August

I'm not impressed with Louisville. I decided to call Kendra last night to see if I could arrive in the NRV earlier, and she said that was fine. So I'll get there in a few days, and then have more time for work and stuff in Baltimore (I'm determined to book my Vietnam excursion before September).

I did not get enough sleep last night (family in the next room were making noise until 1:30 AM and started again at 6:30 AM- so obnoxious), so I'll take my time today. I plan on checking out a little place I read about for lunch, and then I'll start heading towards Virginia and wind up tonight wherever I wind up.

I'm in Blacksburg!

Two nights ago, I was in Paintsville, KY. I was exhausted from driving behind slow idiots all day and was not happy when I discovered the only hotel I found after driving miles longer that I wanted to was almost completely booked. There were so many screaming kids and teens, and the hotel was a courtyard setup with all rooms facing the restaurant/game area. People were partying until 1:00 AM (not sure when I fell asleep after that) and some kids woke me up around 6:30. So that was the second night of not much sleep.

Yesterday it poured most of the way to Blacksburg. Between the rain, slow idiots, and road construction, it wasn't a very pleasant drive. But just as I got into town, the rain slowed down, so I decided to take the opportunity to drive on my fun roads. Not as fun when they're wet, but it still feels so great to drive around there (even though there's a lot of new development and not as peaceful). I really do love it here.

The weather is supposed to be dreary with thunderstorms the entire week. I'm not really complaining though since I've been really lucky with the weather so far.

This morning, I went to Easy Chair and then came to the library to read some books on the history and planning of Blacksburg. Now I'll deal with work/email and then figure out what to do with the rest of today.

Yesterday I heard a few minutes of a program on an AM station- I think it was called Health Talk. The man was saying that doctors shouldn't be intimitating and really are just regular people like us who put their pants on one leg at a time. This man would tell us how to tell our doctor what treatments we want. Wow, and I thought doctors went to medical school and would know more than the average person about medicine and healthcare. Silly me. Scary thing is, I think people are getting more and more stupid, and this includes doctors. So, even though I don't think people should tell their doctors what to do, I'm not very trusting of doctors' ideas all the time either.

Even though the area has changed quite a bit, I'm still really happy here.

Last night, I went to Macado's with Kendra and Steve and after Kendra went to sleep, Steve (a fellow insomniac) and I hung out for 3 hours, talking about all kinds of things but mostly about the economy, TV, cops, and car accidents. It was great hanging out with someone in the wee hours again. They don't have A/C, so it reminded me of when I hung out with Daniel all night in our un-air-conditioned apartment.

Today I walked around downtown Blacksburg- half is new, half is the same stuff that was around in '96. I even managed to buy a couple trinkets for my apartment.

And once again, it's not raining like it was supposed to, so I had some fun driving on my roads today.

The rest of my time in the NRV was great. Then I went up through West Virginia and across western MD, and now I'm in Baltimore.

Now I'm trying to get a ton of work done, take care of some personal things (like the SE Asia trip), and make arrangements to see some people while I'm in MD.

Not much of an update. Maybe I'll take the time when I get home to write all the little things I've written about and taped during my trip.

Well, my life's been extremely busy this week. Here's a quick run-down:
Monday: work, dinner & snowballs with David
Tuesday: work, hung out at Troy's (and did get physically involved, but I'm not completely sure why)
Wednesday: work, lunch with Kim (and saw pictures of her sonogram- she's having a girl), tennis with Jon
Thursday: work, watched the news all night to see what was going on with the blackout and was thankful that I wasn't home (although I'm really not looking forward to cleaning out the fridge when I get home)
Friday: work, had interesting email communication with Andy
Today: work, heading down to College Park very soon

Yesterday, I emailed Eytan about the Emmet Swimming show and asked if I could stay at his place that night. He replied that Terry's probably coming up for the show and would be staying with him as well. He also said that "it would be like old times". Fortunately, he's kidding about the "being like old times" (it will be completely innocent). I'm actually surprised Terry and Dena are okay with those arrangements, but if they're okay, I'm certainly okay (I've never understood the immaturity that most people have about relationships). So if he does come up, after a bit of awkwardness, it should be a fun night. It would be interesting to see him again, although I have a feeling he's not going to completely be himself, but that's okay.

Wow. When it rains, it pours (and yes, it is pouring outside as I type this). All my old "flames" coming back to haunt me. So far, it hasn't caused too much drama (although potentially, all of them could- but I won't let it). It's just strange to go from barely having a social life for several years to seeing all of my old drama in the same 2 weeks. Each of them are taking on different forms, and it's strange to watch it happen. It almost doesn't feel real. If I wasn't so analytical, I could get involved in a sort of "indie film" kind of life, but these days I tend to analyse situations rather than to live them somewhat unconsciously. I'm just not very emotional these days. Perhaps I've forgotten how to be emotional. I've never been overly emotional, and that fact on top of the fact that I haven't had any sort of relationship beyond unemotional friendships for the past several years, might have caused the emotions part of my brain to atrophy. Maybe I should to work on that. Or maybe not. I don't know. I know I'm not going to come up with an easy solution/idea/concept today though, so I'll stop here for now.

