Extreme Field Trip

Portland, Oregon: Waterfalls, Parks, Roses and SUNSHINE

2006-05-18T13:17:00.000-04:00

I was able to escape rainy Boston for a few days and visit Sarah T. in Portland, OR. I had never been to the Pacific Northwest before. In fact, I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't know that Portland is in the northwest corner of Oregon, not somewhere in the center of the state. (Mike, that would be a great geography quiz: where is each capital LOCATED in each state?) When Sarah and I drove out of the city on Monday to go hiking, she pointed out Washington State to the north. "What?" I said. "Really? We're that close?"

Oh yes, I am a product of the United States Public Schools.

It's my last day here and I have had a fantastic time. The weather has been stunning -- 80 degrees most days, 90 on Monday, perfectly clear sky -- and I've been relaxing, which is something I haven't had much time to do lately. Sarah works at Peet's Coffee and is also playing an opera run, so I've had time alone to practice and answer emails, in addition to time bopping around the city.

On Monday, Sarah had the day off, so we rented a car and drove to the Oneonta Gorge and Multnomah Falls area, which is along the Columbia River. We hiked a 5.5 mile route through the park and it's safe to say it was the most beautiful hike I've ever taken. In fact, I'm posting these pictures in a larger size just so everyone can take in the beauty:

Waterfalls!

The big one: Multnomah Falls:

Looking up at Multnomah:

Looking down at its base (is that the correct terminology?):

Sarah in front of the falls:

And there's me:

This photo looks photoshopped to me, but it's not! Doesn't the background look unreal?

In a natural cave:

Flowers running through a small waterfall:

TREES. Made me think of the Stampers and their logging business:

Sarah and the trees:

Washing my hands in the river:

Sarah caught me cooling off with a little more water:

After hiking, we returned to Portland, and stopped at a Lebanese restaurant called Nicholas's. I don't know if it was because I was so tired from hiking, but that food was the best Middle Eastern food I have ever had. And prepared the fastest! The waiter rapidly brought out dolmas, babganoush, pitas straight from the over (filled with steam!), spinach pies, hummus, tahini and the best falafel ever. We scarfed ravenously.

Tuesday, I practiced, and (ahem) took care of some business in town. Then Sarah met me for food and drinks at Bartini, a bar with a fondue list and a list of 60 martinis! I had a blackberry lemon drop and a basil berry-tini, while Sarah had a coconut mojitotini. Those were some good drinks. We had some fondue touted as real Swiss, but I couldn't taste the kirsch. It was good anyway! In addition, we stuffed ourselves full of seared tuna, wild mushrooms over polenta, fried manchego, and white bean and tomato dip. All for a ridiculously low price - I fear I have gotten far too used to Boston restaurant prices.

We then walked to the waterfront:

Portland has parks everywhere. The waterfront was lovely, and Sarah told me about the rose festival that's held there every summer. We saw dragon boats warming up for their appearance in June's festival.

Tuesday night, while Sarah played "Magic Flute", I watched "Legend", which I had never seen. It was pretty good - very Dark Crystal/Labyrinth/80s fantasy movie. Tom Cruise didn't look like he had gone crazy yet. And what ever happend to Mia Sara? Legend and Ferris Bueller - two huge 80s cult hits - and then what? I wonder what she's doing now.

On Wednesday, Sarah was able to get the morning off, so we BIKED to the International Rose Garden. This was my first experience biking in a long, long time. I was pretty nervous, but it ended up being a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to borrowing my sister's bike for a while. Washington Park, where the Rose Garden is located, is unbelievably huge. It's an old growth forest in the middle of the city! The rose garden itself hadn't come into full bloom, but I took some nice flower photos. My favorites:

I took about 50 flower shots but I won't assault you with them now. I have a feeling I'm far more into them than anyone else would be!

I had a hotdog at the park but still joined Sarah in some Mexican food at Cha Cha Cha's, which is near Peet's. By the way, this week I've been blessed to receive free iced coffees from Sarah. Mmmmmmm! I biked most of the way home, leaving Sarah to her coffee tasting class, and practiced for a bit. When Sarah returned, we met up with Sandy and had Ethiopian food across the river. Oh, so very very good. This trip has been a culinary delight. We then watched a bit of Sarah's unedited movie and made a bunch of playlists for each other.

Sleep came easily.

Today I've been blogging and am meeting Sarah for lunch at a cute little cafe. This afternoon I'm not quite sure what we'll be up to! Portland has been fantastic and Sarah has been a fabulous hostess. I'll miss the weather, for sure. Back to soggy Boston tonight on a Jet Blue red-eye.....

Very Belated Iceland Pics

2006-05-18T12:13:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been so busy that I haven't been able to post pictures from a trip I took in January! Right now I'm in Portland (pictures of that to be posted soon as well), and I'm relaxing with my friend Sarah (the same Sarah who helped paint my bedroom last year). I've had lots of free time, so I got all of my to-do list done, and now I can do something fun: blog.

I'm using text from my travel journals.

ICELAND: Day 1

Yesterday, I got off the plane and right on the bus, came to my hotel, and decided not to nap. In retrospect, I probably should have, but I thought it would be better if I just went outside and conquered Reykjavik. The sun doesn´t rise until 11 am, so when I left the hotel at 9:45, it was totally dark out, snowing, and the wind was so intense the umbrella was useless! I ended up, bedraggled, at a bar called Privit, which was serving breakfast.

I sat next to some icelandic women and asked them where I should go. They were quite reserved at first, but then they became chatty. "What do you like?" asked the girl sitting next to me. "Food," I replied, and they laughed. They talked amongst themselves in Icelandic for a bit, and then recommended a fish restaurant. They also said to go to the Blue Lagoon, so I was pleased that I had that all organized already. "Why are you in Iceland in winter?" asked one. "It´s so dark!" But by the time I finished my salty omelet, smoked at least six cigarettes via the girls at the bar, and drank some AMAZING coffee (I allowed myself a couple cups of caffeinated coffee since I had only slept an hour on the plane and I had a whole day ahead of me), it was getting light out. I paid my bill and headed out to explore. Before I left, though, one of the girls told me I should without question go to the thermal swimming pools in Reykjavik. "I go every day," she said. These are quite different from the blue lagoon spa, as I discovered.

I finished walking down Laugavedur and Austurstraeti, the two main shopping streets in town, and noticed the town waking up around me. Stores were beginning to open, people were milling about, all bundled up. After my early morning fight with the snow and wind, I realized that I should have brought a hat to Iceland.

