"i don’t mind the weather.." well..
Category: Blogging

brad, brandon and i had the pleasure of sitting in 40 degree weather at the nice oceanside BOA Pavilion venue to see Death Cab for Cutie with The Presidents of the United States of America, Amanda Palmer, Bob Mould and Passion Pit.

yes, there was an ocean breeze. the entire time.

Passion Pit would have been great fifty years ago...or in the back to the future trilogy. or if it weren't that cold. i think that i could appreciate Passion Pit more if i could sit there in a tank top and jeans. it was catchy.

Bob Mould was something i never want to experience again - a one man electric guitar show with spot on Carl Bell (Fuel) vocals (good, but limited range), rarely differentiating between chorus and verse, and barely taking a breath between songs. and there were at least ten songs.

Mould was followed by Amanda Palmer, who we later found out was "kind of a big deal." not because she is part of the dresden dolls, and not because she subjected us to the WORST rendition of Radiohead's Creep that she played on a uke, while singing gutturally into the mic, but because she knows EVERYONE.. like "this guy who is a really great piano player, too... Ben Folds." she really said "too." i threw up a little. she name dropped in between each song, stopping short only at the Son of God. the performance was like brad said, "Hole gone horribly wrong."

and it was probably in the high 40s at this point in the show.

the music between sets was fantastic.. everything from Phantom Planet to that PB&J band with the catchy whistling hook. the people watching, as always, did not disappoint. there was a clown woman/mime thing in a tuxedo covered in flare and diamond painted eyes - it kept you on your toes. she wandered the rows, mouthing the words to every song of every band with a serious expression on her face. how do you develop such a freak fetish that you want to paint your face, put on a tuxedo (with tails) and cover it with creepy flare buttons? how does this become a desire? eek.

i hate clowns.

the presidents of the united states of america ROCKED. i only knew the big three radio hits by them (i'm such a sellout fan), but they completely played to their audience, throwing in a punkish cover of Video Killed the Radio Star, along with witty, slightly crazy anecdotes involving spider monkies mid-song with a really fast-paced folk teller delivery. when they introduced the ever popular "Lump" (you know, "Lump sat alone in a boggy MARSH"), it was "here is a song that was really big for us back in 1837..." there were other instances where they would refer to being "big in 1993." it was funny and fun. they must be checked out. they sort of reminded me of weezer.

death cab was awesome. their sound was slightly distorted because of the outdoor venue, which made it tough to depict the words if you weren't a die hard. their new album comes out in two days, so it will be cool to hear the songs they played that no one really knew.. "Marching Bands of Manhattan" incorporated some sick guitar stuff at the end, and "Transatlanticism" was the last song, and the best by far. the drummer basically loses his mind, and the rest follow suit in the building up and breaking down of the ethereal anthemic vibe. you can't get that from the album. also, their single "I Will Possess Your Heart" was just as creepy live as i hoped it would be.

though we were frozen solid after being outside for five hours, hoodies up and hands in pockets, it was worth it for Presidents and Death Cab... but i'd like to think that they'll book their next show in at least june. or indoors.

3:37 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

run, run as fast as you can..
Category: Blogging

with the amazing weather we've been having, i've taken it upon myself to run after work - what better way to exasperate my allergies and my pride than by running out in the public, away from the safety of my nice little women's gym in the city? i'm sure this is just a phase; the first time it rains or it's obscenely hot for three days in a row, i'll give it up. i sincerely loathe cardio.

we have this memorial in our town park that i run by at the beginning and the end, which sort of motivates me. it's a case filled with baseballs with the names of fallen massachusetts soldiers from "operation iraqi freedom." i'm not five minutes into my run, with cramps and the reddest face imaginable (i get concerned looks from bystanders), and i see this memorial and decide that i really need to suck it up, because these people will never run again.

anyway.

and then there's the music. my soundtrack, to help other cardio haters (i know you exist):

1. B.O.B - Outkast
2. Anna Molly - Incubus
3. Run (I'm a Natural Disaster) - Gnarls Barkley
4. All Downhill From Here - A New Found Glory
5. This is How I Disappear - My Chemical Romance
6. Move Away - The Killers
7. Bodysnatchers - Radiohead
8. Easy Target - Blink-182
9. Time to Dance - Panic! at the Disco
10. Lose Yourself - Eminem
11. Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
12. Feel Good, Inc. - Gorillaz
13. Best of You - Foo Fighters
14. Jesus of Suburbia - Green Day

don't knock it til you try it. feel free to leave suggestions. oh, and beware of the first song on the list.. i sprinted for like the first 5 minutes, feeling completely invincible listening to it.. and as a result, i've been hobbling into the city all week.

