Camp, 2010.

Hi hi hi! I have been busy. First of all, if you care to read me blather on about fitness stuff and/or cycling, I am now blogging at Bodies in Motivation. You can find me here.  If you don't give a shit, that's fine too. (There is a reason I don't post about that stuff much on this blog, don't you know.)

So, I am straight up horrified that summer is nearly over. Straight. Up. Horrified. The students come back next week and oh my God soon I won't be able to find a quiet corner anywhere. I knew it was coming, just not so soon.

So, I haven't told you about Camp this year and it happened weeks ago! Camp was at Marianne's beautiful new house and instead of getting all crazy on the boat we got all crazy on Dollywood.

First stop was Ye Olde Timey Photo Shoppe where we unanimously chose "wild west bar whores." It was a crazy success:

The rest of Dollywood was all about fried food and roller coasters and blazing heat. I think I'm officially Done with roller coasters. I might actually be too old. We rode a wooden coaster that was supposed to be about fun but was actually all about pain and suffering:

I talked Marianne into riding it and immediately regretted it. This regret can best be shown in this photo:

That's me in the back, horrified. Next to me is Marianne, horrified. Shelley and Emily seem to be fine? I have no idea why. We ate fried things:

We gawked at people and rode the shittiest train ride ever. Perhaps a warning about the eye-searing cinders could be made BEFORE we board the train?

It was ridiculous and fun. An experience.

We went to Marianne's grandmother's house and swam in her pool, which was very different than the lake in that it was clean and stuff:

...as long as you didn't mind the snarling, diving Jack Russell:

Deary is not a good boy. Marianne's grandmother, though, was lovely and her house is incredible.

Mostly we just hung out and ate and played games and talked. It was a really good time as always and now I miss everyone terribly. It's generally the highlight of my summer and this year was no exception.

I miss you guys.

Friday! Stuff!!!1

You're bored, right? For you, I provide entertainment. You're welcome.

Tift Merritt. I know I've talked about her before but I cannot say enough good things about her new album,  See You on the Moon. I bought it back in June, a week or so before we saw her live in Ashland. It was an amazing show, as always. While I think she should be SUPER FAMOUS by now, I do love that I get to see her in really small venues. It's what she does best. Now, this album. It's the kind of thing you listen to a few times and think, "Well, that's nice." Then a few more listens and suddenly you are living and breathing these songs, you hear them in your head, you can't stop thinking about certain lyrics, you just can't get enough. At least, that's been my experience. It's absolutely worth buying, so please do!

Hyperbole and a Half. Why am I just discovering this blog? If you want to know what my average day is like (in my head), read this. And this. Also this. Oh, if you're at work, grab a sock or something to stuff in your mouth to muffle the laughter. If you forget that part and get fired, not my fault.

Pamie is one of my favorite people on the Internet, for serious. If you want to be truly entertained, please go read her account of a day spent at a Korean spa.  I read it three times because I just COULD NOT WRAP MY HEAD AROUND IT. Of course, I really want to go to there even though I know it would be awkward and humiliating. Sadly, it's in LA, so instead I settled for ordering one of those crazy scrubber mitts (weirdly called an "Italy Towel") off the eBay. I WANT TO BE SOFT LIKE WHIPPED CREAM.

Tomatoes. You know it's summer when you find a tomato rolling around in the back of your car and think, "Oh! That's where that went." I got the first tomatoes of the season this week from my CSA and oh my sweet baby Jesus. I could just eat tomatoes and nothing else until September. Go get you some. If you're making a face it's probably because you've never had a good one. There are tomatoes and there are TOMATOES. Find the latter kind.

Have a good weekend!

I'm Slack

Did I really only have one post in June? That is just slack. Slack slack slack. I've started this entry three times, by the way. But in my own defense, not much is going on right now and I kind of like it. It's been super hot which seems to be a topic everyone likes to yammer on about, but I'm from the school of "It's JULY and We Live In The South, Assholes." I mean, people, remember this? It SUCKED. Give me hot any day. I'll even take the 103 degree days because how hardcore is that? That is what I'm talking about (until the Virginia Power bill arrives.)