I first walked to the Reykjavik Harbor, which was on my list of things to see. It was pretty impressive, though also pretty empty. You could see a mountain range on the other side of the harbor, I believe it´s called Eis, but I´m not sure. I trekked about there for a while, and then headed up to the city again.

I went to Lake Tjorn, which is a lake in the middle of the city, surrounded by the Old Town of Reykjavik. It was FILLED with swans and ducks. It was actually quite an amazing sight -- I think I gasped when I saw the amount of birds on the lake.

After walking around Tjorn, I made my way back to Laugavedur, but then headed up Skolavorðustigur to see the famous church Hallgrimskirkja. This is the tallest point in Reykjavik, and the view was not disappointing, even though it´s only 75 meters high. The bells began to ring as I was serenely looking out of the tower windows, startling me. I think I lost five years of my life.

I went downstairs, looked at the interior of the church (very beautiful) and wondered whether or not I should take a nap. My boots were not, apparently, made for walkin´ the slushy streets of Reykjavik. I was soaked, and a wave of exhaustion hit me. I grasped my soggy map and figured out exactly where I was -- I had become completely turned around, and had to go in the opposite direction to get back to Hotel Bjork (which, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with Bjork. Perhaps it means something in Icelandic?). The sun came out from behind the clouds for a bit, and I recalled walking down sidestreets in Wales... and then it began to HAIL. Yes, that was awesome. I still didn´t have a hat.

I got back to the hotel, and figured I should check out the thermal swimming pools at Laugardalur. They were in the opposite direction from the shopping streets. I changed into sneakers, different jeans, and a sweatshirt and set out again. It was quite a walk, but I made it, and spent probably twice as long trying to figure out the lockers at the bathhouse. Luckily, there was a very kind Icelandic woman working there who spoke perfect English and was willing to give me token after token for my locker. I didn´t spend too long in the outdoor baths themselves -- it was snowing, I was exhausted, and it wasn´t that exciting. So I went back inside, showered, kicked myself for not having a hairdryer, and got dressed. And then I walked home. It was the longest, most uncomfortable walk of my life. It was cold, wet, snowy and slushy, my hair was wet, my scarf kept falling off (as did my hood), my map was soggy, my shoes were soaked, I was functioning on no sleep and a lot of caffeine (which I shouldn´t have had) and a salty omelet -- when I got back to my hotel room, I CRASHED. Hard. I slept a couple hours, got up, realized I was hungry, and decided to go to the hotel restaurant since there was a little snowstorm going on outside. I had salmon and read the local English newspaper (Grapevine -- very Weekly Dig) and the introduction to Mrs. Dalloway. I also enjoyed a drink which I think I should import to the US and make millions: The Viking Malt. Oh yes. It was de-lish-ous. It´s like the very best root beer you´ve ever had, but a million times better and malty. It made my stomach really happy. I then paid, I´m sure, FAR too much for the salmon and headed to bed. I watched a little TV and slept for eleven hours.

Day 2

The next morning I awoke at 9:30 AM Reykjavik time. Reykjavik, by the way, means "smoky harbor". Vik means harbor. You see Vik a lot in town names here; it´s also the root of Viking. I had breakfast in the hotel (free!) -- toast, fruit and yogurt. I´m guessing the fruit is imported -- there´s no way that watermelons could be grown here. I then took my trip to the Blue Lagoon. I'm posting pretty much all my Blue Lagoon photos here, because words can't describe it as well as pictures. Imagine being in a heated, oddly opaque light blue pool, outside, surrounded by snow covered lava rocks, and you can see snowcapped mountains all around you. And the moon. And sometimes it snows and hails yet you are outside in this amazing, salty body of water. I stayed in that pool for FIVE HOURS. I am so relaxed. Plus, I got an UNDERWATER MASSAGE which was unreal.

Smokestacks from the geothermal plant. Viewed from the minibus on the way to the Blue Lagoon.

Pathway to the entrance:

The entrance:

Looking to the left:

My Riven-like Blue Lagoon experience:

And... i had icelandic lamb for dinner, which was quite tasty. I still don´t think my brain has digested the weirdness and coolness of the blue lagoon. When I got back, I emailed a bit, watched TV, and slept. I slept another 11 hours.

The view from my window at Hotel Bjork:

Day 3

I just got back from a day of walking around Reykjavik with certain goals in mind.
1. Liquor store (check -- bringing back some Viking beer!)
2. Grocery store (check - bringing back some of that de-lish-ous Malt soda stuff -- if I don´t finish it first)
3. Eat a hot dog (Icelandic hot dogs are famous and cheap. Check. They reminded me a lot of... HOT DOGS. Surprise surprise. Actually, the toppings were yummy -- all sorts of sauces and fried onions.)
4. Go to the national museum (Not done! I tried to find it but got lost)
This park was on the way there:

5. Go to the famous flea market (check! it was great! I saw all sorts of interesting characters and saw Harðfiske and Hakarl, two fishy icelandic dishes which I would NEVER try, close up)
6. Try skyr again. (check. I had some at Blue Lagoon -- the guide book said this icelandic yogurt was not to be missed. I didn´t particularly like it, so I thought I´d give another brand a try, but found it to be the same -- chalky. Ick)
7. Go to the glasses store. (check. On the plane, the stewardesses had AWESOME glasses. I looked for similar ones here in town, found them, and discovered I looked stupid in them)
8. Go to Svart Kaffi for soup (check! recommended by the tour book. It was great -- yummy soup served in bread bowls, dim cafe lit only by candles -- neat place!)

I also got some ice cream today which was quite tasty. The chalky quality which I don´t like in the yogurt works really well in the ice cream.

----

And that was it: the trip to Iceland. Looking back at the photos four months later, I was flooded with memories and the particular feeling one gets when one is in a different country. I'm so glad I went, though I expect that going there in the summer would be much nicer. When I get the opportunity to go there again, I don't want to miss the nightlife and trekking out to the wilderness to see the original geyser. And, I want to ride Icelandic horses!!!

Halloween pictures!!!

2005-11-29T00:34:00.000-04:00

Check out the pictures from our Halloween party:

Pirate's Booty!!!

Quick poll.