5:00 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

i’d like to shake this man’s hand.
Category: Blogging

Everything, Everywhere
By Michael Schulman
The New Yorker, 03.10.08


Until recently, the everything bagel was of murky origin. Given its all-inclusive name, you'd think that whoever came up with the idea would have a capacious ego to match. But a few weeks ago the story went public, on the Web site of a small Long Island advertising business run by a man named David Gussin. Gussin, who describes himself as a "struggling altruistic entrepreneur," claims to have created the everything bagel almost thirty years ago. On the site, he wrote, "It's the one story my daughter's friends always found interesting. So I'll go with it." As declarations of provenance go, this is less like Philo Farnsworth saying he invented the television than like Forrest Gump saying he invented the smiley face.

As is often the case (Post-its, the microwave), the genesis of the everything bagel was a "fluky-type thing," Gussin said the other day. When Gussin was fifteen, he took a part-time job at a takeout place in Howard Beach run by a guy named Charlie. It was a simpler time for bagels: you had plain, poppy, sesame, onion, salt, garlic, and—on the exotic end—cinnamon raisin. One of Gussin's duties at closing time was to sweep up the burnt seeds that had fallen off in the oven during the day. Gussin developed a taste for them, and one afternoon—he guesses around 1980—"instead of throwing them out, like I always did, I swept them into a bin and said, 'Charlie, let's make some with these!' "

Charlie, who was mildly enthusiastic about the idea, agreed to sell the newfangled bagels for a nickel extra. According to Gussin, the name "everything" came instantaneously. "There was no marketing meeting or anything like that," he said. "It was a one-second thought process. Boom." The flavor became popular "the next day," and pretty soon Gussin's brainchild—minus the burnt-seed concept—had spread to a bagel place over in Lindenwood. Within a year, Gussin said, "the everything bagel was everywhere."

Meanwhile, Gussin moved on: he briefly attended college, worked at an employment agency, a shoe store, and a dry-cleaning establishment, and started his company, 516Ads.com. Recounting his post-bagel years, he said, "The everything bagel is my most popular creation, but it's not my most important one." He took a pin out of his pocket emblazoned with the acronym "LEARN": "Let's End All Racism Now." Gussin devised the slogan in the eighties, he explained, after seeing skinheads on an episode of "Sally Jessy Raphael." ("I thought—excuse my language—These people are freaking stupid! Learn!") Eventually, LEARN, which, like the everything bagel, derives from a melting-pot ethos, was adopted as a teaching tool by public schools in Brooklyn.

Gussin never sought to capitalize on the everything bagel. "Admittedly, you think, Wow, what if I made a penny off of every everything bagel?" he said. "But, realistically, who patented pizza? Who patented the bagel, you know? It never even entered my mind."

So far, no one has contested Gussin's claim, setting his invention apart from the radio (Marconi vs. Tesla) and calculus (Leibniz vs. Newton). When asked if he had any hard evidence, Gussin said simply, "It wasn't around the day before I created it, and it never stopped the day after." Maria Balinska, who is writing a book called "The Bagel: A Cultural History," hadn't heard of Gussin when she was reached by phone in London, but she affirmed that the early eighties was a fertile time for bagel experimentation. "You had more consumption of bagels nationwide," she said. "It was absolutely the right time to come up with something like that." She added that Gussin's creation has not yet caught on in England, proving, perhaps, that you can't have everything. ?

Currently listening : Garden State By Various Artists Release date: 10 August, 2004

6:37 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

i DO NOT LIKE green eggs..
Category: Blogging

so i just started eating eggs like a year ago. big step. now i'm obsessed. and they are pretty good for you, when you don't fry them in bacon grease and smoosh them between two buttery white Thomas english muffin halves.

let me tell you about my night.

i got home, drove to the salon to pick up some product (the woman in front of me yapped on about her daughter's wedding...10 minutes later) and then headed to whole foods to get some "safe" ground beef.

i receive a call from hollywood video while picking out an avocado, letting me know that i forgot to put 12 monkeys in the dvd case. fabulous. i had my entire evening planned to the minute - our landlord is having someone come inspect the place friday morning, and i want our place to be sparkling. this little trip to hollywood video is going to put a 10 minute kink into my plan.

