Flying to the Bahamas

As I have mentioned a handful of times, I recently went on a Bahamas vacation adventure with my dear friend L., who left her hubby (Fat Tony) at home. Since we live in different cities, we planned on both flying into Nassau (the main island of the Bahamas, or at least the most built up) and then meeting up and catching a smaller plane to the island of Eleuthera where we were going to get our vacation on. My flight was a direct flight to Nassau from Philly, which left in the mid-morning. The flight was uneventful. Except for the views.
I loved how the glare of the window caused that rainbow effect, and that then you can see the shadows of the clouds on the water below. I also saw a bunch of weird orange/browny stuff that I tried to take a decent photograph of but couldn't. I decided it was oil that had gotten away from the Gulf Coast, which may not make any sense. This photograph below, I like it because it is a photograph of an island and a sea, but it could also be some weird soapy something.
It's good that I risked roaming charges to turn my phone on when I landed, as it was through doing so that I learned that L. had managed to get a direct flight from Miami to Eleuthera, thus cutting out one whole leg of flying for her. I killed some time before my scheduled flight by drinking Kalik beer and reading The Family Fang. The plane to Eleuthera was small, but I struck up a nice conversation with one woman who basically suggested a lot of things I had already read about, but it was nice to get a confirmation of my choices. The plane was very small. There was a moment when it all could have gone wrong when I got off the plane and walked to the small airport and didn't see L. It was at this time that I asked my new lady friend if the plane made two stops, which it did, and caused me to realize that if I didn't hustle/run back to the plane, I was going to be 30 miles from the airport to which I was supposed to be arriving, and with no way to let L. know. Thankfully there are times when I really can hustle, if hustling is truly called for. So, crisis averted.
I safely landed at the N. Eleuthera airport and quickly found Louise enjoying a beer and the company of a native Bahamian at the bar directly across the street from the airport. We hugged. We giggled. We got ourselves to a taxi, which then took us to the Land of Smiles (grocery store) and then on to our abode for the next five nights.
Here begins a series of photographs I took of L. making friends with animals. This little kitten was a resident of the five-apartment set-up we came across. He was cute but rambunctious as hell, as you might pick up on in a later post...but maybe you won't. It'll work out either way, I'm sure.

Cat, Country and Salad

This is what Zul looked like while I was making stew.
This is what my finger looked like after I once again forgot that knives in kitchens other than my own are actually quite sharp.
While the stew stewed.
Later in the day.
A hooded individual.
The salad I had for dinner.

Snow Later On

Just a few more shots of the snow later in the day, still coming down and collecting.
Zul found a spot to sit.
This is usually where you can find me: on the floor by the fire doing something on the computer.

Hawks and Cats and Such

On Monday I had plans to meet up with some of my mother's old friends. Throughout the weekend I noted a lot of bird noise around the house. A different kind than usual. Hawk-like. And finally on that last day in town, I saw that I wasn't crazy - that there were three hawks all hanging around. You can only see one in this photo, but trust me there were more.
On my walk to J.'s this cat posed for me.
My mother's friend M. made date nut bread and then I think it was J. who made the orange creamy spread. Watermelon and iced tea were also available for the slurping or sipping.
Some cats just need to know your business.
It was good to see the ladies with whom my mother had fostered friendships over her time in Sewanee. Strange to, in a sense, be there in her stead.

Tasty Bad Things and Beer ... Then Zul

Last week AK was in town, so we met up to catch up. We decided on St. Stephen's Green because I'm over the Belgian after the Kentucky Derby Rage Debacle of 2011. Once there I ordered a Bell's Oberon and we split the cheesesteak spring rolls. We were surprised that only two came in the $9 price tag. I miss their cheesesteak empanadas.
They were good enough. The beer was better.
Later on we met up with L. and ordered fries, which were as lovely as always.
Then wings appeared and we all dug in. My old friend G. missed the wings by mere moments and was sad over it, as he should have been, because they were very good.
L. took a few photos to mark the occasion. I recently got my hair cut. It looks very short here. I'm alright with that. I like to get it a little shorter than strictly necessary so that it grows out and looks nice for longer. This somehow makes sense.
Ak's coming back to town very soon, so the quick visit wasn't anything to lament. It was more like a primer. Maybe.
Behind us G. is losing at darts.
Ugh. I'm not sure I 100% love this photograph. I mean I like that it's of all three of us, I'm just not sure I approve of my posture and gut. Whatever.
Then to Zul.

Bed Cat

Whenever I properly make my bed or change my sheets, Zul gets quite interested. Sometimes insisting on getting made into the bed, a past time I enjoyed greatly as a child. What?

The Two Faces of Cats

Cat

This I found c/o a Facebook friend and loved.

Death of the Futon (sung to the tune of Death to the Party)

So at some point in the last few months, the futon done died for good. Maybe, if I were a carpenter, it could be saved, but I think it goes without saying that I am not a carpenter of any kind...though I did take shop in sixth grade and make a wooden boat that managed to float. Now it's just a matter of getting the dead thing out of the living room. We don't really use the living room; it's taken up with S.'s large dining room table up against one wall and the sofa against the other (there are four walls, of course, but the other two are besides the point in this pointless recounting of facts). Zul doesn't consider the futon broken. He logs many hours on it each day. He has made the afghan I made, lo so many years ago, rife with cat hair (can a blanket be rife with something?), but what can you do? Take better care of your belongings? What? Shhh.