2005-08-01T01:54:00.000-04:00

My next trip, in October, will probably be to either Hawaii or Ireland. I'm not sure which. Any advice? Which would you choose? Or would you go somewhere else entirely? I just saw "Motorcycle Diaries" which was amazing and made me want to travel to South America, but that's going to have to wait until my trip with Sarah in 2007.

Montana, Part Two; or, how I became relaxed and happy in just seven days.

2005-07-31T17:23:00.000-04:00

(Please read part one, which is a couple posts down, if you haven't yet)

The secret, I have discovered, to relaxation and happiness can actually be accomplished at any time -- I just need to turn my cell phone off, hide my computer from myself, and get out into the natural world. However, being able to spend a week in Montana, away from work, obligations, and society in general, made the process much easier. It was impossible for me to fret about my silly life dramas when I was sleeping in a little cabin in the mountains, eating wonderful home cooked food (to the point of gluttony!) at every meal, meeting like-minded individuals, enjoying (as I like to call it) grassroots entertainment (ie, no TV or movies), and riding on horseback nearly every day through the wilderness -- with absolutely no access to a Verizon signal or a T-Mobile HotSpot. (Though I heard if you stood on this one rock by the edge of the ranch. . .)

I wrote in a previous post about getting to the Lazy K Bar ranch. Now on to Day Two! I began the day with french toast and poached eggs, and slung on my boots and my silly gardening hat (which kind of looks like a cowboy hat, but not as cool). We took a half day ride down into the valley, with Kelly and Karen as our wranglers. Now, I had taken a full summer of riding lessons in 2001, but all the knowledge I had gained during those months apparently had taken leave of my brain. The only thing I could recall was that I needed to keep my heels down, and something about leaning forward as you go up a steep path, and backward as you descend. My horse, Lobo (who perhaps was misnamed), didn't really respond to my gentle kicking and coaxing "Come on Lobo! Let's go!" Lobo was pretty set in his ways: he liked to eat. It took me a whole week to become assertive with Lobo and get his head out of the delicious grasses along the trails. Since I needed a lot more riding instruction than simple assertiveness training that day, Kelly suggested we spend that afternoon in the arena, so I wouldn't go flying off the saddle during a trot.

Kelly was a great teacher (during the year, she works in a North Dakota school district), and had me work with her horse, Glory Be, from scratch. Standing in the middle of the arena, I learned how to catch the horse's attention and keep it, sending her around the ring by keeping myself in her line of vision. (I wasn't really good at it, but it was extremely interesting). I practiced walking, jogging, trotting, and loping (at the end of the lesson in the arena, Kelly came with me into the meadow to practice full-on loping). Kelly is the daughter of Carol Van Cleve Kirby, who is one of the owners of the ranch.

Carol and Kelly:

Lobo was much harder to work with than Glory Be; but I was determined to get him to trot when I wanted him to. I think the funniest-slash-hardest thing about Lobo was right when I'd get on him in the morning -- he wouldn't move out of the way to make room for the other horses. Nope. He'd go when he was ready, which was usually when the other horses started to walk in line up the path. I'd sit there, coaxing, kicking, laughing embarassedly, trying to get him to move just a few feet. Ah Lobo, when I return to Montana next year, you'd better believe I'm gonna be able to make you move! Seriously though, I loved Lobo. He was a sweet (yet stubborn, kind of like me) horse who had been rescued from a rodeo (I think?) and thus was a pacer, which meant that he liked to do a pace instead of a lope. (I did get him to lope by the end of the week, though!) His nose was so soft, and he was a beautiful, shimmery chestnut color with a black mane. I hope he liked me too.

Dinner on day two was roast beef, potatoes, salad, and chocolate cake. Dinner is served family style in the lodge, and thankfully all my fellow ranch visitors were truly friendly and welcoming when I would join them to eat. Besides Denis and Dahlia, there were two lovely sisters from Maine:

And here's Denis with Leon and David, two Tennesseans with the greatest accents ever:

There was also a family from New Jersey (the Moles), a bunch of other Tennesseans who were traveling with Leon and David, a wonderful family from Atlanta (the Yates), a mother/daughter/friend trio from Michigan -- all at the ranch to do some serious riding and relaxing. Many had been to the Lazy K before -- the Yates' dad had come with his family as did Mr. Mole.

Day Three: An All Day Ride To Twin Lakes!! Riding all day up a mountain is hard work, and when I returned, I was pretty darn sore. I don't think I'd ever used my whole body that actively, even while rock climbing or weightlifting. Even my green chile omelet and homemade toast didn't prepare me for the muscle-usage onslaught. But SO WORTH IT!!

Here's one of my better photos:

And, first in a series of horse portraits, may I present: LOBO.

When we returned to the ranch, it was dinner time; I sat with the Kirbys and the sisters from Maine and had multiple servings of chicken casserole, tomato salad, bisuits, and green beans. And as the Klepacs said in their comment on the last post, I gave a little post dinner flute recital for the guests, which was a lot of fun, and I thought to myself, I wonder if these mountains have heard Bach before? I know, it's very hippy, but I truly love playing in the midst of open nature (I have an excellent picture of myself in the African bush playing something, probably Mozart, who knows). It's as if you're playing for the sky. (I'm really not furthering a portrait of myself as a tough, yet classy, chick who could kick your butt, am I? Oh well.)

I sat up with the Klepacs and Carol and John Kirby until about 9pm, and as I returned to my cabin, it was still light. I read a book on my porch with a bottle of Blue Moon.

Day 4 Began With French Toast And Two Over Hard Eggs.

I went on a morning ride with Denis and Dahlia, led by Lena, and we practiced trotting and loping in some meadows (this is when I got Lobo to fall into a lope).

Me, Denis and Dahlia:

Then, we went to the brood mare pasture. I don't even know how to begin describing this experience -- I don't think I fully comprehended how awesome it was until after it was over. A two hour car ride away, this is where the mares have their foals. I saw colts that were only a couple of weeks old. We would sit or kneel and they would meander up to us, sniffing, exploring, curious.

This little one was so my favorite:

Here he is with his mom, nursing:

The Mole kids (keep in mind the Mole actually has an accent on it and is pronounced "Molay" - I just realized that without the accent it looked kind of funny) and another little one:

How amazing is this???

Regal, noble creatures:

And, topping it off, a beautiful vista on the way to the pasture:

We also stopped for some KICKIN' milkshakes and burgers at a little place on the side of the road. By the way, this is Molly:

Molly is one smart little Montana cookie who knows how to work the crowd. She actually took some of the photos that appear later in this entry; I tried to take a picture of her with the colts, but all parties were too elusive. That would have definitely been a prize-winning cute photo. I did, however, get this shot:

That's getting printed out.