it also didn't help that when i get home a package from American Apparel arrived, and i decided i must try things on immediately. one shirt didn't fit, so that irritated me. i hopped back in the car, and drove to the video store.

when i returned home i picked up a little, but decided to make some scrambled eggs for dinner. in cracking egg no. 3, it didn't seem right. it was sort of milky looking and the yolk wasn't bright white and had something curdled on it. it was sickening to look at. i was like "okay" and decided to take my time getting a paper towel roll out of the closet to sort of wipe up the bit i spilled. when i walked back to the counter i almost puked on the spot. it was the most disgusting scent to ever enter my nose. my gag reflex still isn't right, and it's been an hour.

i scraped the eggs plan, completely skeeved out. i'm eating crappy undercooked pasta roni, which is so bad for me, and a piece of leftover steak i overcooked in the microwave.

is it friday yet? ugh.

that is all.

5:41 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

pillow talk.
Category: Blogging

no one ever really knows how it happens. much like the dryer devouring socks, there are other mysteries with regards to tangible items that elude us. we have daily battles. a leaky faucet, the never ending brigade of dust particles, key rings playing hide and seek - it's a test of mental stability and endurance. often the origins of these onslaughts are never traced, and for the most part we accept it without contemplating the logistics or rationale behind how we could have possibly gone through 8 rolls of toilet paper in two weeks, or how your cardigan ends up in the hats and mittens bag.

we need new pillows. like the above, i cannot trace what happened to brandon's and my original set of pillows. we dated, lived at our respected residences, each with our own sets of pillows (mine doubling the amount of his). upon being married, we moved into our new residence.  i pared down my pillows (begrudgingly), and we had two each. the pillows that i have now are not those pillows. i miss them terribly. the following is all of the information that i have to go on...

i think the confusion surfaced when we purchased guest bedding for our air mattress. around this time we also went camping in NH.  we bought special camping pillows that were easy to store (read: filled with tiny bits of a broken up, foamy substance). after a night of ZERO sleep, we went to wal-mart and purchased cheap pillows to get us through the night. these pillows were lumpy, not the least bit plush and soothing, but they sufficed.

there was also some sort of issue when we attempted to wash pillows and ended up throwing one out. i also left a pillow at a VT bed and breakfast, where i also left my treasured north face Denali jacket. i wrote to them asking to ship my jacket, but telling them to chuck the pillow.

our current pillow situation is this: we are now each using one of the Target guest pillows, and the horrible four dollar wal-mart pillows. i feel like i'm in some kind of pillow purgatory - like when you're wandering, searching, in transition phase with a dentist or hair dresser. it's horrible!  the target pillows aren't so bad. we could buy two more like them, and burn the awful wal-mart ones. i realize that i sound like a snob, but i wouldn't wish these pillows on anyone.

the best part is that these wal-mart pillows say, "extra-firm" all over them. not only is this a lie, but it's also impossible to use a semi-transparent pillowcase on it. suddenly my "vintage" childhood koala bear pillowcase is now branded with this bold faced LIE of being extra firm. let's be honest - koala bears are anything BUT. they are the hippie of the animal kingdom, and are smooshy.

when i see extra firm, i envision a pillow that has the consistency of a bag of potting soil. i think temperpedic has my name written all over it, but those creepily shaped pillows provide absolutely NO aesthetics, and i'm too young to be into throw pillows. and when it comes right down to it, who wants to shell out any sort of money on pillows?! sleep and comfort is important, but honestly, twelve dollars for a pillow?! ludicrous!  

what is to be done? every night i must throw a subconscious fit, because each morning i find said pillow on the floor. i'm disgusted by it even in my sleep! it has to go. brandon, when you read this, this is my cry, my plea. target. tonight.

that is all.

Currently reading : A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius By Dave Eggers Release date: 13 February, 2001

7:56 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

another brilliant moment brought to you by the Fed.
Category: Blogging

(taken from 12/18's NYT)

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve moved Tuesday to impose new restrictions intended to curb unfair and deceptive home-lending practices and prevent a recurrence of this year's meltdown in subprime mortgages. 

By a 5-to-0 vote, the Fed approved a plan that would tighten provisions meant to protect borrowers and apply them to a far larger share of home loans — whether from banks, mortgage companies or other lenders — than under current regulations.

