.fall.

.apparently, it is fall now.

i don't know how/when this happened, but one day it was 80 out and i had to wear skirts to work, and now i wake up and it's a nippy 46. what happened, boston!? where has summer gone?

now, i love fall. the colors are beautiful, particularly here in new england, the cooler air is nice and fresh, i love wearing big sweaters and cuddling up under a nice comforter, i love halloween and thanksgiving, i love pumpkins and gourds of all colors and sizes, the list goes on. what i don't love, however, are frigid boston winters, where the snow is piled as high as the first story of a building, and people have to dig their cars out in the morning. where my nose freezes on the way to work. etc. etc. that is what fall means to me - the coming doom of a boston winter.

i caught these flowers with a bit more light on them today. love them. they actually smell pretty good, too!

although today was actually really warm and nice and sunny, here is a little farewell to beautiful summer.

there are acorns all over the place. i didn't really notice last year - too busy settling in and trying to find a job, perhaps? but now, i notice them all over the ground. i definitely have been jacked in the head a few times walking underneath the trees to work in the morning. they're like little missiles - watch out! but to me, acorns definitely = fall.

i love these flowers. i pass them every day to/from work, and they're beautiful. they're just starting to die off, so i thought i'd snap a picture or two before the real onslaught of fall and winter.

i love the way the afternoon light hits the flowers in these shots.

hopefully i'll get some good foliage shots soon - there isn't too much red in the leaves yet, but i'm sure it will get there soon, particularly with this cold snap we just got.

.cheers.

.family.

.i'm thinking about christmas and, in my mind, christmas = family.

my beautiful cousins

just got off the phone with k, and it made me miss maui, but, even more so, it made me miss my family? or fambly, if you're into grapes of wrath.

the requisite 'behind the counter at sanch's house' pose

let me explain. lots of normal families live far apart from each other. they see relatives - aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents - maybe three-four times in their lives. they meet cousins once or twice. they have massive family reunions where they go to retreat centers and have potlucks and games and make "johnson family reunion 2009" tee-shirts. they pinch your cheeks. maybe you see them once a year at christmas. if you're lucky.


not my family.

my amazing cousins. minus k and b

growing up, my entire extended family was basically like a slightly extended immediate family. they were a constant fixture in my life, from birthday parties, to new years day parties, to summer weekend get togethers, to easter, to christmas, to caroling, to you name it. l and i were born a day apart, so her and i were basically raised like sisters - twin sisters, might i add, in matching outfits and all. k i wasn't so close to - she's so much older! and when you're 5, older cousins seem much wiser and cooler (now, i know better...ha! love you). i'm glad we're so close now.

possibly my favorite picture of all time. b looks like she has to pee. l looks adorable. k looks like she's on vicodin. a just looks like a happy fat baby. and i look like i'm ready to get away from these crazy people. has anything really changed? just kidding. i wish i had more old pictures uploaded onto my computer.

oh, and i forgot chinese food. every time our family gets together, i swear we go and get chinese food. at least it's good chinese food - thank goodness for linda and her connections.

l and i flying the space shuttle at seattle center. always young at heart.

did i mention that i love the diversity of my family? we're swedes and norwegians, but we are also thai and taiwanese. how awesome is that? although people don't believe me when i say that half of my family is asian.

anyway, my family is awesome, and i'm so glad that we all lived so close growing up. except for doug and sukanya's clan...they were a bit further away (i.e. thailand and japan). but still, we saw them at least once a year, usually more. i'm so grateful too that i grew up with my grandparents so close, both maternal and paternal.

grandpa leland. he is a tough old cookie!

the only problem arises during family gatherings, when you say, hey, will you take a candid shot of me? within 4.6 seconds, the entire family has swarmed around you, and the 'candid shot' has turned into a 5 minute long, strained photo shoot. yee viz.

thank god for fambly.

.cheers.

.tired.

