Tent Party, 2008

My first tent party was my sophomore year. It wasn't, and isn't, a publicized event on campus but it existed...boy howdy did it exist. At that point they still bought nine million kegs and the tent was quite small. In subsequent years they upgraded the tent, changed the location and invested in beer trucks. Tent party is for about to graduate seniors and alumni. When I was either a student or recent alumni it was always fun to circle the crowds, I could be confident that I would find someone to say hello with. I was a rabid snapshotter...'hey I knew you once let's take a picture together!' was my mantra. This tent party was relatively well attended but I quickly found that the ratio of people I used to know to people I will never know was a bit unbalanced. So I stuck with those I know. L., C. and K. L. has some photographs of the two of us that I'd really like to post...but I haven't started to email her obsessively in order to get them. So, behold! Me, C. and K.
There was dancing inside the tent. The next day graduates would walk up and get their diplomas.



I stayed up too late and spoke with a bunch of people, some of whom I knew well some I had never met before (though we had been in the same class) and some people in between. Good times.

Dinner c/o Diasporas'

On Friday I registered myself on campus and took up residence in a dorm...which is really funny since I managed to never really live in a dorm while attending college...unless you count my freshmen year in a trailer (they ran out of dorm rooms) but that was very different than typical dorm life (as I understand it from four years of high school). Then I met up with my friend J. J. and I worked together at the now defunct White Rabbit Coffeehouse and Cafe. Eventually we both left that hothouse of crazy but we stayed friends. J. has not left the Hudson Valley region and I am jealous of her. We met at Diasporas', one of my favorite restaurants during my two post-graduate years in the area. The ebf and I found it late in the game but frequented it a fair amount nonetheless. I had kind of hoped that the same waiter would still be working...but of course, like so many things, the staff was different...except for the owner/chef's father being the greeter, he was still there.
We shared the taramasalata appetizer. Good fishy roe and creamy goodness with lemon and chopped tomatoes.
I had planned on getting their salmon ravioli. Unfortunately it was no longer on the menu. Instead I went with one of the night's specials: a veal chop with a rose water sauce. The veal was not quite as tender as I had expected. The sauce was interesting. New. I liked it.
Oh how I love it all.

Two Touristy Bard Shots

Inside this building there is upholstery. On its upholstery a bunch of names are repeated. It may be true that people who like to hear music in Gehry buildings occasionally sit on me...figuratively speaking.
The night before the reunion proper was also the night before the undergraduate graduation. Tent party is this thing that happens then. It's enough of an insurance risk and big deal that there are cops on all exits of the campus and a full EMT team on call way in advance...I mean...I assume this because, well, you see there's a helicopter don't you? I mean. That's proof right there.

Those Were The Days

After I bought my burrito I went to the sheep farm/yarn store for which I worked. I was there for two or three shearing days and two lambing seasons. My days there were isolated, lovely and educational. My boss was independent and unique. I regularly miss my experience there. Going back and visiting reminded me of the realities of the situation....it was awesome...not easy...not idyllic...but awesome in its real-ness, in what I was learning, in my hands coated in lanolin, in the sounds of the machines, the smell of wool and sheep shit. And more.
I know how to use this machine.
Half of the shelves you see in this photograph I set up...especially the diagonal ones directly in front and at the back. Also, the floors, ceilings and walls? All painted by me.
Close up of shelving system I spent time making....may not look like much my friends but it took a little effort.
Oh the feelings.

Your Beauty Must Be Rubbing Off On Me

On Friday I drove up to Annandale-on-Hudson, New York for my, gasp, fifth year college reunion. It was about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive and once I got off of the Garden State Turnpike and onto the New York Thruway, well, I was overtaken with a landscape nostalgia so strong that--well it was just strong, I didn't crash my car over it or anything. Then when I got to the Kingston Bridge that spans across the Hudson River and is the last hurdle, in my mind's drive, before glory, well, I was overwhelmed with an immense feeling, in my heart and my brain, that I was coming home. I have a lot of posts to put up about my short time there but I also have a job all of a sudden, so forgive me for the not as steady stream of posts...and the backlog that will come of it. The first thing I did when I got across the bridge was take a back road to Bubby's burritos. Oh Bubby's! Their prices have been raised a little but it has been three years and all food prices have raised so I'm not complaining. For $6.50 you can still get a glorious, amazing, stupendous and awesome burrito (with guac of course) everything fresh to order.
I then went somewhere else quickly. But that's another post. I left my burrito in the car at the other place then took it with me to Blithewood Garden/Mansion/Crazy Beautiful land...a spot on Bard College campus that I spent a fair amount of time playing bocci ball, eating picnics, watching and snarking on the Bard Hippies playing in their awful drum circles, etc. Can you handle the pretty? I'm not sure you can. I'm not sure that any of the photographs I have taken of the landscape of the area will give you the full visceral feeling it is to be standing there, looking at it.
Oh burrito. You came and you brought me yourself on my vacation before I even started workey! Or should I say workito?
The problem with the Mid-Hudson Valley stays the same...that I can't imagine what kind of employment I could ever find up thataway. But boy howdy am I going to become a more frequent visitor. If this was a movie the area would be Renee Zellwegger and I'd be Tom Cruise and really early on I would tell the mountains, rivers, fields, woods and towns that they complete me and they would say that I had them at hello. (I really didn't like that movie but I think my substitutions really turn it around.)

Dinner c/o McCrossen's Bar and Tavern

On Thursday my parents came up to Philadelphia. When discussing where to go for dinner my father mentioned his desire for a burger. I considered this and realized that I, too, might like a burger. So, with a little research and consideration of geography we ended up going to McCrossen's Bar and Tavern. We sat in the dining room area off of the bar. Nice white table cloth kind of feel but the proximity to the bar and its sports watching (but non-rowdy) clientele made it feel not too fancy. The large table across from us, celebrating someone's graduation from college, was a bit loud and I wonder if they couldn't have seated us somewhere else. Anyways. We all had burgers. I also had the chowder. All satisfying, above average food. I had a bacon cheeseburger with provolone cheese. It was good.

Inauspicious

Yesterday I did make one foray out into the world...three actually but of the three this is the only one in which I was successful. I took a little walk. I came across this community garden. It was pretty.
Right after I took this photograph a man walking towards me suggested that he could eat my pussy.
Which was strange since I had just been thinking that of all the things in the world that Zul might like, being eaten by a 20 something black man in mid-90s tee shirt and running pants in Philadelphia was probably his #1 goal. It's like the guy was a mind reader or something!
Well, I did exactly what I shouldn't have done. I drove to the event. Half way there I realized I hadn't remembered to get the camera (and how would I manage if I didn't have a camera?). Parking was stupid. And so I gave up and went home. Zul has been a regular pukefest for the last twenty four hours which, one might guess, concerns me. I've scheduled a vet appointment for later today. How he could have been healthy just last week and now unhealthy is beyond me but, with the whole Meow Cat experience always in my mind, I have decided to err on the side of crazy worry. Some things I, as a not vet person, think might be the problem:

1) That two days of being drugged in a car with not as much food or water as he's used to has made his stomach shrink and so now every time he eats he gulps it down (which isn't even entirely true) and then his stomach doesn't like it.

2) The stress of being in a new place is giving him anxiety attacks.

3) The vaccines he got in Tennessee coupled with the drugs and the stress have wonked out his system entirely.

4) He managed to eat something in this apartment he shouldn't have and now his intestines are slowly shutting down.

5) Asbestos?

6) Lack of large quantities of fresh air (there are windows with screens and the balcony has a screen too but I'm terrified that he would suddenly think it was a good idea to lean on or push these screens thus falling 17 floors to his death).

I'm feeling a little defeated.

Skyline

The last two or three hours of my drive were rather miserable in their rain to fair weather ratios. I arrived safely, however, and made my way to my temporary digs. I drove through center city where I took this photograph. This may, actually, be a little north of center city.
This, my little chickadees, is the view I will have for the next few months. Ridiculous.
Silly.
I have a little balcony on the 17th floor of a building. To say that this is not the style of abode that I am a) used to or b) even interested in having is to state a truth...but, it's not so bad. In fact it's pretty funny and kind of cool, especially because it is not permanent...and you wouldn't believe how affordable it is.
So I'm trying to gather up the courage to go out to this free food thing tonight. It will be the sort of thing where I know no one at all. I have yet to make the effort to get at all acquainted with the public transportation system but I'm beginning to think it's really stupid. Dumb. Maybe it isn't. I need to get me a NFT and then I'll be able to figure a few things out. Like whether the transportation system is stupid or not. The point is that if I do go to this free thing I'd have to drive and driving in Philadelphia, thus far, has kind of sucked a little. I'm afraid I'll get to the event and there will be no street parking and that garage parking will be too expensive for my taste and then I'll get flustered and then I'll just turn around and come home...this sort of thing happens to me more often than I'd like to admit...which then brings me to wonder if it's worth going at all, if all I'm going to do is turn around. And if I do go then I'll be the one without a friend or whatever and so I'll act more interested in the food than I really am, eat in a corner and leave. But free food is free food and this place seems like it might be good.

Now That's A Sweet Tea

Before leaving Staunton I stopped for breakfast at Mrs. Rowe's (pronounced like the Pao in Kung Pao). I ordered myself sweet tea and it was pretty fantastic. I might be crazy but I really think they made it themselves.
On the menu they specified that eggs could be: poached, scrambled or fried. This excited me. I mean if it's actually in the menu then they must poach the eggs properly, riiight? Wrong. I was curious as to what "Pon Haus" was but didn't ask the question....turns out it's just another word for Scrapple.
I had two ersatz poached eggs (that were at least cooked properly) with fried green apples, home fries, sausage patties and home made white toast. The apples were sweeter than I expected, far more like a pie filling...not necessarily in a bad way but definitely in a surprising way. The bread was superior to normal breakfast toast. The potatoes were fine too. I did not eat all of it.
The restaurant itself was cute. Cute but not small. Seems there were secret rooms everywhere. I walked in the front door and was seated in a booth in an area with cut out windows on both sides, giving a sense of space and privacy at the same time. As I ate I witnessed nine million cops and cop-like people pay their bills while, at the table across from me, two state troopers ordered their own selves some fine sweet tea. I liked that most all the waitresses and workers I saw (with a few exceptions) were on the little old lady side of life.

Another T Bone Jack's Dinner in Waynesboro, Virginia

On Monday morning I woke up and drugged my cat at seven in the morning. I then did as much as I could to make the house look nice (ie I went down my mother's checklist and did every single possible thing she suggested...or did I?) and gathered the remaining piles of my crap as best I could. We got off to a less than stellar start, in terms of time...we probably got on the highway around 9:30, central time...it would have been better to get off earlier...but then, it didn't matter that much either way. Traveling up 81 was pretty as always. Zul was quiet for the majority of the time...because of the drugs...and I listened to a lot of This American Life, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and Fresh Air. Then we got to Staunton, Virginia. After giving Zul his necessaries, I drove and met up with my friend J. and her older son C. You may remember them from two or three weeks ago. We met at the same place simply because the internet in my hotel room wouldn't work, so I couldn't do any research on an alternative. Their Monday dinner special was "All You Can Enjoy Pork Ribs". Which led me to imagine this scenario:

Me: May I have another helping of ribs?
Waiter: Sure, hold on a few moments, they're made to order.
Me: Okay, Thanks.

A few moments after the ribs have arrived:

Waiter: How's everybody doing?
Me: Great.
Waiter: Really? Because you don't really look like you're enjoying them.
Me: Oh no I'm loving them.
Waiter: No, I don't think you are. In fact, you give me the rest of them. If you aren't enjoying the ribs you don't get to eat them, bitch.
Me: [sobbing]

That didn't happen though. And actually whatever my exact imagining at that time was, well, it was funnier than what I just wrote. Oh well. The ribs were good enough. The meat was definitely tender (you see that seemingly gnawed bone in the photograph?...it wasn't gnawed, it just fell off) but the sauce lacked a certain je ne sais quoi...specialness? I did ask for more and they did give me more but I couldn't eat that many more in the end.

Pizza c/o Crust

On my last night in Tennessee I had a fair amount of packing left to do...and tidying...I had already cleaned out the refrigerator of most things to eat and so I ordered myself a small pizza (it was smaller than the photographs make it look, don't judge me) with banana peppers and pineapple from Crust. I knew it wouldn't be great but it was good.

I Read Books and Watch Stuff/Business Has Nothing To Do With Personal Feelings

At the moment I'm reading The Cheer Leader by Jill McCorkle. I find that I hate it when I can't find an image of a book that has the same cover as the physical book I'm reading...this is an example. I have not decided what I think about the book. I like the beginning, telling a story through snapshots...but then things slow down, the main character falls in love with the wrong guy numerous times (the same guy)...and seems to be heading for some serious melt down stuff. But I'm still reading it.

I like mysteries. I like the south. So it's no surprise that I like Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott series. But, secretly, I'm obsessed with Deborah's love life...how the same man was in love with her for, like, ever and how, eventually, she figured it out and now they're all happy and shit. I eat it up. I eat it up with a small dainty spoon and a large, large bowl.

Yesterday I finished reading Douglas Coupland's The Gum Thief. I've read at least one other book by Coupland (Microserfs) but I think I may have read at least one other (?). This book was a bit hard to get through. Between the conceit of all the characters writing letters to each other, frequent excerpts of one character's novel (purposefully bad, I think, but...um...still painful to read). Eh. I wouldn't bother.

I watched The Savages a few days back. I liked it well enough. All the actors were good and, considering the subject matter, it was pretty funny.

Before my trip to Philadelphia my mother and I went to Tullahoma for a little shopping for shoes attempt (which was, come to think of it, very successful). We also went to Big Lots to look for something, I forget what. In the checkout line they had all these movies. Included was Can't Hardly Wait...for $2.99...I don't care what you haters say, this movie is great. I bought it. And then I watched it. I also bought The Squid and the Whale, also for $2.99. But I haven't broken the seal on that sucker yet.

The Girls by Lori Lansen is the story of two sisters. They are conjoined at the head twins. They live in a small town in Canada. The story is told from the perspective of both sisters writing separate journals, slowly telling the stories of their shared life. Decent.

I found Northanger Abbey tiresome. The heroine is so clueless, so often, that it loses its charm to constantly be hoping she's going to get some balls and brains and get married. But, of course, she does.

Since my secondary return to Tennessee my parents and I have been watching a lot of Jeeves and Wooster. Once I'm settled into my new location and work life, I plan on writing an essay about my severe obsession with British television series (mini and not) and trying to figure out the 'why' of it. The 'why' of Jeeves and Wooster, in short form, is that it's funny. Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry both do excellent jobs as their characters and P.G. (D?) Wodehouse's stories (I assume each episode is equal to one of the books) are chock full of Britishy wonders.

I also read both of Julia Glass' novels. Three Junes, her first, I liked very much. This guy didn't, at all. The Whole World Over I liked too, perhaps more. Though I must admit the way everybody's life is aesthetically pleasing if not dysfuntional gets a little harder to believe...everywhere these people go, almost even ground zero, is somehow pretty...I find myself (with that notable exception) the settings these characters live in would make you wish you lived there too. The guy wouldn't like it either, I wouldn't think.

I finished The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell a few days back. I read it in a three day period of time partially because I did, occasionally, stop myself from 'devouring' it...not literally, I eat many things but not books. This a book I could have taught in my class back at SAIC...an experience I don't think I fully wrote about. It's the kind of literary science fiction that I especially enjoy. I found the characters extremely well written, for the most part. The story was both intellectually stimulating and emotionally effective. The story itself 'unfolds' in two different time periods, both set in the future. There is love, there are aliens. Oh and much rumination on the nature of faith and the love of God. And a space ship. The best I could tell people who don't like those aspects of a story would be something like this: Yes, there are aliens and spaceships. But the worlds in which they exist are fascinating in their lack of 'science fictiony aspects'. People still watch baseball and wear shorts. Slums are still slums. But, if you really have a problem with conjecture about our society in 70 years, well, there's nothing I can do.
I think I've read more things and I've watched a fair amount of television. But nothing worth talking about, I don't think.

For The Record

I can't get through to my parents, who are at The Preakness, to make my sure-to-lose bets. But, on the off chance I would have been a hundred-aire. They are as follows:

Exacta Box:
Big Brown
Gayego
Tres Borrachos


And in case Big Brown makes a large 'bounce'...an exacta box a little like this:
Yankee Brown
Riley Tucker
Kentucky Bear

Watch 3 of the 6 horses I didn't list get win, place and show...sons of bitches, horses, every one of them.

Hot Dog and Cheese...and Macaroni

Yesterday, for lunch, I ate some of the left over macaroni and cheese I made for the Saturday shin-dig and two hot dogs. I slit the dogs and gently stuffed them with mustard, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion and chopped pickles.
Entirely satisfying.

Art Should Be About Good Things

All this past week I've noticed the commercials on television for McDonald's new "Southern Chicken Sandwich". What I've particularly been interested in is the fact that for one day they were giving the sandwiches away with the purchase of a medium or large drink. On Thursday I realized that it was the day. So I drove to Monteagle, got in the drive-thru line and ordered me my free sandwich and a medium Dr. Pepper. This seemed pretty similar to the Chic-Fil-A sandwich I had in Bucks County. A small smattering of pickles (2 to be exact), no sauce and a surprisingly moist and chicken-like piece of chicken. It was okay. It was free. It was rainy.

A Truly, Truly Unique Dining Experience

I can't imagine being an actor whose gig is murder mysteries during dinner...on a train going 10 miles per hour. They sound like it's great...but I bet they have despair in their hearts. On Tuesday my parents left for Maryland (the Preakness is today people) and I stayed put. I have been suffering from late in the day headaches and I thought that it might be a lack of fresh air/walking. So I went and took a walk. The headache didn't really go away but I did find this guy...and took him home with me (I know). Then we played the dance of taking a picture of a turtle with its head out before it runs away. I lost the game.