After a couple hours with the horses, we left to go back to the ranch, eat AMAZING RANCH STEAK and have a square dance!! And here, I must say, I realized that all my ballroom dancing knowledge had departed with the horseback riding know-how. I hope they had a nice honeymoon somewhere and had some dancing bareback babies or something. Because I got nothin' from them. I look graceful here dancing with wrangler Chris, but it's a big lie:

Much better dancers, Tack and Carol, demonstrating a polka:

Next time, I shall burn up the dance floor. Next time.

Sunday morning is a horse vacation day at the Lazy K, so Day 5 started with a campfire breakfast cooked by Kelly and Chris! Truly truly yummy. I had four eggs. I also was pretty tired from the revelry of the day previous, as you can see in this photo taken by Molly:

Here's Molly's Dad, a true cowboy:

I was reading some Camus as I ate my breakfast, and Molly wanted some attention, so I had her read it out loud. I helped with the longer words, like "Nietzsche". It was a little surreal to hear a five year old reading Camus' analysis of the purpose of life.

Anyway, then I relaxed. I slept for a couple hours, read the entire "Kite Runner" (good book, by the way), sat in the hot tub, and practiced. The only bummer was that I slept through a fried chicken lunch. Arghhh! Good thing I had stuffed myself at breakfast. Dinner was a buffet of ham, turkey, chick pea/bean salad, raw veggies, and chocolate cake. I made a marvelous discovery that if you mix the cream with the milk (all ranch produced), the milk becomes even more awesome.

"Dear readers, we produced that delicious cream!"

After dinner, there was a talent show at the lodge! I'm seriously into this grassroots entertainment thing. It was great. I got excellent videos of Tack and Dahlia singing, and staff and guests all put on a great show. I played for everyone, but then felt like I was cheating, so I sang something I wrote for voice and guitar. After the show, Carol played the piano and Dahlia, Dorothy (of the Atlanta Yates), Mary (the cook) and I all sang country western hits! In harmony! Good thing I could sight read, because I had never heard of most of the songs.

The fireplace at the lodge:

The pool table (that's Tyler and Eric, two staff members):

Day 6:
Breakfast: two over hard eggs, french toast, peach juice. I went on a short all day ride to the reservoir, but my group got a little lost, so we had lunch in a grove of pine trees, which was quite lovely. Some of the horses wandered away while we ate, led by -- who else -- Lobo, probably in search of ever-more-tasty grasses. I took a number of horse portraits at lunch. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce:

The Lovely NOUGAT

The Charming JUNE BUG:

The Dapper FRITZ:

I tried to capture some of the spectacular views of the meadows and mountains on the ride back to the ranch, but my camera did not do the land justice. Perhaps it's better that the memory is firmly implanted in my mind, so I won't end up using a photo as a crutch. Here's Lena, leading us back home:

And here's me and Lobo, crossing the creek! Thanks to Denis for taking this photo.

When we returned, I had a couple beers with the Klepacs on their porch, and we chatted with some new arrivals at the ranch. It was hard to believe that familiar faces had departed -- and I, too, would be leaving the following day. I tried not to think about it. At dinner, I sat with the Klepacs and the Yates and had stuffed chiles, green beans and salad, and entertained Quill Yates (such a Faulkner name!!) with tales of Jeri, the crazy cat woman of Waban (and my absentee landlord). I sat on the porch following dinner and wrote about my time at the ranch, which was almost up.

Departing from tradition on Day 7, I had eggs, bacon and the homemade toast. One more ride to go, and it was to the falls, led by Carol and Kelly. Words and pictures can't describe how pretty the waterfall and the area surrounding it was, but I'll try.

Here are the falls. Apparently kayaks try to go down this. I'd like to see that.

Looking down, over the edge:

See the rainbow in the mist?

Ridiculously happy:

Ridiculously sad. I was trying to take in the scenery for posterity when Rick, one of the recently arrived guests, said, "You need to have a picture of you looking wistful." So he took this.

On the ride back down, I cried. Truly, I did. Carol, riding behind me, said, "Whenever you're feeling stressed out, just picture the ranch and this land, and go there in your head," and tears welled up as I thought of how wonderful the week had been, how relaxed I was, and how I needed more of all this in my life. And it frustrates me that I can put you all inside my head to experience what I did. Any sort of media, I've realized, can't capture true experience. Pictures, video, whatever -- none of them work. It's all about touching the trees and the animals and breathing the air and talking to the people.

And so, after I ate lunch and sat in the hot tub, I packed, practiced, and got into the truck with John. I said a quick goodbye to Denis and Dahlia because I thought I might cry again. We set out on the long road to Bozeman:

We made a quick stop in Livingston to check out the model railroad, which was very detailed, extensive, and cool, and John introduced me to a fantastic songrwriter named John Prine. And then. . . on the airplane, another crazy flight path back through Salt Lake and Cincinnati, Logan, Blue-Green-Red Lines, Magazine Street, Upton. . . number 10. . . I love Cambridge but I can't wait to go back to Montana. I can't wait to start traveling again in the fall. Our world is very big and I can't just read about it in books.

oops.

2005-07-27T09:26:00.000-04:00

Have to leave for Tanglewood today and haven't put up the rest of my pictures.... but will, as soon as I get back --

we interrupt this program...

2005-07-25T22:46:00.000-04:00

to let you know there's a new movie review on Mike D's site.

My trip to Montana: The Beginning.

2005-07-23T01:09:00.000-04:00

Right now it's one in the morning, so I'm just going to write a little bit, and continue tomorrow. Without question, going to Montana was one of the greatest things I have ever done. Before I left, I thought to myself, "Am I totally crazy?" The answer, of course, is yes; however, I think it's in a good way, and the craziness definitely has awesome results.

I left on Tuesday afternoon, July 12, and took a very long flight path to Bozeman, MT, through Reagan and Salt Lake. Delta is a bit stingy with its frequent flyer rewards these days. With 25,000 miles, you are no longer allowed to pick nearly whatever flight you want -- you have to have 50,000 miles to do that. So I was stuck with three hour layovers and a tour of the country. No matter!! I was going to MONTANA! (and plus, during one of my layovers, I had a taco from a place called Maui Taco which was the most ingenious creation ever: it was a taco WITH STEAK FRIES IN IT. It's true. It was so incredibly awesome that I had to write a little poem about it. And ode, one might say. An Ode to Maui Taco. Here it is:
O brave Maui Chefs
Putting steak fries in your tacos
Such genius is rare.)

