Category: travel

05/07/08 01:18 - ID#44259

Europe

So (e:john) and I are meeting (e:jbeatty) (and later (e:ladycroft)) in Europe ~~in a few days~~ tomorrow (!).

WTF am I doing????? We can't afford this trip, and I don't have the time to go on vacation right now!!! We just found a house we like and may want to bid on!! Someone needs to be here to talk to mortgage people about getting us financing, and to make sure no one steals this house away! Plus, I am going to be missing my derby league's second bout, ever. And I can't be traipsing around Europe with a gigantic backpack right now, anyway, since I injured my knees at derby practice a few weeks ago and they still hurt like crazy and the doctor said I could do some serious damage to them if I exercise a lot while they're still healing!!! GAAHHH!!

I'm kinda stressed out about preparing for this trip, can you tell?

Actually, I'm stressed because I've barely prepared at all - (e:john)'s been doing all the guidebook-reading and itinerary-planning. I know when and where we're flying in and out, but in between, I have only the slightest clue where we'll be going or what we're going to be doing. And, uhm, packing? Haven't started. The only thing I know is that I'm going to feel like I'm not bringing anything with me at all, since it's all got to fit into one backpack. I am the queen of over-packing, but I think for this trip, I'm going to end up at the opposite extreme. I will miss my laptop more than words can express. It's going to feel very weird, not traveling with it.

Since I'm not bringing my laptop, I had to dig out my old paper address book and update it. I spent the first half of my evening turning the apartment upside down looking for the thing (which was safely tucked away in an easily-accessible cabinet, I discovered after scouring many hard-to-reach places). Then it was John's turn to misplace a notebook and spend time tearing the place apart looking for it, while I sat down to learn how woefully out-of-date even my computerized address book was. Ugh.

I was going to buy myself a new pair of hiking boots for this trip, but it's pretty much too late now. I've got a few great pairs of sneakers I can bring, but I'm gonna need boots, too, I bet. I'd love to see how my awesome new cowboy boots would hold up, but they're not practical for traveling since I need a shoehorn to get them on, and they won't go on at all if my feet are swollen. I find it slightly unbelievable that I own 50 million pairs of shoes and still don't have any non-sneaker shoes that are appropriate for this trip.

Well. If anyone wants a postcard, give (e:jbeatty) your address, and I'll make sure he sends you one while we're there. :)

ladycroft writes at 07:32:40 05/08/08 - Comment #34846: it's gonna rock, don't stress!

see you in a few days :)

tinypliny writes at 11:26:34 05/07/08 - Comment #34834: It's going to be so awesome.
Re: (e:jon)

tinypliny writes at 11:12:44 05/07/08 - Comment #34831: Wow. All the best! You will love it all!

And yes, hello to you, (e:jbeatty), (e:john) and (e:ladycroft). :)

metalpeter writes at 06:56:48 05/07/08 - Comment #34822: I'm going to tell you why you should go.
-The house is just a house. If someone else winds up getting it then it wasn't meant to be your house any ways, so don't worry about that.
- Yeah missing the Roller Derby bout is to bad, but you where told to lay off the exercise any way so skating might have just hurt your team anyways.
- I understand you don't want to leave any thing that you really need at home. But if you don't pack light then you have to carry all that non needed stuff. Just make sure to have the funds so you can get anything you need. Oh yeah bring the cameara with lots of extra Batteries
- It sounds like you like to plan where you go and be the doer. Hey remember if things don't turn out the way you like it isn't your fault and you can relax and let someone else do everything.
*****You are meeting up with (e:ladycroft) in europe, that should be enough of a reason to go. Not to menition this is the 1st international (e:peep) meet up (or at least that I know of) and that is an event in its self*******

I also think you should remember that there are lots of people who can't go to over there because they don't have the money and may never get there, so to be thankful that you will have a nice trip with people you know. so just relax and have a great time.

jbeatty writes at 10:55:17 05/07/08 - Comment #34797: I'm not ready either, I just finished my last final about 45 mins ago and I have to work tonight. So I guess I'll pack tomorrow.

paul writes at 09:51:43 05/07/08 - Comment #34795: I am sure it will be totally worth it, say hello to (e:ladycroft) for us.

mrmike writes at 08:51:36 05/07/08 - Comment #34789: You'll have a great time. Wish I could take a trip that I had no business taking like that

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Category: travel

08/12/07 01:09 - ID#40491

Thanksgiving in B'lo

So, did anybody go to the Old 97's Thursday in the Square thing besides (e:carolinian) ? He posted a pic for me, so I am doing the requisite writhing in jealousy... ::writhe writhe::

Anyway, my brother-in-law ( (e:jbeatty) ) has finally moved to Buffalo and settled in, and he met a bunch of you guys a few days ago, so now he knows way more of you than I do (since I know a grand total of exactly one of you, besides him). As of right now, my husband & I are planning to come up and visit him for Thanksgiving. Flying into & out of WNY in late November is always a dicey proposition, and flying around T-giving is always a gigantic cluster-fuck, but we've decided to give it a shot, anyway. If anyone is going to be around then and is up for a non-traditional T-giving (one year my husband & jb cooked up an Asian feast - we were eating for four hours straight and we didn't come close to eating everything they'd prepared), drop us a line.

lizabeth writes at 06:09:40 08/16/07 - Comment #22419: Chico, that is awesome - I'm so glad you went and had a good time!