.i am so exhausted today.

no particular reason, i don't think, and i have actually been sleeping really well recently. probably just drained from work, and i think i need to be working out a bit more. ah, geez.

j and i just finished 'no country for old men' - i think within the first five minutes, we had seen approximately 6 murders. maybe more, i lost count.

it's a dark, heavy, depressing movie, but very well done, and beautifully shot - pun potentially intended, i haven't decided yet. good movie, but have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it (i.e. ready to see lots of people die. and i'm not ruining anything when i tell you this. like i said, first five minutes.)

nothing else much new here. i have become a little obsessed with looking at people's photography sites. i think it may make j nervous that i am consistently looking at wedding photography, but whatever, weddings provide great shots and (generally) willing models.

as i type this, there is a raucous party of some sort going on in an apartment either above, below, or next to ours. since we're on the side with another house facing our window, the noise just echoes, too. it's terrible. i thought i left noisy neighbors behind when i left the dorms?

since i'm feeling a bit blah right now, and since the movie was so, well, dark and gloomy, i thought i'd try to liven things up a bit with some bright colors. i love the purple-y, red-y, pinkiness.




.cheers.

.alps.

.by the way, every since m posted about adobe's photomerge feature, i've been itching to try. in adobe's photoshop, you just go to file>automate>photomerge, and it will cobble a panorama shot together of images that you have taken. it's really sweet, and is great for large landscape vistas, and i was poking through my study abroad pictures today, and came across a series of pictures of the swiss alps, from my trip to murren. bingo!

so i had photoshop cleverly stitch together this shot. it's not the best panorama shot, for sure (check out m's blog for some sweet panorama shots), but it's decent, and photoshop does a great job. if you have enough shots stitched together, it gives you a fish-eye lens look. very cool. (i only have the 30 day trial of photoshop cs3, but it allows you to do some pretty neat stuff. i've been a bit hesitant to bite the bullet and buy it, i guess because i'm a bit of a purist - i don't like messing with my pictures).



by the way, recognize the tallest peak? yep, that's jungfrau, the mountain from my head picture above!

anyway, thanks for the sweet tip, m! i'll have to start using this more often.


.cheers.

.home.

.it is official - i'll be home for christmas!

booked my flights last night, and almost gagged due to the ridiculous price of tickets. and there i was, hoping that i could upgrade to first class via saved miles. tough luck. ah, oh well.

for those of you who care (and, i know, religiously follow my blog), i'll be getting into seattle the morning of 18 december, and will be leaving on the same early-morning flight that i always do on sunday, 28 december. so, that will be nice to have so much time at home. (kristin, will you be coming home for cmas?)

nothing else new here. tonight, j's friend from l. school is hosting a dessert party with his wife (i think she's the one that is hosting, really). they just had a baby, so i think it is mostly to introduce everyone to the baby. i'm going to make my dark and light brownies. mmm.


one thing that i think is funny - j decided to order pizza (apparently playing im football out in the rain makes you hungry...who knew), and he felt the need to order via the world wide web. so he ordered his pizza, and on the confirmation page, it shows you when the pizza is in the order, prep, bake, box, and delivery stages. so, we could see that fabio was prepping j's pizza, that it went into the oven at 2:14, and that omar is delivering our pizza. now that, my friends, is an example of way too much information.

a few more macro shots (told you i'm obsessed). flowers are even awesome when they're all shriveled and wrinkly. i love the visibility of their veins, and the texture of the petals - all leathery and dry.



.cheers.

.macro.

.i have decided that i am obsessed with macro.

macro photography, that is (as opposed to the computer science - but really, was there any question?)

for some reason, i just love getting really up close to tiny things - is that strange? i guess i just love flowers. and bugs. but it's fun shooting things that are so small, as you can often see things that you wouldn't notice with the 'naked eye.' i hate that phrase, by the way. don't know why i just used it.




these pictures are all taken with my little canon powershot sd800. i love that little sucker, and it's way easier and less-clunky than carrying around my nikon. don't get me wrong, i love the weight of the d-slr, and the feel of the lense in my hand, and actually putting my eyeball up to the viewfinder, but alas, dad has still not found the time to send the battery charger and installation cd, so i have all of these pictures and no computer to upload them onto.

anyway. so yes, i love macro. the last two images were taken today with fairly low lighting, so the pictures are a bit fuzzy, but these flowers are like weeds - they are all over the fences in the blocks surrounding our apartment. they are so pretty and dainty. and i just had to throw the hydrangeas in there. love hydrangeas.

due to my love of/obsession with macro, i really should get a sweet macro lens, but 1. they are expensive, and 2. i haven't really gone out and done 'shoots.' (although obviously, my bee photo shoot should count for something. he was an excellent model. very sexy.) clearly, i am no professional, nor am i an advanced amateur. i just love macro. is that a crime? no.