I arrived in Bozeman at 11:30 PM Mountain Time, and checked into the Belgrade Super 8. The Super 8 is indeed pretty darn super, by the way! Free breakfast and internet! Nice employees! Very clean room!

My first glimpse of the mountains of Montana was the following morning outside of the Super 8:

I also had a lot of glimpses of a tire company, the "Pony Express" espresso joint, and a highway. The sun was blazingly hot and I worried about the temperature at the ranch. I consoled myself with thoughts of my boots, my wonderful wonderful boots:

Made for walkin'!!

Tack Van Cleve, one of the members of the Lazy K Bar's founding family, picked me up from the Super 8. We then swung by the Bozeman Airport to pick up Denis and Dahlia Klepac , two of the nicest people ever (more on the Klepacs soon!). The Klepacs had been coming to the ranch every summer for about five years; they had actually met at a ranch in Wyoming. The ride alongside the railway was beautiful - meadows and mountains interspersed with small communities; I commented upon our family legend that my great great grandfather on my father's side was killed for his paycheck while working on the Montana railroad. The rest of the family never made it out west to avenge his death, but perhaps the time was now ripe...

We stopped in Livingston to pick up beer, and then made it to the Lazy K! I had nothing to fear about the temperature -- the ranch was about 40 minutes from downtown Big Timber, up in the mountains. The weather was spectacular - low 80s for most days, and even down to the 50s at night!

I stayed in a little cabin called Moonshine. After eating ranch burgers at the campsite (three! mountain air does it for me), quietly getting to know some of the other ranch guests, and feeling the cool rain greet us as we sat around a campfire, I retired to Moonshine to observe the rain from my deck:

And later, the moon came out:

Here's another view of my cabin, from down the hill a bit. The fast white cat is the property of a wrangler named Lena.

I slept well, and awoke at 6:30 the following morning. I did sit ups and push ups and some yoga, and was early for the 7:30 breakfast. And what an amazing breakfast! You can get pretty much anything you want. For me, that meant french toast on most days, with coffee and cream and sometimes fruit and ALWAYS eggs.

More to follow, with photos of the gorgeous land and mountains and the magnificent horses. Now: to bed.

Hott.

2005-07-12T09:29:00.000-04:00

Why is it going to be 100 degrees in Big Timber, MT, tomorrow?

I'm off today to begin my little adventure. I won't have phone or internet for a week, so I'll update with photos when I get back. Rest assured, I will be at my cowgirl best out there.

Miriam's convinced I won't come back.

IN THE BEDROOM. A post for Sarah.

2005-07-11T20:40:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons that I haven't been able to get anything done lately, much less post on a blog or write movie reviews, is the Two Week Long Painting Extravaganza With Sarah, My Friend And Savior. Why friend? Because she's awesome. Why savior? Because she knew everything about painting a bedroom, and I didn't. Sarah spent her week vacation in Boston PAINTING MY BEDROOM WITH ME. How awesome is that? I'll answer that for you: PRETTY FREAKING DARN AWESOME.

Here's some other things we did during that week:
- We mailed a piece of crockery
- We ate and drank fine things at Central Kitchen
- We WENT SHOPPING
- We ran. Once.
- We watched City of Angels and did face masks.

But! The piece de resistance? The BEDROOM!!! Here are some photos of the room in all its purple glory, furniture now placed back inside. (I'd just like to note that I love my bed and my hamper. The bed is grand, and I could lie all day in its comfortableness, and what's better than a plastic hamper with green hula girls all over it? Nothing, I tell you.)

Tell me you do not covet the hula girls!!

These doors will one day have completed trim. Hopefully before September. . . but at the rate I get to things. . .

Ah, my beloved bed, swathed in lilac hues. And look at the gorgeous curtains my Mom made me!

Normally, this isn't such a disasterous mess. But I wanted to show off the purple column.

Thanks to Sarah, I now live in a purple paradise. Hope you enjoy the photos, dear Ms. T.!!

Trips.

2005-06-21T08:31:00.000-04:00

I would like to:

- Take an Alaskan cruise
- Go to Argentina for a couple weeks of dancing and exploring.

Late Night Rambling.

2005-06-16T23:09:00.000-04:00

Sarah is here visiting from Sweden, and she's started a fabulous new blog: Dilettante Confessions. Obviously, she updates her blog a lot more than I do; I'm hoping that she'll inspire me to write here more regularly, and also actually write some movie reviews for Mike D. Here are some movies that I've seen recently that, eventually, I'd like to review:
Kill Bill 1 and 2
The Man Who Cried
Donnie Darko
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Crush (awww yeah, Alicia Silverstone circa 1993)
Mad Love (awww yeah, Drew Barrymore circa 1996)

Briefly, both Kill Bills were brilliant, and I couldn't believe I hadn't seen them before. The Man Who Cried: great music, unfortunate camera work and editing; Donnie Darko: one of the best cult sci-fi dreamy movies ever, AND it's set in the 80s, AND it stars Jake Gyllenhott; Star Wars -- surprisingly good!; H2G2 -- surprisingly good. The books are far better, but hey, that guy from "The Office" is in it. The Crush surpressed Cary Elwes' fabulous accent but caught Miss Alicia looking especially pouty, and Mad Love was probably one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. I think the lovely Drew may have been involved with some illegal substances at that time. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I saw Pretty In Pink fairly recently (I hadn't seen that before, either!) and I just thought it was great. I have this thing for late 80s and early 90s nostalgia, or shows on the WB that feature teen angst. It's ironic; when I was attending it, I hated high school. But now? It seems like a wonderful, magical time when nothing could go wrong and your dreams and desires were always right around the corner...

Combine high school angst with sci fi, and you've got a show made in heaven. Yes, Roswell. I want my hair to look like Liz Parker's.

I need some new books to read. I have a rather large library, and I had thought that at one point I'd forget reading all those books, but I recently pulled out Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut) and once I began reading, I realized I remembered every word. And I read it about seven years ago.

Also, I'd like to experience some different poets. I'm enamored of Neruda, Barrett Browning, e.e. cummings, Rumi, and Bukowski, but I'd like to find some new poets to experience. Maybe Plath? I read a poem of hers once about death and it stunned me.