Late this afternoon, the House passed legislation to spare homeowners who restructure their mortgages to avoid foreclosure from having to pay taxes on the forgiven debt. The legislation, approved by voice vote, may have to be reconciled with a Senate version. President Bush has said he will sign the bill that emerges from Congress.

The proposed Fed rules underscore the more assertive role the agency is now prepared to take in regulating lending, in a big shift from the central bank's approach in the past. 

In general, the rules are meant to deter unscrupulous lenders from persuading people that they can afford loans that ought to be out of their reach. By extension, the rules are also intended to keep would-be buyers from deceiving themselves about the debt burdens they can shoulder.  full article


when are we, as US citizens, going to stop catering to stupidity? homebuyers are stupid for thinking that hey could afford beyond their means. they are dumb for believing the words of a broker or lender without doing the in-depth research and budgetary analysis to determine if they could afford a loan. this research is available to every single person who wants it - and for free! self education at the library. taking time to speak with a few independent resources. instead, excuses run rampant. "well he works in the field, i THINK he knows what he's talking about," or "i don't have time to learn how the process works." these are the evils of an instant gratification society; people blindly trusting, naively assessing their personal budgets to keep up with the joneses - it's foolish. 

the government bailing people out and revamping the entire structure of the housing lending process is absurd. they are mainly doing it for the vote, which deepens my disgust for this sector of the economy. actions have consequences. how are the people who are carefully planning and determining their housing situation - people who didn't jump in and go for the jumbo loans, the 3 year ARMS - how are they going to be rewarded? they won't be. our country is in the habit of helping out the people that constantly make poor decisions. "going through a foreclosure? bit off more than you could chew? no problem! we'll blame the lenders because you didn't read the fine print or do the research on the type of loan you signed off on."

you took a gamble, a big gamble, and you lost. you banked on the rates dropping, you banked on salary increases - and rather than being conservative, you spent money you never had. i really don't feel any sympathy.

i also blame the lenders. i think they should do a personal interview or give an exam to determine the borrowers level of knowledge as to what they are getting into. banks shouldn't lend to people that can't budget. banks should sit down one-on-one and grill these people on their holiday spending, coffee allowance - everything. Sure, it might take significantly more time, but then lenders could weed out the people who are too big for their britches.

i'm sure this would run into all sorts of discriminatory lawsuits, and we are a free country - a country that should give some benefit of the doubt to people that are partaking in one of the biggest purchases of their life. and this is where we come full circle. you may be thinking that i'm generalizing in calling all of these people stupid, but let me ask you this: would the Fed become so involved if only a few people were suckers? 

common sense is a thing of beauty. if you have it, i applaud you. 

that is all.

Currently reading : Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Harper Fiction) By Gregory Maguire Release date: 25 September, 2007

9:43 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

an airing of grievances.
Category: Blogging

it's not christmas without festivus. and as the festivus tradition goes, i'll start with my airing of grievances...

1. the movie The Holiday could possibly be the worst movie of all time - poor scripting, creepy line deliveries and cringe moments that reach into the double digits. given the powerhouse cast of kate winslet, jude law, cameron diaz and jack black, i expected more. this is why i seldom venture into the "romantic comedy" genre... unless it involves amanda bynes, who i love. i want my 133 minutes back. rubbish!

2. the lack of respect emo kids have for their bands at shows. unless i'm losing it, these kids have either A. not been to enough big shows to comprehend and implement proper concert etiquette, or B. they are too busy crying. At the Brand New concert, the kiddies did not know how to respond or encourage an encore. maybe i'm getting old. maybe they need to scream more... that's emo.

3. baristas need to stop skimping on the milk in $4.00 lattes. i'm sick of having my 10% post-consumer recycled fiber cup three quarters of the way full. an addendum to this grievance: a dollop of milk froth is NOT a substitute for whip. ever.

4. you people on the third floor of our apartment - listen up! you refuse to accept that everyone must back in to the parking spots in our driveway in order for there to be enough room for everyone in the house to park. we shouldn't have to ask you again. especially not nicely. i understand rebelling against the establishment, but this isn't your battle. do you think we shoveled out our spot so you could leisurely park between two spots? silly rabbit.

5. elderly people driving erratically.