Monday night was fun. I met Eytan at Dupont Circle for dinner and drinks (many drinks for me- I had more to drink Monday night than I had the rest of this year).

Yesterday I stopped by Sudbrook on the way to Sylvia's. I went inside but couldn't see very much. I peeked backstage and then went upstairs to the dance studio, but the doors were closed :(

This morning, to continue my trip down memory lane, I had breakfast at the Towson House with Harvey. It was pretty much the same; we even had a waitress who was there when we used to go in the 70s and 80s.

And to continue my trip even further, on the way back to College Park, I took Rt. 108 to Brighton Dam Rd. to drive by the old house. Fortunately, everyone must be on vacation since there was hardly any traffic in any of my travels.

Good news, Andy will be joining me at Town Hall in November for the Ian Anderson show.

Tomorrow I was going to deal with the SE Asia trip stuff, but then I realised that in order to start the ball rolling on obtaining a VISA for Vietnam, I would need my passport (which is at home). Fortunately, I just checked their website and the processing time is only 5 days, so I can easily wait until I get home (but I'll do it as soon as possible to allow time for things going wrong). But tomorrow, I think I will check into how to get a cheaper fare for the flight from Bangkok to Hanoi. I remember reading in Time Out about a great travel agent specialising in travel to Asia; maybe they list that person on their website. And also tomorrow, I'll make reservations for the hotel in Hanoi and the boat trip as well.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. Especially now that I found out the economic summit will be happening AFTER we leave the country. I just hope the fact that it's after we leave (rather than them leaving before we get there) doesn't mean that I'll have more trouble with security/immigration stuff at the airport than I usually do. And I'll have to ask someone whether I should mention that I'm on a business trip or not.

Tonight's the Emmet Swimming show, tomorrow is a BBQ at Jay's, and Sunday is brunch at Sylvia's. I got invited to Rebecca's bachelorette party tomorrow night, but I'm going to skip it. I don't feel like driving from College Park to Frederick to College Park to Baltimore to College Park all in one day. Besides, the Power Plant on a Saturday night is NOT my idea of a good time, and except for Rebecca, her sister, and Michelle, I won't know anyone there.

I have a lot of work to do, but I'm running out of time to do anything else today. I have to go say goodbye to Abby (since she and Maxine are heading down to Virginia for a family event and won't be back before I leave) and then it's time to pack and wait for Neil to take me to the Metro (I don't drive to DC/Northern VA unless I absolutely have to). Hopefully I can get some stuff done Sunday evening. If not, I'll just be a busy bee when I get home on Monday. I can't believe I'll only be home a few days before heading back down here, but this is just the way it worked out and I have to accept that. It's really not a big deal- I'll just have to work quickly next week. Plus I'll have to make sure the apartment is clean enough before I come back to MD since Jon, Michelle, and Steven will be coming back with me after the wedding. And then I start classes. This time of year is usually hectic though. I'll get through it.

I was going to wait until I felt like writing the million and one things on my mind, but then I started realising that it might be a while before that happens, so I just thought I'd write something now. I might get around to the other stuff the weekend after Labor Day. But I do have the problem of not being able to figure out how to write about some of the things that involve other people- it wouldn't be right to write about them so candidly and I can't figure out another way yet. So I'll just keep the thoughts in my head until I figure out a way to write about them (or maybe not, I don't know). I also have a ton of observations I made on my trip (in my notebook and on 6-7 audio tapes) that I was hoping to put on this site, but I have no idea if I'll feel like doing that the weekend after next (but I should since the longer I wait, the less I'll want to bother).

Friday night was as perfect as it could have been. Seeing Terry again was strange at first, but after a few minutes, it felt like no time had passed since we saw each other and the reason why it had been so long wasn't on my mind at all. The Emmet Swimming show was awesome. Eytan, Terry, and I made a bet before the show on which song they would open with. Eytan won, with Terry's song being second and mine being forth or fifth. Except for one song, they played every song I wanted to hear. Every so often during the show, I caught myself being really happy. It was like I stepped outside myself and watched the fun I was having. It really did feel like old times- the three of us spending a Friday night together. Those really were great times (best 5 months of my life, if that doesn't sound too dramatic). So, yes, it was an amazing night.

Saturday was great too! The weather was perfect- sunny, warm, no humidity... Eytan, Terry, and I took a picnic down to Roosevelt Island in the Potomac- perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I didn't want to leave, but I had to get back to College Park to pick up Neil and go to Frederick. There was a ridiculous amount of traffic on the Beltway (what else is new), but we got there eventually. The traffic was because a man was getting arrested on the shoulder- not something you see every day, but do you have to slow down to a complete stop before continuing onto your destination? The BBQ at Jay & Sherry's was better than any other time we've gotten together. Perhaps it was just me who enjoyed it more since I was the one dominating the conversation (something I don't normally do since I don't normally want to get in any kind of conversation with Sherry, but for some reason, I couldn't shut up Saturday night).

