want to attend for graduate school. I want to terrify and shock myself onto another level of thought. I want to have fun, even if it means missing a lot of people and things.
Tonight's chores are mostly done. One last e-mail and then reading Harry Potter before getting some sleep.
" Learn well your Grammar
And never stammer"
I've given up on the hope of acquiring a co-pilot, but it's alright because now I can go wherever whenever I want. I have Kerouac's book ready, along with a always changing hand drawn calender of the month of September. I won't list the things I do not have because that list is still far too long.
I want to write a lot during this trip, but I'm not expecting anything of great genius to appear(not too hard at least.) I'm looking to see if I can handle it. I want to exhaust myself hiking into the Grand Canyon, and bore myself endlessly and happily in a town in Nebraska with a population of 12. And I suppose I'm also inspecting the different universities I might want to attend for graduate school. I want to terrify and shock myself onto another level of thought. I want to have fun, even if it means missing a lot of people and things.
Tonight's chores are mostly done. One last e-mail and then reading Harry Potter before getting some sleep.
" Learn well your Grammar
And never stammer"
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