in other non-related news, i got together with a friend from hna last night! i haven't seen her nor really heard from her since graduation (i know, i'm such a terrible friend), but we finally got together. we live one t stop apart, so there really is no excuse, except that she travels all the time for work (can we say jealous?? japan? australia? c'mon, i should be travelling to these places for work too!), and i am somewhat of a grandma/recluse and for some reason seem to think that staying home and reading is socially acceptable, and that going to bed by 10pm is normal behavior. next, i will be eating dinner at 4pm and investing in velcro shoes.

anyway, it was really great to see her - we went to john harvards, got some drinks and dinner and caught up, which was really nice. it's great to have a friend in boston that is not either a. work-related, or b. a j/law school friend. so, we have vowed that we will make the attempt to get together more often (in between her ridiculous travel schedule, that is).

so that's about it. anyone else have any sweet macro shots they would like to share?

.cheers.

.work it.

.dear lord.

on sunday, i went to the gym while j went to play volleyball. i love the harvard gym, and the harvard law school gym. it's absurd, the amount of money those schools have - every single cardio machine has a little tv attached to it. ridiculous. but that's how i get my food network in!

anyway, so i worked out for an hour, which was nice, because i feel like i never have time to work out, and it was sunday, so it was fairly empty.

then, i went up to wait for j, and got 'roped into' playing. and by 'got roped into,' i mean i was dying to play, and j must have seen the longing in my face.

anyway, so we ended up playing vball for two hours. so much fun - i miss vball so much! even disorganized vball where some of the people look like they've never picked up a ball in their life.

i'll admit, it was a bit of a rusty start. hey, give me a break, i haven't played in over a year! but it was a lot of fun, and i got my groove back. obviously, because i'm the bomb. not really, but still. not too shabby, if i do say so meself.

i'm a bit sore still, though, as i haven't really used my vball muscles in a while. oh, and i have a massively disfigured left arm bicep now, because some guy on the other team somehow got around j's massive block and i got the ball up, but, as i haven't played vball in forever, my arms are not used to that level of passing (or any form of passing - out of shape, much?), and i literally felt my muscle slide over as the bullet-hit slammed into me. because at that point, i was not so much passing the ball as standing there and letting it hit off of me. ouch.

but still. lots o' fun. and i have hopefully weasled my way onto j's intramural team. which would be so much fun. cross the fingers!

not much else new here. apparently j got us tickets to an upcoming sox game, so that should be fun as well. i've only been to one so far, although i can't complain - it was a world series game! (thanks doug!!). so i'm excited about that.

my life is boring, basically.

.cheers.

.hurricane.

.these past two days have been incredibly muggy and sweaty. not that boston isn't always muggy and sweaty in the summer, but this is a different mugginess. it's much more dense and damp. like walking outside in a sopping wet, but still hot, comforter on. scratch that. shag rug.

thank you, hurricane hanna.

so i was walking to the store today, seeing as we badly needed milk and frozen blueberries, and was pleased with the air-conditioned goodness of shaw's. however, on my way home, it started to rain. in all fairness, i was somewhat hoping that it would rain, as i was already sweating as it was, and thought the rain would cool me down.

no.

it was that wet, tropical rain that is hot and not at all refreshing. like big shag rugs just falling on me. like walking home in a sauna.

thanks again, h. hanna.

so now there is a torrential tropical downpour outside that has been steadily falling for at least three hours, and the storm hasn't even hit us yet.

lovely.

i just hope that another hurricane does not disrupt my conference travel plans to new orleans for the sha in october. i need some beignets!


by the way, funny story:

as i was on the orange line coming back from work the other night, just minding my own business, doing my usual after-work-sudoku, i see a guy sit down one seat away from me. mind you, it was a fairly empty car (shocking, for rush-hour), so i was like, weirdo, and kept at my sudoku. then i see him, out of the corner of my eye, just staring at me.

naturally, i thought pervo/creepo/crazy man, and started looking around the car for large men, in case this guy grabbed me and tried to rape/stab/who-knows-what me.

he mumbled something.

excuse me?
i said, did you ever live in south africa?
um, no.
ah. you look like a girl that i went to school with there. who did a homestay in south africa.
i see. no, i have never lived there. i haven't even visited, although i would love to. i've heard it's beautiful.

he went on to explain that he was from south africa, was a pediatrician there, and spent all of his time off travelling. he had been in the states for two months. didn't like massachusetts at all, liked san diego and california, liked seattle. apparently he was forty - he did not look forty. at all.

to be honest, a lot of his story seemed a bit weird/shady/not true, but it was kind of neat that he was just a random chatty-kathy on the t. i feel like people get so wrapped up in their own little bubble that there is not enough of that human interaction.