Growwwwwl cat....minus the growl.

For No Reason Whatsoever

Zul and the Paperwhites

Like I said, the Paperwhites all popped last week. Very pretty and strangely not stinky, which is a little odd, but why question a positive reaction to a possibly negative situation, no matter how small?
Maybe next time I will add gin or bourbon to the mix and make them a little more manageable...I ended up getting a piece of butcher's string and tying it around the collective stalks to help them stay upright.
Zul was really unhappy with all the attention I was paying the flowers, so I stopped and paid a little attention to him. I think he would have preferred less photography, more petting, but what can I say? He got what he got.
He is fat. But I changed his food, so he's puking less, which maybe will make him fatter? Oh no. The vet will think I am a bad person. Sigh. I wish I could turn him into some sort of freak cat that likes taking brisk walks on a leash. Then he and I could get in shape together.
S. and I have decided that more flowers in the house would be pretty great, and since he finally emptied all the pots with dead plants in them, we could really go crazy with it (I want to force all sorts of bulbs to grow...amaryllis maybe, and crocuses and all other sorts of pretty things). Of course, I think it's pretty much up to me to actually get the bulbs, so, as with everything that is up to me, we'll see if it actually gets done.
I have problems accomplishing personal tasks, especially in a timely manner. I mean, in certain contexts. If I need to print out my car's new insurance card, I will get it done before driving in an uninsured car, but if I need to beautify or otherwise improve my life in a non-official way, well, how long have I had paint samples on my wall without buying more paint? A month plus some days is how long...and that will continue for at least another week...or more. Next on my list of things to accomplish is brining a chicken, this is a two week old desire, which will not be accomplished today because it is rainy and I would prefer cleaning up my room to walking to Whole Foods. With that as a secondary example, I think it's fair to say that I need more chutzpah. Never you mind, just look at the pretty flowers.

Cat and a Hair Cut

So, there are definitely things to learn about the camera, and I have to install Photoshop on this computer in order to be able to color correct, and I haven't done that yet (since I've only had the computer for, hmmm, three hours). Here are a few photographs of Zul.
Sooooo yellow.
I also had my hair cut, which seemed really dramatic at the time (it's a bit shorter in the back) but from the front I think it looks pretty much how my hair has looked for the last year. Sigh. Hair cut FAIL. You'll see what I mean.

Goodbye Cake, Shots, Dress Up and Pass the Zul

On Friday we had our last day with S. in the office, and as the office is wont to do, we marked the occasion with cake. S. will, actually, still be a part of the team, just remotely. But I do hope that Pittsburgh is a great new place for her. Considering the fact that she's going to get to live with her bf, I'm going to say it probably will be. The cake was from Whole Foods, and quite rich.
After my day of work I returned home for a breather. Seriously, I know that there are plenty of people in the world who work harder than me, but this unrelenting work does make my brain, once not concentrating on the task at hand, go a little funny. That being said, when two shiny, tinted, hybrid Explorers pulled up on my block, I knew somebody important was inside. So, when I saw a guy who looked a lot like the Mayor of Philadelphia (Nutter) and his wife and daughter get out of said car I assumed I was just imagining things for only a second before running inside and googling his name. I found photographs of his family and confirmed the truth of my eyes. Then I came back out and took a photograph of the car, blurrily, as proof. Our upstairs neighbor confirmed that it was, in fact, Nutter. I consider this a celebrity sighting.
Once I regrouped, I headed out to the Kite and Key for drinks with S. and her bf, Ak and A2 were there as well, and another of S.'s friends. I had a Dogfish Punkin Head. More people came, we chatted. S. will be living in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood, for real. And her walls may or may not be beige. More people came, two of S.'s friends (whose names I sadly do not remember, though their occupations I do--a filmmaker/editor, a third grade teacher and a law student) and L. joined the group. I was totally zonked, but the beer rallied my sprits so when L. asked about the possibility of having a shot before heading off, I thought that was a good idea. This story does not end in disaster.
Shots in hand, baseball on tv.
In the end we returned to the deck, which, let's face it, is where I'd like to spend all of my time, so that was great. I took a few photographs of L. pursuing Zul, but this is what it looked like when she got him. It's not really summer, so many needed layers, L. I gave this sweater (which I have owned since I was 13, I don't ever want to part with it).
To A2 I gave a vest that was given to me by my aunt.
I thought this was hilarious, so I lunged and pointed.
Hats and scarves also came out. J. and J. came later and I gave them scarves and dip. And Zul. got picked up again.
I really have a lot of scarves and hats and sweatshirts (Ak borrowed a sweatshirt that I got when visiting L.'s Brooklyn apartment during a blizzard six or so years ago) and whatnot. The night wrapped up with some backwards beer tossing, to different levels of success. It was a nice change of pace from the majority of my days and nights, even if it meant I stayed up too late.