Saturday, December 20, 2008
To the Motherland, My Bonnie Prince!
Heading to Scotland tomorrow from Milan! I'm going to love on some sheep and eat some neeps and tatties!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Pope Is Tired Today. Also, Expected Scattered Showers.
Greetings from Florence! Just a quick post to let everyone know that C. and I are safe in Florence and heading to Pisa for the obligatory phallic photo, then off to Zurich maybe? Will post more later in the future. Ciao Ciao!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Mean Time
I've begun the practice of living on Greenwich Mean Time here on the East Coast in preparation for my upcoming trip, as a way of preemptively battling jet lag. It's like living on Bar Time multiplied by 20, which would have bouncers putting me out on the street at 8:30pm (which has happened). Coincidently, that is also the time I went to bed last night. Still, even for London, it's early.
I got home to Havre de Grace, Maryland, safe and sound Tuesday evening. (I plan on blogging about my reflections on the trek with Skip either later today or sometime in the near future.) It was no surprise to Mom, who had the front light on 10 minutes before I pulled into the driveway. (I hate being predictable.) I've notified the bank that I will be traveling abroad. I have my international driver's license and passport folded away in a book I plan on bringing. I've packed my pack; later today I will be taking it out onto the trail to see how it fits and what adjustsments, if any, need to be made. Every practical consideration has been accounted for, and yet, I can't sleep.
I'm going to see my Love in two days, after three months of being apart, which is longer than we've actually been together. It's a little weird and we're both a little nervous about it. Neither one of us knows what we're going to do or how we're going to act when we see each other. I've envisioned every scenario. All of them, I know, will be irrelevant when I see her beautiful face. I'll look at her and it will all make sense again.
I got home to Havre de Grace, Maryland, safe and sound Tuesday evening. (I plan on blogging about my reflections on the trek with Skip either later today or sometime in the near future.) It was no surprise to Mom, who had the front light on 10 minutes before I pulled into the driveway. (I hate being predictable.) I've notified the bank that I will be traveling abroad. I have my international driver's license and passport folded away in a book I plan on bringing. I've packed my pack; later today I will be taking it out onto the trail to see how it fits and what adjustsments, if any, need to be made. Every practical consideration has been accounted for, and yet, I can't sleep.
I'm going to see my Love in two days, after three months of being apart, which is longer than we've actually been together. It's a little weird and we're both a little nervous about it. Neither one of us knows what we're going to do or how we're going to act when we see each other. I've envisioned every scenario. All of them, I know, will be irrelevant when I see her beautiful face. I'll look at her and it will all make sense again.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
At a Loss in Gainesville
It's been over two weeks since my last post, and for this I apologize. I have been doing a lot of writing, I just haven't been posting. A good friend of mine wrote to me, telling me, "When we don't hear from you, we assume you're in jail." So, I post. And no, I haven't been incarcerated ... yet.
Skip and I have been in Gainesville, Florida, since early Thursday morning. After a Wednesday of walking in the wrong direction in Alabama, Skip decided that we would just leave that night and drive down here for Thanksgiving with his good friend, A. We're still here. It looks like Skip is going to set up camp for a little while here in Florida. He plans to make headway on his book before getting back on the road in a few weeks. By that time, I will be somewhere in Europe.
A few weeks ago, hearts fell on Alabama when I told Skip that I would not be rejoining him after my return from Europe. There are a number of reasons why I won't be rejoining him, both practical and sentimental. While it's true that I do have to start paying back my student loans, this time away from my love has been difficult.
My original plan was to drive back on Wednesday, December 3rd, but I might leave before then, as soon as I can finish up some work for Skip. There are still some things we need to shoot. After that, though, the work will not be over. I plan to do whatever I can from wherever I am for the organization, even if Skip can only give me an arbitrary title for my imaginary seat on his Board of Directors. (Too much IRS paperwork, I'm told.)
Where does that leave me and my writing? I will conitnue to write, updating here and there throughout Europe, if I'm given the chance. When I return to the U.S., I will try to be more consistent with my posts.
Thank you all for your patience and your desire to read more of my life. I write for you.
Skip and I have been in Gainesville, Florida, since early Thursday morning. After a Wednesday of walking in the wrong direction in Alabama, Skip decided that we would just leave that night and drive down here for Thanksgiving with his good friend, A. We're still here. It looks like Skip is going to set up camp for a little while here in Florida. He plans to make headway on his book before getting back on the road in a few weeks. By that time, I will be somewhere in Europe.
A few weeks ago, hearts fell on Alabama when I told Skip that I would not be rejoining him after my return from Europe. There are a number of reasons why I won't be rejoining him, both practical and sentimental. While it's true that I do have to start paying back my student loans, this time away from my love has been difficult.