.cheers.

.fiscal.year.

.this week is budget week.

.the bane of my existence.

well, not really. but it's pretty annoying/frustrating/eyebrow-pulling inducing/least fun part of my job. (i may be exaggerating, but only a little)

basically, i have been trying to determine what will be in our budget year for fy10 (and don't even get me started on this whole 'fiscal year' thing!).

and it astounds me how late some of these authors are! seriously, many of the projects on the classics list had contracted delivery dates from 2005 and 2006. three years ago! some even before that! it's ridiculous! and these are academics. i swear, they need to be herded, like sheep or children. these are the people that i so looked up to as a student. don't get me wrong, i still greatly admire those in academe. but honestly, people. i never turned papers in late. never! not even a day! and your manuscript is three years late? seriously? it makes me very cynical. i understand that emergencies pop up, i do. but there are only so many times i can take the excuse of "my wife and i had a child 8 months ago so i still am unable to work on the script." c'mon people.

it also astounds me how often people just don't respond to my emails or calls. how can you not respond to someone who has essentially hired you?

granted, we have many many amazing authors and editors who do get their scripts in on time, are very responsive, and are a joy to work with. it's just that other crowd that drives me nuts. it just is incredible to me how people who are under contract will be so late. i found one script that was supposed to come in 1997. still isn't in. sheesh.

in other news, yesterday was 'every student in the world pile back into boston day.' mayhem and turmoil, i say. so many people moving in! so much junk on the sidewalks! so many moving vans! ah, the good ol' days of college. how i miss thee.

i wish i could put up some of my pictures from my d-slr, but alas, dad still has the installation software, and without it, my computer doesn't recognize my sweet sweet camera. (c'mon dad! send it and the batt. charger already!)

*sigh* life is so hard.

.cheers!.

.family.

.for some reason, bristol palin's teenage pregnancy is incredibly ironic.

i know it is terrible for me to chuckle at a family's embarrassment and, some could say, misfortune, but it just seems so fitting that the teenaged daughter of the republican vice presidential hopeful is five months pregnant.

this obviously gives sarah palin the chance to pander to staunch social conservatives by espousing her anti-abortion views, but it just seems laughable to me that this would come up right on the heels of her candidacy.

i applaud the family for being so supportive of bristol, i do - apparently she has decided to keep the baby and marry the baby's father. but really, what else could they, or she, do? nothing. if she had done anything else, it would have imploded the republican campaign. as it stands, it still seems like the situation is slathered in irony - the party that generally promotes no pre-marital sex, etc. etc. has spawned this situation. it is a bit hard to take a tough moral stand when the teenaged daughter of the republican vice presidential hopeful is knocked up.

if anything, this just goes to show that we really do need more/better sex education in the u.s. none of this "abstinence only" education nonsense.

i just hope that the democrats don't start attacking the family, as it will just make them come off as sympathetic victims.

let's see how this all plays out.

.cheers.

.charlestown.

.yesterday j and i decided to make an excursion to charlestown.

first, we got sidetracked by st. anthony's feast, this massive festival in the north end that was basically an excuse for all of the italians in boston to come out and celebrate their italianness.

the statue of st. anthony, with garlands of money hanging off of it. who knows where all that money went. hopefully to charity.

i had actually heard about the feast, but didn't know when/where it was, and i think i didn't really understand how huge it was, either. to give you an idea - j and i walked down the length of a block, and thought that we were approaching the end. nay. the festival definitely spider-webbed over several blocks, and continued on ahead for another few blocks as well. massive. there was a live band (as opposed to a dead band) that was playing some pretty sweet oldies covers, and lots of old ladies dancing.


apparently it is a huge deal, and it was really fun to be in that kind of artery-clogging food, shoddy carnival games environment. no, really, it was fun, and neat that we just happened to stumble upon the celebration. so many people, though!


i was most excited to come across the stand selling torrone, possibly my favorite food in italy. it's a type of nougat, and i generally don't like nougat, but it's just so darn good. creamy, sweet, usually with almonds in it. there was one really amazing place that sold it on the via dei servi in firenze, but i don't remember what it was called. so amazing. i haven't had it since i left florence, so i really wanted to get some, particularly in such an italian setting, but i didn't really want to lug it around all day. sad times. maybe next year i'll stumble upon st. anthony's feast again. i was actually a bit surprised to see it, since it's mostly a christmas treat, but oh well. i'll eat torrone any day.