I have a list of 100 things I'd like to do before I die. I keep adding to it; I'm barely up to ten things right now. Right now, the list is:
1. Go horseback riding in Montana
2. Learn how to play the renaissance flute
3. Learn how to play the irish flute/irish music
4. See all of Shakespeare's plays live (so far, I've seen King Lear, Midsummer Night's Dream, A Winter's Tale, Macbeth, and Much Ado About Nothing)
5. Do a front walkover (Tree said I have to get better at backbends first)
6. Read all the major philosophy works. Ever.

Also, I'm learning all about roses right now. And Sarah and I are painting my room tomorrow. And I've been cooking like a fiend this week -- tacos on Monday, Vegemite stir fries on Tuesday for Douggie's birthday.

Upcoming Field Trips!
Saturday: the Upton Lounge Goes Rock Climbing
July: Alicia Goes Horseback Riding in Montana

Women Who Kick It.

2005-05-26T23:58:00.000-04:00

Zoe Bell is my new hero. I just saw "Double Dare" and it makes me want to climb rocks, jump off, kick a few bad guys in the face, and then do a flip. Movie review coming soon to Mike D's site.

The Best Wine I Have Ever Had.

2005-05-26T23:51:00.000-04:00

SERIOUSLY.
2003 Chiroubles
Cru du Beaujolais
Metrat Bernard

Thank you, Central Kitchen, for being you. Oh and rain, please go away. For now.

More Good Wine

2005-05-04T13:04:00.000-04:00

Douggie bought this one -- WOW.

d'Arenberg, McLaren Vale, 2002, The Footbolt. Shiraz.

And I bring to you New Englanders: Peanut Butter Pie.

2005-04-15T17:24:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm finally getting down to writing about my field trip to New Franklin, MO. I stayed with Slim Trim Uncle Jim for three nights. I arrived all wound up from the Easter holiday and left a very relaxed woman, filled with peanut butter pie, 80 degree weather, and fun times with my Midwest family!!

I flew to St. Louis via New York on Monday, March 28. From STL, I took a two hour shuttle trip to Columbia, and then drove with Jim about 45 minutes to New Franklin - gives you an idea about how far away from a major city we were! New Franklin has a population of about 1000; my cousin Rachel's graduating class was about 35 people. It only took me 45 minutes to traverse every street in town -- the main drag had a post office, a senior center, a meat smoking facility, a band, and a gas station/general store. Jim and Terre's gorgeous country home:

Jim was kind enough to cook me a monumentally awesome dinner consisting of Pork Diane, asparagus, and yummy yummy new potatoes. We drank of wine as we drank in the summery scenery from the porch, and later, we watched an Elvis video whilst enjoying Muscat, a sweet dessert wine which Nancy introduced to me at the cheese and chocolate party.

Elvis rules!

On Tuesday, we took a trip to the retreat, a small home on about 60 acres of land, where Jim and Terre go to get away from it all (for me, New Franklin was already lightyears from Cambridge, but once at the retreat I understood the draw!).

Complete with pond!

Jim surveys his land from the John Deere Gator:

We drove all over the property, and Jim gave me a chance to drive the Gator. We also walked around the creek a bit -- totally beautiful and serene:

Eating cashews, drinking wine, and knitting, I found bliss on the porch. I also found a very odd facial expression.

Apparently, funny faces run in the family: here's me and my cousin Ethan later that night at Emmet's, a yummy cajun restaurant in Columbia:

Yeah, we're two twenty-something adults, one of whom is married. I'll give you a clue: it's not me. And here's Dylan, my cousin Rachel's son, following in the time-honored family tradition!

Not to be outdone, Rachel strangles her son:

That's Lou, Rachel's husband, with us. Emmet's was lots of fun (ribs! onion rings! jambalaya!) and it was wonderful to hang out with part of the family I rarely see. Visit Ethan's website to check out his band, Three Headed Moses. I'm not the only musician in the family! And Ethan probably rocks harder. Oh well. Therein lies the difference between electric guitar and flute. I try, though. I play Stockhausen and stuff.

Yay for Jim and Ethan! And me! At Emmet's!

The next night, Jim and I went to a SUPER AWESOME wine bistro and restaurant called Les Bourgeois
on the Missouri river. Believe it or not, Missouri produces a lot of wine. Jim also told me that MO produces a lot of pot and meth, but we won't get into that right now.

Man, was that food good! Almost as good as the Pork Diane! We started off with an unbelievably delicious gorgonzola cheese cake, served with garlic toast and pesto. I had a smoked chicken for dinner, and Jim had salmon with risotto. And then for desert... peanut butter pie. I had never had any before! And now, I'm an addict. I found a ton of recipes online and tried one earlier this week. Very yummy... but not as good as what I had in Missouri. I'll keep trying.

Many thanks to Uncle Jim for having me out. Missouri = very relaxing. Very. I'm back to the daily grind now, but I can think back to sitting on the New Franklin porch, listening to the birds and feeling the warm breezes, and I instantly feel calmer.

M83 and ULRICH SCHNAUSS

2005-04-14T16:31:00.000-04:00

So awesome.
http://www.ulrich-schnauss.com/
http://www.ilovem83.com/

I know they're not direct links but I'm too lazy to write html right now. I didn't realize that Tuesday night was their first show in the US! Such a fun night -- chill music, got way danceable -- WHAT IS WRONG WITH BOSTON AUDIENCES, buy the way? No dancing? It's as if no one truly appreciated the music....

Addendum...

2005-04-04T18:04:00.000-04:00

I just found a couple more pamphlets -- the Neal 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon was very nice. I also had a yummy white from Greenvale Vineyards, another winery that's close by -- located in Portsmouth, RI.

Excitement From The Past: The Spinazzola Foundation Gala

2005-04-04T17:41:00.000-04:00

Way back in January, I was lucky enough to play at the Spinazzola gala at (I think) the Seaport Hotel in Boston. (It's been a couple months and I can't remember if that's exactly where it was, but the exact location is not that important.) It was awesome: after we played, we got to sample food and wine from hundreds of different Boston and area restaurants and wineries. People plunked $250 to do this! And we got to eat for free! And in fact -- got paid for playing! Ah, the perks of being a musician. (FYI - all the money raised by this gala went to the Spinazzola Foundation)

Anyway, I just wanted to talk about a few wines that I tasted at the gala before I write about my trip to Missouri. I grabbed some pamphlets from each winery with the intent to discuss the wines with the Blue Room girls, but that never came to pass. In fact, we haven't been to see a movie and get wine in a while! What, what I ask, has happened???