And like my sister, I'm a little freaked out by how fast the summer seems to be flying by. It's already July! It seems like things just got going. I have to treasure these empty-campus days. They are precious.

Last weekend was 4th of July and it was very relaxing. We spent the weekend hanging out, eating, biking, the usual. We spent the evening of the 4th at Kate's folks house, where we played in the pool, drank watermelon margaritas and listened to Jean Shepherd's story about Ludlow Kissel and the Dago Bomb. All good.

I have a lull now, but in exactly two weeks I'll be on my way to Knoxville for CAMP!!1 Now, Camp (read about it here and here if you're new)  is going to be a little different this year because the lake cabin has been sold (...pause for a moment of silence...) but our fearless Camp Leader is allowing us to stay at her house, seeming to assume we won't destroy her plumbing. In lieu of boating we will be going to Dollywood. Yes, you read that right. Please go ahead and be jealous, I'll wait.







After my Camp weekend I'll have an entire vacation week to roll around in! I haven't had a week off since December, so I'm really looking forward to it. More about that soon. Now, if you're nice I'll do my college best to put up a "stuff I like" entry tomorrow.

Worrying Me Lately.

The Huguenot Bridge. Every morning I drive over an elderly bridge on my way to work. It's two lanes with no shoulder and the surface is more patches than pavement but it's got a nice view. At either end of the bridge are small signs that say "3 Ton Weight Limit" which sounds about right to me. But yesterday the city rolled out some gigantic blinky signs that are all, "NO, SERIOUSLY. 3 TON LIMIT FOR REALS. NOT KIDDING."

Whoa. Did...something... happen? Something I need to know about? Because I cannot imagine driving something that weights more than THREE TONS over a bridge like that. Even a single ton might be pushing it. Then I thought, wait, how much does my car weigh? Because I really haven't a clue. Turns out the average car weighs well over a ton, so really, a three ton vehicle could just be a medium-sized industrial truck. What the hell is going on with that bridge? It's being replaced (starting this fall) but for now, I worry.

My Back. I now know what people are complaining about when they say they put their back out and could barely move, so crippling was the pain. Here's a list of things I did last weekend that did not cause my back to go out:

- 1 hour of weight lifting followed by a spinning class
- dancing at a wedding in 4" wedge sandals
- 2 hours of mountain biking on technical trails

Here's what did cause my back to go out:

- Wandering around Marshalls. I was browsing the sleepwear when suddenly I thought, "Ow. My back really hurts." By the time I got to my car I could barely lower myself into the seat. It's feeling better now, but what the hell? Why did a discount retailer cause my back to spasm all to hell?

The Oil Spill. I'm so worried about this I can't really write about it but I will tell you this: When I'm forced to agree with that douchebag James Cameron? It's bad.

Chairs!

Hey look, I'm back again. Thanks for all the back-patting reassurance that you haven't all abandoned me. Now, I am happy to report that my weekend pretty much went according to plan, aside from an emergency Saturday afternoon trip to work to get my riding stuff which had been living under my desk for a month because I was too lazy to cart it home. This involved calling the campus police who were nice enough to let me into the building, but I suspect they didn't have much else going on and was happy to provide some distraction.

Anyway, on Saturday Nina came over and helped with my chairs, and by "helped" I mean she pretty much reupholstered them for me. She is really, really good at this stuff but her husband has banned her from rescuing any more chairs so she was happy to be part of my project. Lucky me!

Here's what they looked like when I bought them:

I only wish there were words to describe how truly and utterly filthy they were. I mean, when we pulled up the old fabric and batting? OH MY GOD. No words.