.yum.

mmm. terrible but amazing food. too bad we weren't hungry. probably a good thing, actually.

so that was a fun and random stop on our excursion.

after the st. anthony's feast, we continued on across the bridge to charlestown, which is quite the quaint little area. it's right across the river from boston, but it was so quiet. the houses were beatiful - lots of brick and colorful shutters.

we ducked into the warren tavern, which is over 225 years old. it was built in 1780, and includes paul revere and george washington among its list of frequenters. it's a really neat old building, with beautiful wood walls and beams. i was very excited to see boddington's on tap. the atmosphere was really fun and laid back, and the beers were great. it was very cool to have a pint where george washington and other such company dined and drank! on the whole, a very fun tavern, although if you do go, please do not order the food. at least don't order the shepherd's pie. shepherd's pie is possibly my favorite food in the whole wide world, and i thought that such a fine establishment as warren's would serve good, english-style shepherd's pie. no. the meat was incredibly oily, the three peas and two carrot slices that were in there were over done, and the mashed potatoes were (i am positive) from a box. so, the food was not so great. the atmosphere and the beers, however, were fine, and i would go back there for another drink.


j and i did the freedom trail last year, but had left off the bunker hill monument for reasons that escape me now - perhaps it had started raining? who knows. so it was fun to wander around charlestown, and then see the bunker hill monument.


as we approached the monument itself, there was a demonstration going on, and a revolutionary war soldier was definitely firing a musket. dang, those things are loud! so so loud, and it was just one musket going off. i can't imagine being at an actual battle with those things, and having hundreds and hundreds of them going off. it would have been deafening. and it was a little disturbing to see how long it took for the 'soldier' to re-load. definitely enough time to get your head blown off. ah, the good old days of warfare.

he looked a bit like fr. art. i miss him.

the monument itself was, well, a monument. nothing too special in terms of architecture, i don't think, but j and i climbed all 294 steps (what a workout!) and the views from the top were awesome. there was also a grate at the top landing where you could see all the way down to the light shining below - a bit eerie to have a measly who-knows-how-old grate as the only thing separating you from a 221ft. free fall.

i thought it was funny that people somehow snuck coins out through the window and onto the ledge. it's not a fountain, people, it won't bring you good luck!

the lovely city of boston

all in all, a very good day.

.cheers.

.candidate.

.i dislike mccain's choice of v.p.

no, that's not the right word.

i am offended with mccain's choice of v.p.

don't get me wrong - i am more than happy to see a woman in such a high spot in the government. it is great that sarah palin is the second u.s. woman to run on a major party ticket.

but, i fail to see how palin as a running mate would benefit mccain's campaign. it seems obvious that mccain is just trying to pander to the strong hillary supporters. and that is not going to work - for one, palin is staunchly pro-life.

to me, palin is a 'token female' that the republican party threw out there. for god's sake, she was a beauty pagent winner.

she is a member of the nra. she is a strong supporter of drilling in the arctic national wildlife refuge.

in my opinion, she was not the best choice for mccain. as i said, i am all for women in strong positions of power, but those women have to be prepared for those positions of power - or else they perpetuate old stereotypes. but palin has been the governor of a state - teensy in population - for two years. two years. actually, not even. 20 months. that seriously restricts mccain's ability to continue attacks on the lack of experience on the democratic ticket.

her voice also grates on my nerves.

i'm sorry, but when she talked about shattering the glass ceiling, all i could think was that hillary had already done all the smashing for her, allowing palin to rise up through the rubble with her beauty pagent smile on.

and let's be honest - we do need to consider that mccain is 72 years old. 72 years old. should anything happen to him while he is in office, palin would be completely unprepared to take on the presidency mantle.

.cheers.

.comfy.computer?