I was truly impressed by the wine from Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery. Nancy verified that it's true, this place is great!! I also enjoyed a champagne by Besserat de Bellefon called Cuvee des Moines. It was rated 89 by Wine Spectator, and described as "very vinous...shows apple and citrus flavors on a firm frame. Rich midpalate and crisp, with an airy texture and a lengthy finish." I can't really vouch for all those adjectives, but it was good; however, I will say that the free pink champagne that one time at the Blue Room definitely was better.

Here's one for the Not Alicia's Favorite List: Bernadus 2000 Marinus, Carmel Valley Red Wine. Just wasn't great. I also tried some wines from the Nashoba Valley Winery which were OK, but paled in comparison with the Westport wine. I think a field trip to Westport is in order!!

Day off is proceeding well.

2005-03-23T15:24:00.000-04:00

New movie review should be up shortly on Mike D's site!

Graceland Field Trip

2005-03-23T14:14:00.000-04:00

It was Saturday morning, and I woke up early, kind of refreshed, but not totally. The evening before had been blurred by post competition martinis and delightfully spicy scallops (with chow foon noodles!) at Memphis' P.F. Chang's, and I had fallen asleep late, hampered by a king sized bed in my Doubletree room. I have a really difficult time with king sized beds. They're just too big.

I began my day with a decidedly unhealthy breakfast:

and made it to Graceland by 10 AM. There weren't too many lines at this point; I tried to play up my random P.F. Chang's connection at the ticket window (I had met the director of Graceland by coincidence at the bar the previous evening!! And she gave me her card!) but no dice, I had to pay the full $27 to see everything. I had no idea what to expect, least of all intriguing decorating. Elvis had an eye!!! Or maybe I'm just into tacky seventies interiors.

My favorite room (the picture doesn't give justice to the navy/yellow contrast and doesn't show the bright yellow bar):

My second favorite, the fabric lined pool room:

Here's the first room you see upon entering:

The couch to the right is fifteen feet long. It was pretty amazing to see Elvis' piano. One of the things I learned at Graceland was that Elvis never wrote any of his music, but he produced everything. He chose every song he performed -- and I guess he was just a master of knowing the public's predilections.

The kitchen was pretty modest:

Hard to believe this is where meals for the entire estate were cooked. I was actually surprised at the small size of the mansion in general. I mean, I couldn't even afford to buy a room of it, but I had expected something more in the line of the Breakers or something.

Here's the dining room:

The upstairs was closed to the public. The audio guide explained that since it was Elvis' private space during his life, they kept it that way since his death. BUT there was a bed covered in white fur that he onced used which was on display:

Wow. Those are some of his costumes on the bed. A little wacky, this Elvis. Amazing that in the 50s he got away with gold lame suits. And that sequined capes lent to his appeal in the seventies. I have to say, though, that when I saw some videotapes of his TV performances in the 50s and 60s I realized why he had been such a huge phenomenon. Not only was he HOT in his youth, there was something about him that jumped from the screen at you. Perhaps other performers in the past were as charismatic and spiritual, but this was the first time TV was available to link someone to every living room in the country. His energy just hit me! It was pretty amazing. I spoke to a friend of mine who had lived in Memphis for a couple years, performing with the Memphis Symphony, and she said that she had become an Elvis fan while she lived there for exactly the same reasons. Elvis was a sublime performer, and being a performer myself, I truly admire what he was able to do. Of course, he took the fame and wealth in a sad direction, though Graceland didn't go too much into it. Here's the room where Elvis entertained friends the day he died:

Here's the famous jungle room. Ceilings and walls covered with green shag. Rock.

Lisa Marie's favorite chair is the one with the bear on it.

I also saw Elvis' car collection. Wow. Dad called it a "cadillac salad bar" which pretty much describes it. And, I saw his private jet. Elvis had a LOT of money. He was charitable, though, and gave a lot of money to local organizations; he also took very good care of his parents and grandmother. I did some research and discovered that he wasn't so great to Priscilla, his wife, however. Affairs and such. And of course his addiction to painkillers didn't help the marriage.

Rest in peace, Elvis:

Bye, Graceland:

Then I decided to drive to Arkansas. Hello, Arkansas:

Since the really was nothing in West Memphis, Arkansas, I left soon after and went back to Tennesse, got lost on my way to the Gibson factory, got cranky and hungry, tried to go to a nice steakhouse for some lunch, found it was closed, got very cranky, ate some pretty good tacos, went to the recital of Matej Grahek, played in a concert, came back to hotel and finally had some steak, fell hard asleep, then went back to Boston.

Goodbye, Volunteer State!
Next field trip: Missouri and the Ozarks, March 28 - 31, 2005.

Back from the South.

2005-03-23T08:43:00.001-04:00

So, I'm back from my trip to Memphis and the side excursion to Graceland. The whole trip was a big success, especially the Elvis part. I'm taking a few days off from work right now, and that hasn't been very successful at ALL -- I keep trying to get stuff done! Granted, there are a lot of little things that I need to finish up, and it would be great for me to get them off of my list of things to do, but it's been very hard for me to sit down and watch a movie or take a walk. So, I'm going to make myself relax at Starbucks this morning, blog about Graceland and write some movie reviews while there. Here's a picture of the wild excitement at Graceland to tempt you to return to this site later today:

Warning: I may not post about Wittgenstein. Or actually, maybe I'll post about him now. Since my goal is to learn a few things about him, I'll limit myself to writing yea but a few things. And then I'm going to research Tennessee Williams.

So here's a few things about Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951):
Like me, he lived in a town called Cambridge, though his was in England. Unlike me, he studied mathematics and philosophy in Cambridge, and then entered the Austrian army during WWI. Also unlike me, he was the heir to much wealth. He gave it all away post war and wrote a bunch of long, heavy philosophical treatises which weren't published until his death.
Here's what he wrote:

Notebooks, 1914-1916
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Blue and Brown Books
Philosophical Investigations
On Certainty
Remarks on Colour

He also wrote "Remarks on the Foundation on Mathematics," but that didn't have a nice icon on Amazon, so I linked "Remarks on Colour" instead.