That sounds like classic Rhett - his little hip-shaky dances and guitar-strafing flailing are one of the best parts of seeing the Old 97's. I had forgotten how much fun he is to watch (the last time I got a chance to see them was 2001) until I saw him solo in February.

Also, that's pretty standard with them and the encores. Most times I saw them, the solo song he did first to give the band a break was "Question" (which is on their album Satellite Rides, in addition to him re-doing it in French on his most recent album), though I can see how "Come Around" would work well, too.

If you want, I can give you a compilation CD I made of my favorite songs of theirs (you might have to wait until around Thanksgiving to get it, tho'!). I am all about hooking more people into 97's fandom. :D

chico writes at 06:59:31 08/13/07 - Comment #22186: Old 97's were fantastic. There was intermittent light rain and the crowd was not quite as large as it might have been but there was still a good vibe going. Rhett Miller was quite the showman, sporting tight white pants and a bright red shirt and doing this small-scale quasi-Pete-Townshend guitar-windmill move (from the elbow rather than from the shoulder) and repeatedly turning around and shaking his booty for all the ladies (and anyone else interested). He seemed to have a blast playing in Buffalo (he said a couple of times how surprised he was that Buffalo was so much fun ... "who knew?" etc.

I don't know the song catalog very well but they played a bunch of good tunes and mixed things up nicely, switching from acoustic to electric and back again. The general tempo was upbeat and they seemed to have some catchy hooks and lyrics.

Toward the end of the show, a girl tried to climb onstage and when the security guard "escorted" (read, dragged) her off, Miller went chasing after them telling the security guard to leave her. The next time a woman climbed up, they let her, and she danced around Miller for a couple of minutes. Then another woman got up there and they danced together with the band and then, at the end of the tune, grabbed each other and kissed a bit. Pretty amusing.

They were generous with encores (the first was a Rhett Miller solo tune, "Am I Gonna Be Lonely for the Rest of My Life?" which gave the band a rest) and played 15 minutes over time, which is very unusual in my (admittedly, limited) experience (most bands quit before or right at 9 pm).

Overall it was a blast, and I'd pay to see those guys the next time they're in B-lo. Or better yet, I'll pony up more cash for watery beer to see them in the Square next summer, I'd love to have them come back for that.

lizabeth writes at 06:18:59 08/13/07 - Comment #22177: Screw Tofurkey - I'm ready for an all-Asian gorge-fest again! I'll fold the dumplings!

jbeatty writes at 06:52:25 08/12/07 - Comment #22089: I want Tofurkey this year!

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Category: travel

05/15/07 05:51 - ID#39289

if you're the stalking type...

Just FYI... I'm going to be in the central NY area the last weekend in June if any of you (*ahem* (e:carolinian) *cough* (e:bugmuncher) *ahem*) wanted to maybe meet up in Ithaca for a day or something.

I'm going up there with my mom and we're renting a big vehicle to ferry all the stuff I've still got in storage up in Syracuse down here to FL. After I clear that storage area out, I'll have no more physical ties to NY (tho' of course I'll still have lots of people up there I'll want to visit).

Oh, and since I named the category for this post "travel" - my husband & I just got back from a trip to Ottawa. You B'lo folks aren't as close to Ottawa as people in Syracuse, but you're still not that far away - and if you've never been there, you should go! Ottawa's a pretty cool town. I know Ottawa is not exactly a happy place for Sabres fans right now, but maybe in the fall or something, when all the cup hoopla has cooled a bit, it could be a nice destination for a cross-border road trip. Keep it in mind, anyway.

Speaking of Ottawa, I have a picture to share with you from my trip, but I'll have to crop it first... gimme a min...

carolinian writes at 01:08:38 05/16/07 - Comment #18496: I want to go to the Nines as well.

And walk around Collegetown and eat a big, heaping plate of pad thai while walking around there.

And go to the much nicer sit-down thai place on the main road whose name I forget.

And go to Manos. If they still exist.

And leave a note for the Roy H. Park dean telling him/her that I've actually done okay for myself despite getting kicked out of there and leaving was probably one of the better things that's happened to me.

And see all the professors who talked me through lots of difficult stuff when I was there and tell them "thank you".

lizabeth writes at 12:44:35 05/16/07 - Comment #18495: Dude, Club Molesters has been closed for ages - I think it closed down shortly after I graduated, which is like, 7 years ago now. Well, first it changed names, then it closed.

The place I want to go is the Nines (assuming that's even still there). I haven't been there since that time we went.

Anyway, a wine tour may be in the plans... I'll keep you posted! :)

carolinian writes at 06:49:11 05/15/07 - Comment #18468: I've only mentioned half my depraved idea. The full version of it would be an (e:strip) wine tour, where a bunch of (e:peeps) would would chip in to charter a school bus (like (e:bugmuncher) did on the day of his wedding) and descend upon winery after winery in the Finger Lakes region consuming massive amounts of alcohol. And at some point, the trip would get temporarily diverted to Ithaca where I could nostalgically reminisce on college days that were never actually as good as I remember them and I could see whether the 30-year old me sucks any more or less at picking up girls at Club Semesters than the 20 year-old me. On the way back, we could drink even more on the bus and watch $1.99 kung fu movies on a portable DVD player.

Most of this is probably not feasible or desirable (which is why it's known as a "stupid idea"). But it would be kind of cool for us to all meet up back at Ithaca again.

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