.i realize that due to my position, i am slightly biased in regards to this subject, but i don't care. i felt this way before, and i will continue to feel this way after i leave my job (which is hopefully a ways down the road!).

i read this article in the l.a. times today about how free online books are beginning to replace the "costly textbooks." i realize that book prices are pretty high - i do not miss the days of shelling out around $400 for textbooks. ouch. (i'm not talking so much about smaller publishing companies, like w-b, but the massive ones that gouge you for all you're worth)

however, it would be a real shame if computers ever replaced books. things like this article. the kindle. the crazy book retrieval machine in the santa clara library. they all make me sad, because there is nothing like curling up with a good book. or browsing the dusty shelves in the back corner of a library, cocooned in the dark, surrounded by weathered tomes. i love it. i love libraries. i love books. reading from a computer screen makes my eyeballs hurt.


there's almost nothing i like more than curling up with a good book.

and that definitely cannot be said about a computer.

.save the books!

.cheers.

.clouds.

.don't think i actually posted a picture of the view from mt. monadnock, so thought i would do that here. the clouds were awesome.



so gorgeous. i miss hiking around, climbing around like a little kid on the rock climbing walls down at uw. so much fun.

sheesh that trip was fun.


we saw tons of crazy mushrooms while we were hiking, particularly at molly stark state park.
big bright red ones,
pale orange ones,
some crazy spiked yellow ones,
even one or two purple ones.
these were just some ordinary fungi growing on a tree, but i always think that they look like little fairy steps.

.speaking of steps -
climbing up the
rickety
firetower
on mt. olga.
good thing we
didn't blow away.

and: the view from the top

lovely!

.cheers.

.cheese.

.i fail miserably at life. and by life, i mean blogging.

apologies, loyal readers.



this weekend, j and i went to vermont, via new hampshire, and it was ridonc. (ridonc = ridonculous = ridiculous)

first off, having a car is great. i mean, i as much as i enjoy not having a car (no "boston bumper" marring the back/front bumpers of my lovely bug, not paying 3.99+ per gallon, not dealing with insane boston drivers, riding the t with people with shopping carts that smell like urine, etc. etc.), it was really great having a car. you know, getting somewhere in 10 minutes that on the t takes an hour, randomly driving to little towns, etc. but i digress.

new hampshire is sweet. j and i got up extra early on saturday (no sleeping in for the crazies!), and drove up across the border. the drive is very picturesque and lovely. the entire weekend, as we were driving around, jeff kept commenting on how gorgeous it was, and i couldn't help but think that it looked very similar to washington! (although washington is obviously way more beautiful).

essentially, we drove a lot. peterborough, jaffrey, keene (sweet little town that i want to retire to, open up a cheese farm, and make quilts at). hiking mt. monadnock was probably the highlight, though. possibly one of the most difficult hikes i've done (c'mon, i'm a novice here, people). we went up the 'white dot' trail, and essentially we were scrambling up sheer rock-faces the entire time. not kidding. it was awesome. i am such a mountain goat. love it.


and the view from the top was spectacular. so gorgeous, with green mountains (more like big hills, compared to views in washington) as far as the eye can see. beautiful. and to our right, a massive thunder/lightening ball of storm that was fast encroaching upon us. a park ranger was like, uh, you all need to leave now. so, we definitely tried to race the storm down the mountain.

took the 'white cross' trail back down, which was supposed to be less treacherous. (it was only barely so)

about ten minutes into the hike (i.e. scramble/slide) down, it started crackling thunder right above us, and two minutes later, it was pouring. a little scary, but mostly exhilarating and fun. i loved every minute of it. had if not for the massive blisters (i really need to invest in some hiking shoes) and crowds of people, it could have possibly been a prefect hike (or rock climb, if you will). still, it was incredible.

after our thunderous hike, the weather was perfect for the rest of the weekend - perfect blue skies, nice and sunny. we visited lots of new hampshire towns, drove into vermont, sampled some cheese, visited more picturesque towns, had dinner and drinks. went to bed. brattleboro is a pretty neat town too.

i really wish we had camping equipment, because all of the parks we went to had sweet campsites. *sigh* it seems silly to have all that stuff without a car, though. someday.

sunday we hiked around molly stark state park, which had a cake-walk hike compared to monadnock, but an awesome view from the firetower at the top. i felt a little like it was going to blow over (i think it was built around the 1950s) - a bit rickety, but a very cool view.

i will let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

the white dot 'trail'
(boulders that we had to climb)


beautiful mt. monadnock. so many hikers!



beauteous vermont



crazy view from the inside of a covered bridge


awesome vermont church

.cheers.

.creme brulee.