Are you ready for this? Here's what they look like NOW:

Holy shit, right? Amazing! What an incredible difference. The cost breakdown is something like this:

$10 for the chairs ($5 each)
$15 for various wood stain, cleaning stuff & glue
$15 for new foam and batting
$22 for a yard of fancy fabric

Total: $62 for two pretty damn nice chairs that look great in my living room.  Yay! Now, tell me what you did last weekend.

Long Weekend Plans. Not that you care or anything.

No comments of any kind on my last two entries and you fools wonder why I never update? It's because NOBODY LOVES ME, clearly. Sheesh. I'll admit I've been putting most of my blog energy into my new venture because it's fun and new and stuff but I don't want to entirely abandon my post. I just haven't had much to say. Or much to look forward to... looking forward to.

This weekend is something, though. A long weekend! Three whole days. I don't get any significant vacation time until the end of July which might as well be December, it feels so far, far away. This weekend is tangible, though. I can almost taste it. Plans:

Saturday: Those chairs I posted about a few entries ago? I'm finally going to do something about them. My friend Nina is coming over to help me make them awesome. I spent some time cleaning them up last weekend and hey, guess what? A Magic Eraser is not what you want to use to get rid of chair grunge unless you want to remove the finish too. Oops. So one of them will need to be stained. Yeah. They're both utterly filthy but I hope when we're done they'll be transformed and I'll have something to show you. (Not that you care.)

Sunday: Perhaps a riding lesson? I've slacked off on the horseback riding partially because of cost and partially because my instructor is kind of a flake. We'll make plans and she'll forget. Then we'll make plans and she'll discover she has to work her other job. Then we'll make plans and I have to reschedule and she acts all put out like it's not something she does ALL THE TIME. It kind of takes the fun out of it. Anyway, if not a horse ride then a mountain bike ride followed by a barbecue at a friend's house. Activity followed by relaxing and beer! My kind of Sunday.

Monday: I will probably try to clean my filthy house or something in the morning, or maybe do a bike ride if I don't go on Sunday. Then lunch with Kate. Then piles of laundry. Then whining, weeping and rending of garments.

Thus far this is the plan. Sometimes my mother tries to hijack a long weekend with a LETS DO A BIG FAMILY LUNCH BECAUSE I MIGHT DIE SOON kind of thing but it's Thursday and I haven't gotten so much as a subject-line-only email from her, so I think the coast is clear.  Fingers crossed.

Friday Stuff I Like

Hi! I haven't done this in a while so here I am, doing this. Here's what I like:

BeneTint. I know! How very 90's of me! I had a big container of it (it lasts forever) and ran out last year. I finally bought another one and damn, I forgot how much I love this stuff. I only use it on my cheeks but it gives a lovely natural rosy flush unlike anything else and it lasts all day. It's a bitch to apply until you get the hang of it, but I adore it anyway. BeneTint 4ever.

The Brightest Star in the Sky. Marian Keyes is just beyond lovely and I look forward to her books with an impatience that's embarrassing. Her latest, The Brightest Star in the Sky was worth waiting for - it's engrossing and fun to read, hilarious and tragic and personal. I love her characters like they are my personal friends. She also writes an online newsletter that I love, but she hasn't done one in a while. Come back, Marian! I miss you.

White Whine. A friend of mine introduced me to this Tumblr page and it's just something you have to see for yourself. Careful, this site will cause snort-laughing.

Pretzel M&M's. YES. Okay, so I haven't actually tried these yet (only because I can't find them) but I know I will love them a lot. The salty/sweet/crunchy/chocolate thing is just so perfect.

Edit: I found them at Target! They are intense but a little dry. I kind of wish they had more chocolate- the ratio is off. But they are crunchy and salty-sweet and I'll happily eat the whole bag.

Alright, that's all I've got for you today. Go and have a good weekend and think good thoughts for me tomorrow around 4pm when I'll be suffering through my first mountain bike race of the season.