Sunday was brunch at Matt & Sylvia's, and it was also a day that went well. I got to meet Elaine, which is (I think) my second cousin once removed, and for someone in my father's family, was pretty interesting. And once again, conversation went well. Then I went back to College Park to re-pack up all the stuff in the trunk to be ready to leave as soon as possible the next morning.

Monday (yesterday) was also a good day. This is kind of starting to scare me- all this good luck. A series of good luck has never happened to me before. I'm scared to get used to it. Part of me is just waiting for the bad luck to return. The other part of me is enjoying my good fortune. Anyway, yesterday was a quick and painless return home, and I was able to pull right in front of my building to unload all the stuff before returning the car. And when I returned the car, they didn't say anything about the scratches and missing bulb- not that I would be responsible for them, but I would have had to fill out a form stating where they got damaged and I wouldn't have been able to answer any of the questions. And last night, I took care of all the email I've been saving as well as did some work- very productive night.

Today hasn't been as productive, but that's okay. I was trying to get all unpacked as well as do work and deal with the mail today since Jon, Michelle, and Steven are coming up on Labor Day and I wanted the place to be organised by then, but that probably won't be an issue now. Unfortunately, Michelle isn't feeling well, so Jon will probably do a bus day trip on Tuesday for the US Open. So now I only have to worry about work and mail and if the unpacking/laundry doesn't get done before I leave on Saturday, that's okay, I can finish when I get home. So since they're probably not all coming up on Monday, I'll have to take the train in both directions to Baltimore. Even though it's the most expensive way (and sometimes the most irritating way) to travel between NY and Baltimore, it's sort of the easiest way, so I'll deal with it. I can even use an upgrade coupon they sent me recently.

So I did some work today and started going through the mail. While going through my mail, I found that one company sent me a pair of dice and one company sent me playing cards. Is this the new trend? I liked it better when they sent gift certificates as a bonus. In the current economic condition, I'd rather they save their money and not send any bonus than to send something I really don't think I'll use too often.

Welcome home- already had to call AT&T and sit on hold with them for a while since I'm still having issues with bill payment (I thought I was finished with this). Everyone I talk to tells me something different. The latest is that I have to fill out some application they will be sending me in the mail. The first time I signed up online, the second time (right before I left) I signed back up over the phone, this time I will be signing up through the mail. Hopefully this is third-time's-a-charm rather than three-strikes-you're-out. And this is all because they messed up my online bill payment account. If the problem was ever on my end, I wouldn't mind as much, but every time I have issues with a company, the problem is on their end. I'm tired of spending endless hours each month dealing with other people's mistakes.

But I still had a productive day. Did work, went through the rest of the mail, and ran some errands. I actually feel on top of things.

So I'm going to give myself the evening off and watch a movie. I started watching "The Photographer" one night in Baltimore, but I made turn it off before it was over since it was late and I had to get up early. It seemed somewhat intriguing, so since it's on in an hour, I thought I'd watch so I can see how it ends.

I didn't see much change in my neighbourhood while running my errands. The only change is one of the little crappy independent cafes closed and a Subway will be opening in its place. Lovely, just what the neighbourhood needs, another Subway. That now makes 3 or 4 within 3-4 blocks. Guess the corner delis aren't enough for people.

I woke up early, went back to sleep, and had this little dream: I was waiting at Port Authority with a bunch of people. I'm not sure if I knew them ahead of time or if I met them while I was waiting, but after 15 minutes of waiting, we were all in little rooms near where the buses come in, and I was trying to explain to everyone the terminal layout and how to find their friends' buses. Then the rooms turned into dorm rooms, and I was with Rebecca and some of her friends from college (not sure if they were still in college or if it was present day). I think I was talking to Rebecca about the best way for Rose to get from where she was to where we were. Then I realised we were out of Massachusetts and back at Port Authority but still in dorm rooms. I remember having interesting conversations with a bunch of different people but don't remember what they were about anymore. Then I woke up.

My music has really been on my wavelength recently. The past few days, my Launch station was playing all kinds of timely music that I wanted to hear, and today my CD player is on random and is doing the same thing.

Well, "The Photographer" was one of those movies with a good premise but didn't deliver. But it had some good points, so it was worth watching once.

Michelle decided that she does want to come up to New York, so I'm back with the original plan (unpack and clean before I leave, get a ride back on Monday, and have Steven here Tuesday while Jon and Michelle are at the US Open).

Trivial Pursuit's online version is fun- played with Andy last night for a few hours.

This morning I took care of the rest of the mail, almost finished cleaning up the apartment, cut my hair, and packed for my quick trip to MD. I meant to go get pictures taken to send with my Vietnam VISA application, but I forgot. Not a big deal- I still have plenty of time to deal with it when I get back.

Not much to say today.

This August journal file is so small.

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