6. the other night at my parents house, i was rummaging in their fridge and came across several cheese sticks. i asked if they were any good and my dad said, "yeah they should be - i just bought them last week." i took one bite and immediately ran to the sink. luckily i didn't digest it. sell by date: 11/7/07. this was really funny to everyone around me.  this is why i'm obsessed with expiration dates - every time i try to be lax and not worry about it, something like this happens. my grievance is the old food in the fridge (which my dad NEVER lets happen - i am shocked and appalled), and old cheese sticks in general.

7. people that stop in the middle of the sidewalk.

8. not being able to watch any football (kick ball, not throw ball) match in the world at whatever time it's scheduled, EST. i currently get Fox Soccer Channel and Gol TV. if i wanted to watch, say Kasper Schmeichel play for Cardiff City in the Coca Cola Championship league, the only way i can do it is if i buy an ITVN receiver and subscribe to Setanta Sports, who splits the rights on the EPL matches with Fox Soccer Channel, and then offers the lower level leagues as well.  many people have said that the quality of the program is poor, as far as crispness. This weekend, Fox didn't air Man U. v. Liverpool, one of the biggest rivalries in the EPL, because Setanta had it. We watched Chelsea v. Arsenal, which was fantastic, but i want to watch both! when will the day come when there will be one giant media mogul that will run all of the channels in the world and allow you to select which ones you want? my guess is 10+ years.

9. ordering a vacuum filter through sears, because it's the only place that sells it, then paying an exhorbitant fee with shipping for it, residing to the fact that Sears has lousy customer service and told me that they don't accept gift cards online or over the phone (which would have made the filter $8 instead of $28), and THEN finding out that the filter is out of stock and backordered. i hate sears. i don't care if they are part of the extreme home makeover show. i'm disgusted that i paid that much for a filter. i'm even more disgusted that i've needed it for over a year, but i've refused to pay for it up until now. i want a roomba.

10.  the mcfc doesn't sell cool hoodies on their website... or anywhere else for that matter. i think it may be hooligan-related. also, the british pound is outrageous.

Currently reading : How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization By Franklin Foer Release date: 05 July, 2005

8:28 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

lack of blogs.

i'll be writing more soon...mild writer's block (aka summer fun).

i've also been busy writing reviews for indie music. check it out.

http://brokendial.insidepulse.com  spread the love. 

12:51 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

squaring off with a metro columinst.
Category: Blogging

so i'm on my commute home, with my metro crossword puzzle all ready to go, when i notice an "op-ed" on the opposite page called "are young people apathetic?" by Courtney Martin.  i don't usually read this section, but the title was so bold, i just had to check it out.

"Are Young People Apathetic?"

first, let's address the cultural critic claim. i haven't done enough research into why she is considered a "cultural critic." i typically leave titles like that for people like chuck klosterman or bill simmons. i assume that i have as much cultural punch as her. i have a difficult time believing that questions are pouring in to her regarding the legitimacy of youth apathy. let's assume they are. with these assumptions, my immediate follow up question to Ms. Martin is, " this 500 word op-ed is the best response piece that you can provide, to offset adult's oh-so misguided thinking?" she also has the audacity to return the favor to these adults who ask about youth apathy, by throwing a very snide, "have you been to the year 2007?" their way. classy. she then follows this brash interrogatory with, "I have - and it is a confusing and discouraging place to be young and full of conviction." of course you have been to 2007, Ms. Martin; you and every other breathing human has "been to 2007." you have immortalized your presence in this ill-fated year by publishing this piece... which gives me hope that i, too, will be published someday. thank you.

is the world really a confusing and discouraging place? After making this blanket statement about the little black rain cloud looming over the lives of gen xers and yers, she then goes on to say that the youth of America are "full of a bursting light, a moral imperative deep in their guts to do something about the state of the depressing world."  do all youth maintain these feelings on the front burner as Ms. Martin does? unlikely. yes, there are concerns and causes that said youth feel deeply about, but that doesn't make the world as seen by dwellers of the United States discouraging or confusing. there is nothing confusing about corporate influence in politics. war is not pretty, and often unnecessary, but it is not a confusing concept. sure these be discouraging concepts, and good ones to ponder as you sip your iced latte while listening to your iPod.  if you can't find reasons to be hopeful in the United States, i really don't know where you plan on finding it... the proverbial grass is always greener. "church leaders and congressional leaders" are not the only ones calling younger people "youths," either.