My original plan was to drive back on Wednesday, December 3rd, but I might leave before then, as soon as I can finish up some work for Skip. There are still some things we need to shoot. After that, though, the work will not be over. I plan to do whatever I can from wherever I am for the organization, even if Skip can only give me an arbitrary title for my imaginary seat on his Board of Directors. (Too much IRS paperwork, I'm told.)
Where does that leave me and my writing? I will conitnue to write, updating here and there throughout Europe, if I'm given the chance. When I return to the U.S., I will try to be more consistent with my posts.
Thank you all for your patience and your desire to read more of my life. I write for you.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Quantus Solari
It's amazing what a good night's sleep and a country breakfast will do for the soul. Skip and I are staying here in Newnan, Georgia, one more evening, with relatives of a friend we made in Chapel Hill. I'm looking forward to my day of helping B. and E. plant tulip bulbs, which makes me ask: What is better than having roses on your piano? ... Having tulips on your organ.
Sadly, that won't be the case for another couple of weeks.
Sadly, that won't be the case for another couple of weeks.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Ooh Georgia, No Peace I Find
It took all the funk The New Mastersounds could muster to propel Skip and me out of Atlanta. We’ve been circling the drain for the last week. We’ve met some awesome people and had some really great times, but it is not a power place for either of us, and we needed some borrowed soul in order for us to leave.
Skip has this theory on “Power Places.” For him, Power Places are areas of the world where things come together for an individual, making that person feel empowered. The possibilities are endless, but it’s a place where a person may be successful in business as easily as in romantic endeavors. There may be one or several of these around the world for a person. For Skip, Prague was a place of power for him. When I think about it, northeast Connecticut and that fraction of New England feels like a power place for me.
This has not been the case for either of us in Georgia, especially in Atlanta.
Skip has this theory on “Power Places.” For him, Power Places are areas of the world where things come together for an individual, making that person feel empowered. The possibilities are endless, but it’s a place where a person may be successful in business as easily as in romantic endeavors. There may be one or several of these around the world for a person. For Skip, Prague was a place of power for him. When I think about it, northeast Connecticut and that fraction of New England feels like a power place for me.
This has not been the case for either of us in Georgia, especially in Atlanta.
Monday, November 10, 2008
1/2 a Bird
Skip and I are trying something different to our traveling, and after a few days of this test-run it feels like I am caught in a vortex between Atlanta and Skip's starting points for the day. Each day though we keep getting closer and closer to Atlanta, like a pair of mariners who are circling a whirlpool with the flotsam and jetsam our travels have created.
We made it to our host's flat yesterday evening, and after dropping off some of our things we ventured back out into Midtown for a late meal. Our host had directed us to a Tex-Mex place with cheap food, but on the way there we saw a place we could not pass: Fat Matt's BBQ. Skip and I walked in and the smell of smoked and grilled meat made both of our stomachs grumble and our mouths water. The menu was on the wall right in front of us and looked something like this:
1/4 slab
1/2 slab
1/4 bird
1/2 bird
"rum" beans
sweet potato pie
sweet tea
coke
There wasn't much else to the menu. We smiled at each other. Skip ordered the 1/2 slab of ribs and I ordered a 1/2 bird for dinner. We sat down at a table and looked around the place. There were some tables, and a stage was at the end opposite of where we were sitting. Pictures of blues musicians lined the walls. Behind the stage, there was a rendition of Mt. Rushmore, only with the blues greats instead of the Presidents.
When the food came we didn't need silverware--I don't think we even bothered to unwrap it from the napkins. The bone pulled right out of his slab and my bird. I haven't had meat that tender since [There are so many ways I want to end this sentence. Less for taste and decency and more for the fact that I want to retain my summer job, I will leave your imaginations to finish the sentence for me].
We made it to our host's flat yesterday evening, and after dropping off some of our things we ventured back out into Midtown for a late meal. Our host had directed us to a Tex-Mex place with cheap food, but on the way there we saw a place we could not pass: Fat Matt's BBQ. Skip and I walked in and the smell of smoked and grilled meat made both of our stomachs grumble and our mouths water. The menu was on the wall right in front of us and looked something like this:
1/4 slab
1/2 slab
1/4 bird
1/2 bird
"rum" beans
sweet potato pie
sweet tea
coke
There wasn't much else to the menu. We smiled at each other. Skip ordered the 1/2 slab of ribs and I ordered a 1/2 bird for dinner. We sat down at a table and looked around the place. There were some tables, and a stage was at the end opposite of where we were sitting. Pictures of blues musicians lined the walls. Behind the stage, there was a rendition of Mt. Rushmore, only with the blues greats instead of the Presidents.
When the food came we didn't need silverware--I don't think we even bothered to unwrap it from the napkins. The bone pulled right out of his slab and my bird. I haven't had meat that tender since [There are so many ways I want to end this sentence. Less for taste and decency and more for the fact that I want to retain my summer job, I will leave your imaginations to finish the sentence for me].
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