Last summer, I attempted to read "Philosophical Investigations" and didn't get too far. It piqued my interest in that it was about language (and I'm fascinated by the roots of language), but I found that Wittgenstein was very picky about any thought one might have about language or even any thought that uses language. As far as I can tell, LW was obsessed with the idea that we will always misunderstand one another since language cannot truly represent our feelings and thoughts. Language is a sort of intermediary between me, and say, David Bowie. David can't ever see exactly what's going on in my head while I listen to "Fame."

Anyway, that's about all I have on Wittgenstein. I can't bring myself to read the whole "Philosophical Investigations" right now and then comment upon it, but I found this little internet investigation regarding LW to be interesting. Most interesting were actually the Amazon reader comments. There are some smart people out there, folks!!!

Flight Baristas and Wittgenstein

2005-03-16T14:24:00.000-04:00

Tree thought "Flight Barista" might be a cool new term for flight attendents. Imagine if there were actually chic coffee shop beverages available during flights? Maybe that will be the next step for swank-in-the-air JetBlue and Song. The last time I flew Song (2,000 of my 60,000+ miles on Delta, for which I received 0 (zero) party invitations), they were mixing martinis in the aisles and you could put together a personal mp3 list at your seat with some pretty cool music, including hipster indie rock. I've never flown JetBlue, but it seems from the website that they're big on leather seats and Direct TV. No martinis. If JetBlue made the coffee bar in the sky happen, I would never have to worry about finding a Starbucks in the airport anymore. Not like it's hard to find one or anything, it's just that sometimes I'm extremely late for flights and I can't stop for a mocha!! Gosh darn modern living!!

Philosopher of the Week: Wittgenstein! After the crazy Wittgenstein phone incident, and Nancy's intrepid internet search sans correct spelling, I've decided to write a little about the philosopher. First, here are some Wittgenstein googlisms (www.googlism.com):

wittgenstein is the result of modern capitalism
wittgenstein is important today
wittgenstein is not pruning or removing parasites
wittgenstein is the ideal location for the horse

And there you have it. And when pitted against Kant, Sartre and Camus in Googlefight (www.googlefight.com), poor Wittgenstein lost each time. So who is this philosopher, anyway? Well, since I'm going to Memphis now, I'll have to write more about him later. Sorry. So yeah, the next entry will be "Graceland and Wittgenstein." Yup. With photos and everything!

Also, check out Polly Paulusma (free track on iTunes this week). I like it!! Kind of a cross between PJ and Alanis.

2005-03-15T22:09:00.000-04:00

Hey, I kind of like this new template.

Alriiiight!

2005-03-15T21:59:00.000-04:00

Cool, so Mike fixed most of the photos for me, I finally got the last one to work, and the blogging begins. In other news: I'm tired.

Arrrrgh

2005-03-15T02:38:00.000-04:00

I can't figure out how to make the picutes smaller!!! Also, I'm pretty sure I don't like this template.

Terminal A

2005-03-15T01:30:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, Mike K. got an email containing an invitation to a soiree thrown by the Atlantic Monthly and Delta Airlines. Here's the invite:

THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
PRESENTS
“BOSTON BANTER”

The Atlantic Monthly and Delta Airlines
invite you and a guest to join fellow Bostonians for
a night of “Boston Banter,”
a private reception to toast
the opening of the new
Delta Terminal A
at Logan Airport

Monday, March 14, 2005
7-9 p.m.
Terminal A
Logan Airport

COCKTAIL ATTIRE
CURBSIDE VALET PARKING AT ARRIVAL LEVEL

Needless to day, I was pretty excited at the prospect of cocktail attire. And the whole idea of attending a party in Terminal A was, although bizarre, very interesting. So this evening, we got all dressed up and headed on over to Logan Airport!!

When we got there, we first drove to departures, probably not having read all the way to the bottom of the invitation. But. . . you know. . . the new terminal is "taking off," right? Well, apparently not. Apparently it's "arriving." Anyway, it was all very fancy when we got to the Arrival level; many valets were there, and a coat check. No one asked us our names, however, so ANY OF YOU COULD HAVE GONE. That's right. Anyone could have crashed the Terminal A party!

We headed up the escalator to the Check-in area, where we were handed little programs and booklets entitled "Boston Banter", which was a collection of writing about Boston from old issues of the Atlantic Monthly. We had arrived a little late, so we manuevered our way through the crowd of people who were definitely older than us and definitely owned homes (probably in Beacon Hill) and reached a small buffet table. (By the way, at this point we still had no idea why Mike was invited to the party.) The food was very good -- pork tenderloin, brown bread, a salad with cranberries and other delights -- but there was nowhere to sit since we had arrived late, so we sat on an air vent by the giant plate glass windows. We swiped some duck tenderloin from a server on our way to sit down. Mmmm. Duck tenderloin.

The publisher of the A.M. had started speaking at this point, only to be interrupted by a blaring security annoucement. "Attention!!! This is a security announcement!! Please keep all your belongings close to you!" That made the whole Cocktail-Party-in-An-Airport-Terminal scenario come alive, although funnier was the later announcement: "Attention! This is a non smoking area!!!" Anyway, the publisher probably sensed that no one really knew why they had been invited to an airport for free food and drink, so she revealed the secret behind the random Bostonian invitations: turns out that Mike was invited because he subscribes to the Atlanic Monthly. That's it. I guess it doesn't matter that I've racked up at least 60,000 miles on Delta -- I needed to subscribe to a magazine!

We unfortunately missed the drawing for free flights and hotel rooms, but we did get some free items (besides the food) - a cookbook on the wonders of slow food, and some big book on some historical figure (can you tell I didn't bother to pick that one up?). We also met the one other couple under the age of thirty, Emily and Andrew:

Here's the crazy part - after chatting for a bit, we discovered that Andrew works Saturday nights at Tsunami (finest sushi in town, by the way). I realized at that point that he had totally been our waiter back in November! And a fine waiter at that, recommending the yummy Alaskan Salmon. Oh, Alaskan Salmon, how I love thee!! Anyway, small world. Very small world. And I guess Emily randomly knew the drummer in the jazz trio, so all these odd connections were present.

Before we left, I channeled my inner flight attendant:

Mike: I'd like a ticket to Madagascar.
Me: I'm not sure if we fly there, but I'll check.

All in all, it was a really fun time, which was cool since we had no idea what to expect. We left with pork in our bellies, free books, and the knowledge that we partied in an airline terminal. Rock!!