the entire piece is littered with instant gratification demands, unimportant political and cultural affiliations, and vapid confusion.  i think justin timberlake said it best to britney when he wanted her to weep a body of water for him. the problem with this article, and with youth in general, lies in the instant gratification nature that Ms. Martin exemplifies when discussing her own civic activities. no one wants to wait for answers. no one wants to take the time or put the effort into working with the system that we have in place. yelling about how angry you are in a protest doesn't speed up legislation (note that Martin knocks protesters earlier in her article, only to later get on her soapbox and cry in despair that she's tried all these things and NOTHING is working!!"). sending unmeaningful pre-written emails to senators doesn't necessarily get the job done either. it's the wrong mindset.  i think that there is apathy, but not on the scale she is talking about. at the same time, not every youngster wants to be a superhero either. as long as their life isn't being jeopardized, these monumental world problems only show up as inconveniences and slight adjustments. the exception would be September 11th. don delillo explains it eloquently in "in the ruins of the future."

most people tend to yell about how awful the world is... the funny (cough) thing is that these people never seem to provide any solutions, whether philosophical or logically calculated. in this op-ed, Martin could have explained her big ideas for world peace or for ways to make the "apathetic youth" care more, but instead she attempts to be witty by dropping one of her (i'm assuming) clever cultural nomenclatures, "dr. phil." it made her sound like she was whining about why she is trying to save the world, and no one's drinking the kool-aid with her.  i'm not sure if her writing in the first person was an attempt to be a generic representative of today's youth... it didn't work. i don't want her speaking for me. i clearly don't agree with her.  I think people care, but not enough to do anything. that's the beauty of this country... choice. that's why we fight for it in wars and such. to preserve your right to whine about how bad we have it.

so, given this, what steps do i think we should take to be more cognizant of the worlds travesties? 
i think that people need to be more environmentally involved, but as much as they can be without wearing a loincloth and swinging from trees. also, I think that people should donate to the causes that are important to them, whatever they may be.. and give without cynicism.  i also think that all harvard, yale and princeton students (aka the future political powerhouses of our great nation) should internalize john mayer's continuum album.

particularly tracks 1 and 3.

Currently listening : The View from Here By Yearling Release date: 08 May, 2007

8:12 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

i'm back... and alpaca-less, much to my dismay.
Category: Blogging

i know what you're thinking -  one weekend in the land of ben and jerry and i've jumped off the deep end, settling nicely into a life filled with all things liberal...and dairy. vermont culture is fascinating. part of me yearns for an enironment that is so pro-coop and organic. the other part of me is terrified at the politics oozing out of the residents. the suburbia in massachusetts (east of the conneticut river) appears to be nonexistant in the cabot state. i'm not sure why. perhaps its the physical geography. i took a political geography in college and besides learning the unspeakable effects of DDT and the weed killer RoundUp (believe me, i will NEVER use the stuff), we studied this sort of stuff. i wish i had thought of comparing VT to massachusetts, instead of the MassPrig advocate yelling about sweatshops and wearing gap pants. i couldn't get past that.

the activist and hippie culture were quite interesting to observe. i saw many signs and bumper stickers on subarus (the Vermont state car) that said "Take Back Vermont." i would like one of these stickers for my car. at the farm bed and breakfast that we stayed at (Hollister Hill Farm), the other couples that were there were either current or ex-hippies, or very very liberal. we were in discussion over rasberry pancakes with homemade maple syrup (naturally), when one of the women said, "wait, we don't even know what these people's political stance is." i don't have stances. i have beliefs, but stances have a finality about them that doesn't agree with me. i'm open.  but i don't think my 2004 vote would have soured the syrup at the table.

and now for a brief run down of the weekend, in picture format. i was mesmerized by the farm animals, and confess that i did not take pictures of the bed and breakfast that we stayed at. it was really nice. you should go. they are fantastic hosts.

on the alpaca note - apparently last year a disease came through and killed a bunch of them. i was sad.

we arrived to the farm around 6ish. Bob Light was going out to feed the farm animals, and i wanted to have all parts in that. we had dinner at the Black Door with Erika and Scott and their families, but i had time to fit in some farming. i forgot to give brandon the camera, but the wilburs you are about to see are massive - they were as high as my thigh. and i fed them. it was a smelly affair.  the wedding was awesome. we met some amazing people and had an awesome time. and now, for the photo montage... mainly because i'm losing steam and my computer's frustratingly slow tonight. heh.  

the view.

that's "holly" the cow. i thought a picture was necessary.

Currently listening : The John Byrd E.P. By Death Cab for Cutie Release date: 07 March, 2006

8:08 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment