The love of my life has his own blogger now.
lyceum.blogspot.com
Jay's blogger. Link to it. Love it. Read it.
lyceum.blogspot.com
Jay's blogger. Link to it. Love it. Read it.
Monday, October 29, 2001
Friday, October 26, 2001
Colleen takes on Indianapolis, and her 11th Tori Amos show.
It was great. Not a whole bunch of extremely rare stuff, but I prefer it without songs I've heard twice in my life. "Upside Down", "Tear in Your Hand", "Little Earthquakes", "Frog on My Toe", "Siren", "Caught a Lite Sneeze"... It rocked so much. I think musically, it was my favorite of the three shows I saw this tour.
I took my friend Anne with me, as her birthday present. We had some trouble figuring out the basic concepts of time, and how the backwards state of Indiana fails to observe daylight savings time.
We left at about 2 pm, thinking we'd cross the Indiana state line at about 3:15 pm our time, and then it would be 4:15 their time. It did not work like that. We crossed the state line at about 3:15 pm, our time, and it became 2:15 pm their time. Had we thought about this a little more before we left, we might have came to this conclusion. However, we didn't, and we realized we were in the Hoosier state an hour earlier than we had anticipated. So we found a mall in downtown Indianapolis, and hung out there. It was a pretty nice mall. I got to go into an FAO Schwarz, which I'd never done before (it was a small one, but really neat. It had a talking dinosaur. They do a great job with store setup.) There was a really cool monument down the street from the mall. It was tall, and had some cool detail on it. We found the venue pretty easily, and a free parking spot. Unfortunately, Rufus Wainwright didn't open for her. It was some local guy, who really wasn't all that interesting. We happened to be seated next to a couple from Louisville, who were big Bela Fleck fans. It amused me, and made me think of Ilya.
Anyhow, we got back into Lexington about 3 am (I drove a big part of the way back.. Anne slept. She has to run a marathon this weekend, after all.) I love cruise control. I miss it dearly.
And on a sidenote, I just went to the The Push Stars website, and Chris Trapper, their frontman, is doing a solo tour. I'd love to go see him, but he's playing at bleeping Jefferson Hall Saloon, home of the worst sound system ever. I mean that. I refuse to go there. Oh, well. It's on the same night as Leo Kottke in Lexington, and I'd really like to go to that show.
That's all, for now. I'm still wondering if anyone had a response to my last blogger-babble session. Let me know if you do. :)
It was great. Not a whole bunch of extremely rare stuff, but I prefer it without songs I've heard twice in my life. "Upside Down", "Tear in Your Hand", "Little Earthquakes", "Frog on My Toe", "Siren", "Caught a Lite Sneeze"... It rocked so much. I think musically, it was my favorite of the three shows I saw this tour.
I took my friend Anne with me, as her birthday present. We had some trouble figuring out the basic concepts of time, and how the backwards state of Indiana fails to observe daylight savings time.
We left at about 2 pm, thinking we'd cross the Indiana state line at about 3:15 pm our time, and then it would be 4:15 their time. It did not work like that. We crossed the state line at about 3:15 pm, our time, and it became 2:15 pm their time. Had we thought about this a little more before we left, we might have came to this conclusion. However, we didn't, and we realized we were in the Hoosier state an hour earlier than we had anticipated. So we found a mall in downtown Indianapolis, and hung out there. It was a pretty nice mall. I got to go into an FAO Schwarz, which I'd never done before (it was a small one, but really neat. It had a talking dinosaur. They do a great job with store setup.) There was a really cool monument down the street from the mall. It was tall, and had some cool detail on it. We found the venue pretty easily, and a free parking spot. Unfortunately, Rufus Wainwright didn't open for her. It was some local guy, who really wasn't all that interesting. We happened to be seated next to a couple from Louisville, who were big Bela Fleck fans. It amused me, and made me think of Ilya.
Anyhow, we got back into Lexington about 3 am (I drove a big part of the way back.. Anne slept. She has to run a marathon this weekend, after all.) I love cruise control. I miss it dearly.
And on a sidenote, I just went to the The Push Stars website, and Chris Trapper, their frontman, is doing a solo tour. I'd love to go see him, but he's playing at bleeping Jefferson Hall Saloon, home of the worst sound system ever. I mean that. I refuse to go there. Oh, well. It's on the same night as Leo Kottke in Lexington, and I'd really like to go to that show.
That's all, for now. I'm still wondering if anyone had a response to my last blogger-babble session. Let me know if you do. :)
If You Don't
Treat Me Better
Baby I'll Just Run Away
Baby I Don't
Know What Drives You
To Play All These
Silly Games
C'mon Baby
I'm Much Stronger
Than You Know
Sometimes
I'm Not Afraid
To let It Show
When Will You Wake Up
I Want You
More Than The Stars
And The Sun
But I Can Take
Only So Much
Cool On Your Island
Is It Cool On Your Island
Treat Me Better
Baby I'll Just Run Away
Baby I Don't
Know What Drives You
To Play All These
Silly Games
C'mon Baby
I'm Much Stronger
Than You Know
Sometimes
I'm Not Afraid
To let It Show
When Will You Wake Up
I Want You
More Than The Stars
And The Sun
But I Can Take
Only So Much
Cool On Your Island
Is It Cool On Your Island
Guess what I heard last night in Indianapolis?
"Cool on your Island", followed by "Cooling."
I can die happy now. More later.
Wednesday, October 17, 2001
I'll take this out of the realm of the comments on Erika's blog and onto my own.
I don't consider myself a hardcore feminist.
I do consider myself a feminist in the sense that I believe that women should strive for equality.
Equality is the state of being equal. Equal means:
1. Having the same quantity, measure, or value as another.
2. Having the same privileges, status, or rights.
3. Having the requisite qualities, such as strength or ability, for a task or situation.
(from dictionary.com)
I think everyone should be treated with respect. Men, women, and children. That's a no-brainer. I, in turn, expect to be respected. It's a pretty simple concept.
I believe if you asked most women if they wanted equality, they'd answer "Yes." Very few say, "I want to be treated differently because I'm a female."
Which brings me to my point: A guy saying, "I will always treat my girlfriend like a queen", and a girl swooning over such a remark. Why? Do you think you need to be fawned all over, and a guy belittle himself over you, because you're female? Equality is a two way street. If you want to be considered equal to a man, don't expect to be treated differently. And if you're a guy, and you bow to a girl's every wish, where does that leave you in the scheme of things? It should be give and take. Of course I think we afford a different type of respect to a significant other. That's what makes it a romantic relationship. But surely, if you're with someone, you appreciate them for more than their gender? If not, I could walk out onto the street, kiss the first guy I see, and he's fulfilled my one criteria: Male. Romance is so much more than that.. it's two people making a connection, and wanting to do special things for one another. The idea of a girl playing cool and hard-to-get and a guy falling all over himself went out with the poodle skirt, in my eyes. If you're with someone, and they don't show you the respect afforded you, then you shouldn't be with them. This isn't something I realized as little as 4 years ago, but these days, I wouldn't stand for any less.
Partially, it's the idea of chivalry that angers me so much. It implies that women should be taken care of, because they can't take care of themselves. I'm quite able to take care of myself. When a guy touts one of his qualities as chivalry, I'm far from impressed. However, if I see a guy treat men and women with that same sense of respect, I'd be impressed.
Why do I think like this? I was raised to believe that I could do anything I wanted, and that gender was not an excuse to forgo anything. I should know how to check the oil in my car as well as fix myself dinner. Self-sufficiency. My mother grew up in a time when women weren't expected to know how to take care of themselves, and my grandmother, to this day, reflects that state of mind. She made sure that I didn't turn out that way. I work in a building with 15 males, and one other female. It wouldn't be fair if I expected special treatment. I only want to be appreciated the same way everyone else is. If I'm carrying something heavy I can't handle, feel free to help me. I'd do the same for you. I'm not saying that there aren't differences between the emotional and physical makeup of men and women; there are. They just don't warrant different levels of respect. Don't treat a girl like a "goddess" unless you've personally seen her raise the dead or perform some other god-like feat, or a queen unless she a) has her own hive b) rules Great Britain or another monarchy.
There is also a bit of a scummy air to someone that wants to treat you like a "queen." When I first meet someone, I expect a level of kindness and courtesy that reflects our knowledge of one another. If I've gotten to know someone, and they're suddenly throwing flowers and candy at me, and I've not returned that level of interest in them, it definitely looks like they have an ulterior motive. I don't want someone who wants me because they're lonely (physically or emotionally). I want someone because they like who I am. I want someone who's on the same emotional level as I'm on (and I'm very lucky to have that someone.) If you treat someone with undue queenliness, don't complain when you break up a year later, "She walked all over me." You set the stage for it, and you're going to reap what you sow. Stand up for yourself. Treat your significant other with kindess and consideration. But don't put someone on a pedestal and throw roses at them. That's not real life, and it's not going to stand the tests of time.
In the end, it all boils down to that one word: respect. The state of being regarded with honor or esteem and/or willingness to show consideration or appreciation (blatantly ripped from dicionary.com). Why would someone deserve this more because she happens to be a she? People are individuals. They are more than their gender, their race, or their nationality.
Like me. Love me. Hate me. Whatever. But don't do it because I'm female, do it because I'm me.
I don't consider myself a hardcore feminist.
I do consider myself a feminist in the sense that I believe that women should strive for equality.
Equality is the state of being equal. Equal means:
1. Having the same quantity, measure, or value as another.
2. Having the same privileges, status, or rights.
3. Having the requisite qualities, such as strength or ability, for a task or situation.
(from dictionary.com)
I think everyone should be treated with respect. Men, women, and children. That's a no-brainer. I, in turn, expect to be respected. It's a pretty simple concept.
I believe if you asked most women if they wanted equality, they'd answer "Yes." Very few say, "I want to be treated differently because I'm a female."
Which brings me to my point: A guy saying, "I will always treat my girlfriend like a queen", and a girl swooning over such a remark. Why? Do you think you need to be fawned all over, and a guy belittle himself over you, because you're female? Equality is a two way street. If you want to be considered equal to a man, don't expect to be treated differently. And if you're a guy, and you bow to a girl's every wish, where does that leave you in the scheme of things? It should be give and take. Of course I think we afford a different type of respect to a significant other. That's what makes it a romantic relationship. But surely, if you're with someone, you appreciate them for more than their gender? If not, I could walk out onto the street, kiss the first guy I see, and he's fulfilled my one criteria: Male. Romance is so much more than that.. it's two people making a connection, and wanting to do special things for one another. The idea of a girl playing cool and hard-to-get and a guy falling all over himself went out with the poodle skirt, in my eyes. If you're with someone, and they don't show you the respect afforded you, then you shouldn't be with them. This isn't something I realized as little as 4 years ago, but these days, I wouldn't stand for any less.
Partially, it's the idea of chivalry that angers me so much. It implies that women should be taken care of, because they can't take care of themselves. I'm quite able to take care of myself. When a guy touts one of his qualities as chivalry, I'm far from impressed. However, if I see a guy treat men and women with that same sense of respect, I'd be impressed.
Why do I think like this? I was raised to believe that I could do anything I wanted, and that gender was not an excuse to forgo anything. I should know how to check the oil in my car as well as fix myself dinner. Self-sufficiency. My mother grew up in a time when women weren't expected to know how to take care of themselves, and my grandmother, to this day, reflects that state of mind. She made sure that I didn't turn out that way. I work in a building with 15 males, and one other female. It wouldn't be fair if I expected special treatment. I only want to be appreciated the same way everyone else is. If I'm carrying something heavy I can't handle, feel free to help me. I'd do the same for you. I'm not saying that there aren't differences between the emotional and physical makeup of men and women; there are. They just don't warrant different levels of respect. Don't treat a girl like a "goddess" unless you've personally seen her raise the dead or perform some other god-like feat, or a queen unless she a) has her own hive b) rules Great Britain or another monarchy.
There is also a bit of a scummy air to someone that wants to treat you like a "queen." When I first meet someone, I expect a level of kindness and courtesy that reflects our knowledge of one another. If I've gotten to know someone, and they're suddenly throwing flowers and candy at me, and I've not returned that level of interest in them, it definitely looks like they have an ulterior motive. I don't want someone who wants me because they're lonely (physically or emotionally). I want someone because they like who I am. I want someone who's on the same emotional level as I'm on (and I'm very lucky to have that someone.) If you treat someone with undue queenliness, don't complain when you break up a year later, "She walked all over me." You set the stage for it, and you're going to reap what you sow. Stand up for yourself. Treat your significant other with kindess and consideration. But don't put someone on a pedestal and throw roses at them. That's not real life, and it's not going to stand the tests of time.
In the end, it all boils down to that one word: respect. The state of being regarded with honor or esteem and/or willingness to show consideration or appreciation (blatantly ripped from dicionary.com). Why would someone deserve this more because she happens to be a she? People are individuals. They are more than their gender, their race, or their nationality.
Like me. Love me. Hate me. Whatever. But don't do it because I'm female, do it because I'm me.
Sunday, October 14, 2001
Nicole, I'm glad I can change your perception of something you see every day. hehe. That makes me feel... special. *nods* that's it. Special. My legs have completely recovered. They weren't too bad to start out with. Really. If Ilya had an honest-to-god FLOOR on his car, rather than a board covering up stereo equipment, all would have been ok. ;) Honestly, it was no big deal.hehe.
So anyhow... today Jay and I went to the Pumpkin Festival at the Double Stink Hog Farm (that's really the name. Not very Charlie Brown/Great Pumpkiny, is it?) It was pretty cool. I had a really great pork bbq, and a home-made fried apple pie. Then Jay and I went to the petting zoo. I petted llamas, a reindeer, some goats, some deer, an antelope (oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play...), and we saw a mama kangaroo and her joey, in the pouch. He was the cutest little thing ever. Then we took a hayride around a field (we were the only people on the hayride not accompanied by children. heh.), and that was fun. Afterwards, we got some of this stuff they call kettle corn.. it's hot popcorn with salt, maybe a little butter, and sugar. It's absolutely delicious. I could live on that stuff, I tell you what.
I'm going to bitchslap my cd player if it decides it doesn't want to play the live disc from Venus and Back. Grr. I'm in the mood for live Tori. *sigh*
I've decided not to watch TV tonight, and start reading. I haven't seriously read since September 11th, I've just watched crappy TV. I think my mind is starting to melt and slide out my ear. We'll have none of that. I have Andrew's copy of Speaker for the Dead somewhere around here, and he wants it back eventually, so I should get cracking. Orson Scott Card might not be "fine literature", but he's a good, intelligent writer. (He's a heck of a lot closer to being "fine literature" than most Sci-Fi crap that's written.)
I still can't believe Speed Racer is dead.
(ahh, Tori. Indianapolis, October 25. I need to remember to ask off for that.)
Darnit, I really wanted to tell Beth something, but I can't remember what it is, and I was hoping blogging would help me remember. It did not. Oh, well.
I think I'm going to go soon, and get some sleep. I caught you up on my week. It's been a lot of resting, after last week.
So anyhow... today Jay and I went to the Pumpkin Festival at the Double Stink Hog Farm (that's really the name. Not very Charlie Brown/Great Pumpkiny, is it?) It was pretty cool. I had a really great pork bbq, and a home-made fried apple pie. Then Jay and I went to the petting zoo. I petted llamas, a reindeer, some goats, some deer, an antelope (oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play...), and we saw a mama kangaroo and her joey, in the pouch. He was the cutest little thing ever. Then we took a hayride around a field (we were the only people on the hayride not accompanied by children. heh.), and that was fun. Afterwards, we got some of this stuff they call kettle corn.. it's hot popcorn with salt, maybe a little butter, and sugar. It's absolutely delicious. I could live on that stuff, I tell you what.
I'm going to bitchslap my cd player if it decides it doesn't want to play the live disc from Venus and Back. Grr. I'm in the mood for live Tori. *sigh*
I've decided not to watch TV tonight, and start reading. I haven't seriously read since September 11th, I've just watched crappy TV. I think my mind is starting to melt and slide out my ear. We'll have none of that. I have Andrew's copy of Speaker for the Dead somewhere around here, and he wants it back eventually, so I should get cracking. Orson Scott Card might not be "fine literature", but he's a good, intelligent writer. (He's a heck of a lot closer to being "fine literature" than most Sci-Fi crap that's written.)
I still can't believe Speed Racer is dead.
(ahh, Tori. Indianapolis, October 25. I need to remember to ask off for that.)
Darnit, I really wanted to tell Beth something, but I can't remember what it is, and I was hoping blogging would help me remember. It did not. Oh, well.
I think I'm going to go soon, and get some sleep. I caught you up on my week. It's been a lot of resting, after last week.
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
oh, and a note to Tara: I read your "About" section of your website, and I must share this with you:
I know Brian Littrell's brother, Harold. Exciting, eh? hehe.
I know Brian Littrell's brother, Harold. Exciting, eh? hehe.
Monday, October 08, 2001
This is the final version of my vacation adventures. Read it, love it, respond to it. Thankyouverymuch.
Ok, so I haven't blogged in a really long time. I realize that.
I kept intending to do it, and then the September 11th stuff happened. I couldn't write then... I didn't know what/how to say whatever there was to say. So... I will not comment on that right now. I'm still not sure how to handle it, emotionally.
I've been on vacation since Wednesday, and Monday was my first (half day) back at work. I'll give a day by day breakdown of it all:
Wednesday: Worked half a day, and drove to Nashville with Jay. We saw Tori Amos (hereafter referred to as "Tori") that night. It was a pretty good show, but Jay wasn't too into it. He was sleeeepy. Unfortunately, we saw the Evil One there (if you have questions on who that is, IM me.) We were in some rush hour traffic, but it wasn't too bad at all. The show was at the Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry. It was a really nice old auditorium. The seats were wooden pews, and were deceptively comfortable at first. However, by the end of the night my entire body was sore. We made it home at about 3 am. I was very very tired. But however, I got to sleep in the next day, since I had the day off.
Thursday: I woke up at about noon or so, and took a shower. After eating an oh-so-filling TV dinner (Smart Ones Lasagna Bolognese... it tastes pretty darn good, all ounce and a half of it), I hit the road. I discovered that my mini-car cannot fit a mini-trampoline (I'm giving it to my niece... living in second floor apartment isn't conducive to trampolining.) I drove home, and my mom and I went to River's Edge for dinner. It was so good. I love it. As soon as you sit down, they bring you some sort of spicy cabbage/tomato soup, and hushpuppies with honey butter. My mother and I both had blackened steaks, potato boats, garlic bread, and a salad. It more than made up for my insufficient lunch. I stayed home with Mom and watched Must See TV (I'm such a product of advertising.) At about midnight I went to bed, since I had to be up at 6 am the next morning to pick up Emily (my cousin) and leave for DC.
Well, at about 12:30, I hear the phone ring, and a few minutes later a voice in the living room. My sister had returned home after being banished for stealing/forging blank checks of my fathers. Mom had kicked her out, but couldn't prosecute since dad was away for vacation, and the account is in his name. Shannon said that she really needed help, etc, etc. This is one of the only times I've ever heard her admitting to need help, and they were supposed to go file a mental health hygiene report today at the courthouse so she could get into a treatment program. I don't know. I'll believe it when I see it. However, that interrupted my near-sleep, and afterwards I was emotionally spent. Blech. So I got about four hours of sleep on Thursday night, the day before I had to drive (what in theory should have been) six hours. But.. onto...
Friday!
After a nice awakening at 6 am (GRRR!), I picked up Emily. Emily's family has almost always lived in Connecticut, and to get to and from there, they've always used I-79, which goes through Hagerstown, MD, about 50 miles from DC. I'd printed up directions online on how to get to DC, and we started up I-79 on our way. About 80 miles up 79, I pull up the map, to see where we go next. OOPS! The map routed us on I-64 East, and then North to DC. We were going North, west, and then South. oh, well. We figured out the proper route (argh... after reading Dan's blogger I have the urge to write in sentence fragments. BAD DAN! complete sentences, with natural line breaks! C'mon! Hehe.)... so, we figured out the proper route made our way towards DC. We were supposed to meet Beth and Nathan at the bus station (which said on the website was in Union Station.. yeah, right.) OK, so anyhow... we get to Maryland, switch to I 70.. to find out it's closed for 20 miles because of an accident involving a tractor trailer carrying navy missiles. As this article also mentions, the same thing happened outside of St. Albans the night before. Disaster follows me (or precedes me). Wednesday morning, a Greyhound bus crashed outside of Nashville. Wednesday afternoon I went to Nashville. *shakes head* I'm a dangerous woman. To get back to my original story.. we were supposed to meet Beth and Nathan at the bus station at 2:30 pm, and we were going to go to the Smithsonian and do touristy stuff. Because I 70 was closed, and we were re-routed, we ended up 3+ hours behind schedule. (We should have been to DC around noon). We finally get to the DC Metro area, only to be met with... RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC (and I ain't talking Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.) AIEEE. So we were stuck in that traffic for another hour. We finally got to the Metro station we'd planned to part at about 4:15 pm, and bought too many one day passes because the stupid machine wouldn't give change. We navigated the Metro with ease, though, and got off at Union Station. Then, we commenced looking for the Greyhound portion of the station. Whaddya know, it's NOT THERE. So we venture outside, after asking some guards where the Greyhound station is.. about five blocks away. We walk, very quickly.. and find nothing. We asked someone else... she told us. We rushed over there, and at 5:45 or so we finally found Beth and Nathan. The poor pair had been waiting in the scary Greyhound bus station for over three hours. I felt horrible. They didn't get to see anything in DC, really, but the inside of a bus station, a hotel room, and a Friday's in Alexandria. And a Giant grocery store. So.. to continue..
We found Beth and Nathan and made our way back to the Metro station. The machine at Nathan's money, and he had to fill out a refund form, and it was all confusing. I gave him my extra pass, since I didn't remember which one I'd used that day. I'm stupid. We went back to my car, and remarkably found our hotel. That was the theme of the whole weekend: We got places, but I'm not quite sure how. I'll thank Nathan and Emily's senses of direction. And Ilya's mad map skillz.
Anyhow. Our hotel was swank. The rate card inside the room said it retailed for $250 a night, but I got it off of Priceline for $45 a night. It was Sheraton Suites. Our room had a king-sized bed in a room set off from the rest, and a living area with a fold-out couch. There were two TVs, a mini-fridge, and an all-marble bathroom. The room was probably about 300+ sq feet. Maybe more. I thought it was very nice, especially considering some of the other places Emily and I have stayed in. I love Priceline. I highly recommend it for your hotel needs. heh. Bid low.
We finally got to the hotel at about 7:30, and Ilya was supposed to come over after 10, since he was going to a Jimmy Smith show. We were all starved, and at about 8, he called and said he might or might not be over later. It pissed me off, on the grounds that I drove 9 hours, partially with the intention of getting to see him. So, in a passive aggressive mood, we stayed out later than I would have otherwise, in case him and Phyllis decided to stop by later. I know, lame, but I was angry.
We went to a TGIFriday's somewhere in Alexandria, and it was quite yummy. After that, we went to Giant and bought some drinks to take back to the hotel room with us. There wasn't really too much else to do that night, except let people know we'd made it ok (I'd had to call Beth's house and leave a message when I realized how late we were going to be, and I know her mom had to be worried). Emily called Jason, Nathan called his family, and I tried to call Jay (twice). This all comes into play the next morning. hehe. However, on with the story..
I took a really long shower, since it'd be a really long day. I think it was proportional. heh. I went to bed. I assumed it was morning and time to get up when I heard the bathroom door close (there were two doors to it, one in our room, one in the other), and Nathan was getting ready to go in. Since I thought it was morning, I thought Nathan was getting ready to take a shower. I really had to go, so I asked him if I could go in real quick, before he went in there. He said, "Uh, ok", and I did. Then, I realize, "It's dark. It's not morning yet." Basically, Nathan had got up to go to the bathroom, and I'd cut in front of him. hehe. I think he thinks I'm crazy. And Nathan, of course, doesn't aknowledge that this is ok, that I'm half asleep. hehe. He really must think I'm crazy.
So that concludes Friday. Next up: Saturday.
Saturday:
We woke up at about 10:30 or so, and everyone that needed to shower (Beth and Nathan.. no, NOT together, thankyouverymuch. Although I did think about taking a blackmail picture of them sleeping on the sofabed together. hehe. No, it wasn't the slightest bit dirty or sexual. They were both fully clothed.) We made our way to the bus station, me driving. We had a heck of a time finding somewhere to park, so we parked outside of the station in a closed lot. Emily didn't think that was the best place to stay (and she was right), so after the happy couple were at their departure gate, we relocated the car. We drove around until we found Union Station, and parked at that lot ($12 a day, shew.) We had to hop on the Metro right quick to get to our 1:30 pm Holocaust Museum entry time. We found the museum after asking some (really nice) guy on the street, and went through it. Wow. It was an experience. I've never seen such a reverent crowd, anywhere. Hardly anyone spoke through the entire thing. It didn't just focus on the atrocities committed in the concentration camps, but gave the entire history, from Hitler's rise to power to the aftermath of relocating the survivors. Here's a picture of what most affected me, I think. It was a model of the crematorium's used at Auschwitz. I don't really have too much more to say about it.. just go, if you get a chance.
However, by the time we were done going through the museum, we were very hungry (I'd have thought I'd have no appetite, but I did.) We knew we weren't going to get to see any of the Smithsonian, like we wanted, so we went to Tom's Sarris' Orleans House, off of the Metro stop in Rosslyn. They had a great salad bar, and I had a pretty decent prime rib. Dad had suggested we go there, and it was worth it. We needed a real meal. And another reason why I Love the DC Metro: I had a drink, and didn't have to drive afterwards. However, the Rosslyn station has the longest escalator I have ever seen.. picture three or four department store escalators together, and you have this. Having a bit of alcohol in my blood messed with my perception, and WHOA! hehe.
After that, Emily and I made our way to the National Mall. WE got off the Metro, and were trying to orient ourselves. I saw the Washington Monument, found it on the little map in front of us, and then.. turned around, and couldn't find it. We felt stupid. We're standing there going, "Where'd it go?" Finally, we turned around, and hark, there it was. Behind some trees. WE must have looked like morons. We walked around to the Washington Monument, past the White House, up along the reflecting pool, to the Lincoln Memorial, and then to the Vietnam Memorial. We figured that the concert venue was a few blocks away, and began our journey. Next: The concert, finding Ilya, Nicole, and meeting Tara!
We found the venue, by our wonderful sense of direction and by following the people that looked like they belonged at a Tori concert. We walked around the until we found what looked like the front of the venue, and sat down on the steps. After a minute or so, Nicole Grayem came around the corner. (Nicole stayed with Ilya, Phyllis, Marian, and I in Akron during the Plugged 98 tour. She's a cool chica.) We hugged, and she told me that I was being sought, around the corner. Em and I get up and walk around, and lo and behold there is Ilya Khazanov. As well as Jessica, who I also met in Akron. We talked to Ilya for awhile, and then The Evil One caught Emily's eye. He ran over and hugged her, and started up a conversation. About 30 seconds into it she started elbowing me, and Ilya came up with an excuse to leave. Poor Emily. She was traumatized. We walked down the stairs and found Phyllis. Soon after that, Em and I went into our entrance, and sat down in our seats. They were really good seats. Front row of a box right off the stage. The concert was excellent, a lot of good songs (and Rufus Wainright was pretty cool too.) During Rufus' set I went to look at the merchandise. To quote Ilya, "I had a decision to make tonight. I could either put a down payment on a house, or buy tour merchandise." $30 for a T shirt, $45 for a long-sleeved T shirt, etc. Jesus. And when I was out there looking at it, I hear someone call my name. I glance over, and it's the Evil One. He touched my shoulder. *shudder* I felt like I needed to cut off my shoulder.
Afterwards, we found Ilya and Phyllis, and then Nicole Labbe and her friend Tara. I'd heard of Tara through various blogs, and she was every bit as cool as Nicole. hehe. I feel we are all sympatico. Next time I'm in the DC area, we will have to plan to do something more. They are both so much fun. :) I wish Beth and Nathan could have met them, too, since Beth is also friends with Sarah Newhouse, as Nicole and Tara are. It's all an interesting meeting of internet communities, and real life. hehe. It rocks. After piling six of us into Ilya's little 626 (I am very close to Nicole now. hehe. It was during this time, as Tara has noted in her blogger, I noticed that wow, the airplane lights on the top of the Washington Monument are demonic. And on another interesting sidenote: I've noticed that neither Tara nor Ilya knew one another's name. Tara thought Ilya was "Elliot". He said that's a common error. Next time, I will do better introductions. My bad. But I digress... So we went to Uno's in Georgetown, after Ilya and I almost went into the ghetto trying to get my car back to Union Station. Afterwards, we took Tara and Nicole back to Nicole's car, and headed back to the hotel. Emily and I got lost. We have no clue WHERE we were, but what was probably a 6 mile drive took over an hour. hehe. We were on some dark, scary roads. We got back to the hotel room, and absolutely collapsed. My legs hurt so bad, from walking so much. And my darned aircast gave me a blister (did I mention that earlier? hehe.) It was so late.
And now we have...
Sunday
Emily and I woke up at about 10:45 am. I took a shower, and Ilya called at about 11:30. We decided to go to a mall, and I bought Aimee's birthday present, a Shaggy doll. Shaggy was her first crush, so on her birthday card I wrote, "I've always heard money can't buy love. I proved that wrong." I also got her some candy corn scented roll on glitter from Bath and Body Works, and I got Jay a nice Juniper Breeze air freshener plug-in thing. He always likes Juniper Breeze, because he says it smells like Colleen. :) It was good to see Ilya as just Ilya. I really enjoy being able to spend time with him. We've been through a lot together, as far as relationships and such goes, and despite my previous temporary anger at him on Friday, it was a bonding time. hehe. Anyhow. He tried to route us home in a way that went by the Pentagon, but it just didn't work out. Em and I headed home. There were no overturned trucks, no traffic backups, or anything. Yet, it still seemed to take longer than the ride up. It wasn't. We got back home, ordered pizza, and I slept until I got up the next morning at 8:30 am to pick up Em, and go back home to Lexington.
It was a great time, and I got to see a lot of really cool people. I'm glad to have seen/spent time with you all, and hope we can do it again soon. I really want to take Jay to see the Smithsonian someday .I really loved DC, even if I despised driving in it.
And that's that. The story of my weekend.
Ok, so I haven't blogged in a really long time. I realize that.
I kept intending to do it, and then the September 11th stuff happened. I couldn't write then... I didn't know what/how to say whatever there was to say. So... I will not comment on that right now. I'm still not sure how to handle it, emotionally.
I've been on vacation since Wednesday, and Monday was my first (half day) back at work. I'll give a day by day breakdown of it all:
Wednesday: Worked half a day, and drove to Nashville with Jay. We saw Tori Amos (hereafter referred to as "Tori") that night. It was a pretty good show, but Jay wasn't too into it. He was sleeeepy. Unfortunately, we saw the Evil One there (if you have questions on who that is, IM me.) We were in some rush hour traffic, but it wasn't too bad at all. The show was at the Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry. It was a really nice old auditorium. The seats were wooden pews, and were deceptively comfortable at first. However, by the end of the night my entire body was sore. We made it home at about 3 am. I was very very tired. But however, I got to sleep in the next day, since I had the day off.
Thursday: I woke up at about noon or so, and took a shower. After eating an oh-so-filling TV dinner (Smart Ones Lasagna Bolognese... it tastes pretty darn good, all ounce and a half of it), I hit the road. I discovered that my mini-car cannot fit a mini-trampoline (I'm giving it to my niece... living in second floor apartment isn't conducive to trampolining.) I drove home, and my mom and I went to River's Edge for dinner. It was so good. I love it. As soon as you sit down, they bring you some sort of spicy cabbage/tomato soup, and hushpuppies with honey butter. My mother and I both had blackened steaks, potato boats, garlic bread, and a salad. It more than made up for my insufficient lunch. I stayed home with Mom and watched Must See TV (I'm such a product of advertising.) At about midnight I went to bed, since I had to be up at 6 am the next morning to pick up Emily (my cousin) and leave for DC.
Well, at about 12:30, I hear the phone ring, and a few minutes later a voice in the living room. My sister had returned home after being banished for stealing/forging blank checks of my fathers. Mom had kicked her out, but couldn't prosecute since dad was away for vacation, and the account is in his name. Shannon said that she really needed help, etc, etc. This is one of the only times I've ever heard her admitting to need help, and they were supposed to go file a mental health hygiene report today at the courthouse so she could get into a treatment program. I don't know. I'll believe it when I see it. However, that interrupted my near-sleep, and afterwards I was emotionally spent. Blech. So I got about four hours of sleep on Thursday night, the day before I had to drive (what in theory should have been) six hours. But.. onto...
Friday!
After a nice awakening at 6 am (GRRR!), I picked up Emily. Emily's family has almost always lived in Connecticut, and to get to and from there, they've always used I-79, which goes through Hagerstown, MD, about 50 miles from DC. I'd printed up directions online on how to get to DC, and we started up I-79 on our way. About 80 miles up 79, I pull up the map, to see where we go next. OOPS! The map routed us on I-64 East, and then North to DC. We were going North, west, and then South. oh, well. We figured out the proper route (argh... after reading Dan's blogger I have the urge to write in sentence fragments. BAD DAN! complete sentences, with natural line breaks! C'mon! Hehe.)... so, we figured out the proper route made our way towards DC. We were supposed to meet Beth and Nathan at the bus station (which said on the website was in Union Station.. yeah, right.) OK, so anyhow... we get to Maryland, switch to I 70.. to find out it's closed for 20 miles because of an accident involving a tractor trailer carrying navy missiles. As this article also mentions, the same thing happened outside of St. Albans the night before. Disaster follows me (or precedes me). Wednesday morning, a Greyhound bus crashed outside of Nashville. Wednesday afternoon I went to Nashville. *shakes head* I'm a dangerous woman. To get back to my original story.. we were supposed to meet Beth and Nathan at the bus station at 2:30 pm, and we were going to go to the Smithsonian and do touristy stuff. Because I 70 was closed, and we were re-routed, we ended up 3+ hours behind schedule. (We should have been to DC around noon). We finally get to the DC Metro area, only to be met with... RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC (and I ain't talking Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.) AIEEE. So we were stuck in that traffic for another hour. We finally got to the Metro station we'd planned to part at about 4:15 pm, and bought too many one day passes because the stupid machine wouldn't give change. We navigated the Metro with ease, though, and got off at Union Station. Then, we commenced looking for the Greyhound portion of the station. Whaddya know, it's NOT THERE. So we venture outside, after asking some guards where the Greyhound station is.. about five blocks away. We walk, very quickly.. and find nothing. We asked someone else... she told us. We rushed over there, and at 5:45 or so we finally found Beth and Nathan. The poor pair had been waiting in the scary Greyhound bus station for over three hours. I felt horrible. They didn't get to see anything in DC, really, but the inside of a bus station, a hotel room, and a Friday's in Alexandria. And a Giant grocery store. So.. to continue..
We found Beth and Nathan and made our way back to the Metro station. The machine at Nathan's money, and he had to fill out a refund form, and it was all confusing. I gave him my extra pass, since I didn't remember which one I'd used that day. I'm stupid. We went back to my car, and remarkably found our hotel. That was the theme of the whole weekend: We got places, but I'm not quite sure how. I'll thank Nathan and Emily's senses of direction. And Ilya's mad map skillz.
Anyhow. Our hotel was swank. The rate card inside the room said it retailed for $250 a night, but I got it off of Priceline for $45 a night. It was Sheraton Suites. Our room had a king-sized bed in a room set off from the rest, and a living area with a fold-out couch. There were two TVs, a mini-fridge, and an all-marble bathroom. The room was probably about 300+ sq feet. Maybe more. I thought it was very nice, especially considering some of the other places Emily and I have stayed in. I love Priceline. I highly recommend it for your hotel needs. heh. Bid low.
We finally got to the hotel at about 7:30, and Ilya was supposed to come over after 10, since he was going to a Jimmy Smith show. We were all starved, and at about 8, he called and said he might or might not be over later. It pissed me off, on the grounds that I drove 9 hours, partially with the intention of getting to see him. So, in a passive aggressive mood, we stayed out later than I would have otherwise, in case him and Phyllis decided to stop by later. I know, lame, but I was angry.
We went to a TGIFriday's somewhere in Alexandria, and it was quite yummy. After that, we went to Giant and bought some drinks to take back to the hotel room with us. There wasn't really too much else to do that night, except let people know we'd made it ok (I'd had to call Beth's house and leave a message when I realized how late we were going to be, and I know her mom had to be worried). Emily called Jason, Nathan called his family, and I tried to call Jay (twice). This all comes into play the next morning. hehe. However, on with the story..
I took a really long shower, since it'd be a really long day. I think it was proportional. heh. I went to bed. I assumed it was morning and time to get up when I heard the bathroom door close (there were two doors to it, one in our room, one in the other), and Nathan was getting ready to go in. Since I thought it was morning, I thought Nathan was getting ready to take a shower. I really had to go, so I asked him if I could go in real quick, before he went in there. He said, "Uh, ok", and I did. Then, I realize, "It's dark. It's not morning yet." Basically, Nathan had got up to go to the bathroom, and I'd cut in front of him. hehe. I think he thinks I'm crazy. And Nathan, of course, doesn't aknowledge that this is ok, that I'm half asleep. hehe. He really must think I'm crazy.
So that concludes Friday. Next up: Saturday.
Saturday:
We woke up at about 10:30 or so, and everyone that needed to shower (Beth and Nathan.. no, NOT together, thankyouverymuch. Although I did think about taking a blackmail picture of them sleeping on the sofabed together. hehe. No, it wasn't the slightest bit dirty or sexual. They were both fully clothed.) We made our way to the bus station, me driving. We had a heck of a time finding somewhere to park, so we parked outside of the station in a closed lot. Emily didn't think that was the best place to stay (and she was right), so after the happy couple were at their departure gate, we relocated the car. We drove around until we found Union Station, and parked at that lot ($12 a day, shew.) We had to hop on the Metro right quick to get to our 1:30 pm Holocaust Museum entry time. We found the museum after asking some (really nice) guy on the street, and went through it. Wow. It was an experience. I've never seen such a reverent crowd, anywhere. Hardly anyone spoke through the entire thing. It didn't just focus on the atrocities committed in the concentration camps, but gave the entire history, from Hitler's rise to power to the aftermath of relocating the survivors. Here's a picture of what most affected me, I think. It was a model of the crematorium's used at Auschwitz. I don't really have too much more to say about it.. just go, if you get a chance.
However, by the time we were done going through the museum, we were very hungry (I'd have thought I'd have no appetite, but I did.) We knew we weren't going to get to see any of the Smithsonian, like we wanted, so we went to Tom's Sarris' Orleans House, off of the Metro stop in Rosslyn. They had a great salad bar, and I had a pretty decent prime rib. Dad had suggested we go there, and it was worth it. We needed a real meal. And another reason why I Love the DC Metro: I had a drink, and didn't have to drive afterwards. However, the Rosslyn station has the longest escalator I have ever seen.. picture three or four department store escalators together, and you have this. Having a bit of alcohol in my blood messed with my perception, and WHOA! hehe.
After that, Emily and I made our way to the National Mall. WE got off the Metro, and were trying to orient ourselves. I saw the Washington Monument, found it on the little map in front of us, and then.. turned around, and couldn't find it. We felt stupid. We're standing there going, "Where'd it go?" Finally, we turned around, and hark, there it was. Behind some trees. WE must have looked like morons. We walked around to the Washington Monument, past the White House, up along the reflecting pool, to the Lincoln Memorial, and then to the Vietnam Memorial. We figured that the concert venue was a few blocks away, and began our journey. Next: The concert, finding Ilya, Nicole, and meeting Tara!
We found the venue, by our wonderful sense of direction and by following the people that looked like they belonged at a Tori concert. We walked around the until we found what looked like the front of the venue, and sat down on the steps. After a minute or so, Nicole Grayem came around the corner. (Nicole stayed with Ilya, Phyllis, Marian, and I in Akron during the Plugged 98 tour. She's a cool chica.) We hugged, and she told me that I was being sought, around the corner. Em and I get up and walk around, and lo and behold there is Ilya Khazanov. As well as Jessica, who I also met in Akron. We talked to Ilya for awhile, and then The Evil One caught Emily's eye. He ran over and hugged her, and started up a conversation. About 30 seconds into it she started elbowing me, and Ilya came up with an excuse to leave. Poor Emily. She was traumatized. We walked down the stairs and found Phyllis. Soon after that, Em and I went into our entrance, and sat down in our seats. They were really good seats. Front row of a box right off the stage. The concert was excellent, a lot of good songs (and Rufus Wainright was pretty cool too.) During Rufus' set I went to look at the merchandise. To quote Ilya, "I had a decision to make tonight. I could either put a down payment on a house, or buy tour merchandise." $30 for a T shirt, $45 for a long-sleeved T shirt, etc. Jesus. And when I was out there looking at it, I hear someone call my name. I glance over, and it's the Evil One. He touched my shoulder. *shudder* I felt like I needed to cut off my shoulder.
Afterwards, we found Ilya and Phyllis, and then Nicole Labbe and her friend Tara. I'd heard of Tara through various blogs, and she was every bit as cool as Nicole. hehe. I feel we are all sympatico. Next time I'm in the DC area, we will have to plan to do something more. They are both so much fun. :) I wish Beth and Nathan could have met them, too, since Beth is also friends with Sarah Newhouse, as Nicole and Tara are. It's all an interesting meeting of internet communities, and real life. hehe. It rocks. After piling six of us into Ilya's little 626 (I am very close to Nicole now. hehe. It was during this time, as Tara has noted in her blogger, I noticed that wow, the airplane lights on the top of the Washington Monument are demonic. And on another interesting sidenote: I've noticed that neither Tara nor Ilya knew one another's name. Tara thought Ilya was "Elliot". He said that's a common error. Next time, I will do better introductions. My bad. But I digress... So we went to Uno's in Georgetown, after Ilya and I almost went into the ghetto trying to get my car back to Union Station. Afterwards, we took Tara and Nicole back to Nicole's car, and headed back to the hotel. Emily and I got lost. We have no clue WHERE we were, but what was probably a 6 mile drive took over an hour. hehe. We were on some dark, scary roads. We got back to the hotel room, and absolutely collapsed. My legs hurt so bad, from walking so much. And my darned aircast gave me a blister (did I mention that earlier? hehe.) It was so late.
And now we have...
Sunday
Emily and I woke up at about 10:45 am. I took a shower, and Ilya called at about 11:30. We decided to go to a mall, and I bought Aimee's birthday present, a Shaggy doll. Shaggy was her first crush, so on her birthday card I wrote, "I've always heard money can't buy love. I proved that wrong." I also got her some candy corn scented roll on glitter from Bath and Body Works, and I got Jay a nice Juniper Breeze air freshener plug-in thing. He always likes Juniper Breeze, because he says it smells like Colleen. :) It was good to see Ilya as just Ilya. I really enjoy being able to spend time with him. We've been through a lot together, as far as relationships and such goes, and despite my previous temporary anger at him on Friday, it was a bonding time. hehe. Anyhow. He tried to route us home in a way that went by the Pentagon, but it just didn't work out. Em and I headed home. There were no overturned trucks, no traffic backups, or anything. Yet, it still seemed to take longer than the ride up. It wasn't. We got back home, ordered pizza, and I slept until I got up the next morning at 8:30 am to pick up Em, and go back home to Lexington.
It was a great time, and I got to see a lot of really cool people. I'm glad to have seen/spent time with you all, and hope we can do it again soon. I really want to take Jay to see the Smithsonian someday .I really loved DC, even if I despised driving in it.
And that's that. The story of my weekend.