.i love visitors.

colin is in town until friday, so last night him, j, ero and i went out for dinner and drinks at the sunset grill and tap, and then met up with hagan and toby at charlie's. mmm. i love charlie's. and the selection of beers at sunset is awesome.

it was great seeing colin, and hanging out with ero as always - it reminded me a bit of durham. ahh, how i miss those days.


at sunset, since i am obsessed with creme brulee, i figured that the southern tier creme brulee imperial milk stout would be a good idea. it wasn't. it could have been decent, but it was possibly the sweetest drink i have ever had in my life, and that include mike's hard lemonade. man, it was tough finishing that drink. but i did it. but please heed my warning and do not order. the only upside was that it is 10% abv.

great seeing hagan and toby again. all around good night.




.cheers.

.cayuse.

.flashback.

i would have to say one of the best parts of being a young'un was going to summer camps. although some experiences were more traumatizing than others (thank god gabs went with me to 'rockin' out!' the geology camp - which actually turned out to be fun, i'll admit it now), summer camp was awesome. those lazy hazy days of long sun hours and water moments were great. and nothing beats camp don bosco. i loved horses when i was little - still do, but get far fewer opportunities to ride now - and horse camp was possibly the best thing ever.

waking up at the crack of dawn as a teenager in the summer was tough, but it was so worth it to walk into that corral and pet those horses, and jump up on those horses and just ride. i was always a little bummed that we didn't get to canter, but oh well, c'est la vie. it was still awesome. and the people at those camps were always so much fun. the camaraderie of summer camp just can't be beat.

anyway, as i was walking home from getting j sick materials (low-sodium soup, gatorade, applesauce), i caught, just for the briefest moment and it was gone, the scent of the biffy.

ah, the biffy.

that lovely little outhouse that was the bane of campers' existence. i remember many a night, waking up in cayuse village when the night noises were loud and the moon was veiled by the maple leaves, having to slink through the dark to the biffy, praying some crazed bear wasn't hiding behind the open door, that some venomous snake or pervy man wasn't lurking in the disgusting depths of the hole. and the smell. oh the smell.

when i caught the whiff today, i didn't know whether to vomit, or start singing 'bang bang choo choo train, c'mon cayuse do your thing! ahhwoop *clap clap clapclap*'

i love campfire songs. man, i miss summer camp.

.cheers.

.seattle.

.hmm. apologies for the recent lack of posts. my seattle trip and the return of the boyfriend has caused some serious jams in the system.

but i will hopefully be blogging more often as my routine settles back into a more normal ebb and flow!

some highlights from my seattle trip:

• the blue angels! i have seen them every single year since i was teeny tiny, and i still get all excited when i hear that familiar rumble as they scream across the sky

• wandering through the wallingford farmer's market after my haircut. the abundant fruits and veggies were gorgeous, and although the market is small, i think it's a hidden gem. the market is on wed. from 3-7pm. you'll probably have to get street parking, as they close down the parking lot for the market.

• which brings me to....my haircut! i went crazy! my hair has been long for so long, i figured that it was time for a change. and i must admit, it is easier to take care of, and lots cooler for the summer. so short!

• a strapping young lad who was at least 5 years younger than me flirting with me at trophy cupcakes. it made me feel like an old woman. back off, buddy! i could be your grandma.

• trophy cupcakes. their cupcakes are amazing! the farmer's market blueberry, which they make on wed. in the summers in honor of the wallingford farmer's market, is great. my favorite is still the green tea, which is absolutely incredible. the vanilla chocolate is probably my second fav. i recommend all seattleites to go their at least once. it was even featured on marthastewart.com! it's funny, because i went there on wed. after my haircut, and then it turned out that shannon had their cupcakes are her wedding reception!

• while i was driving through the arboretum with all my windows down and my sunroof open, minding my own business and enjoying the (somewhat cloudy but beautiful nevertheless) seattle summer, i realized two seconds before that the sprinkler ahead was jetting out into the street. so my car interior got a nice little bath. as did i. it was awesome.
  

• seeing an old man in a really nice mercedes in, where else, madison park, primping while waiting at a red light. i'm pretty sure he trimmed some nose hairs, and all while holding a cigar in one hand and taking the occasional puff.

• walking around greenlake with my mommy, who apparently is ms. super-walker now. it was a beautiful day. i miss greenlake. snapped some good pictures. i love the one with the massive amounts of lily pads. if you look closely, you can see the turtles hanging out on the log.

• getting to see the fam. i miss mom, bear, and dad when i'm not home! so it was nice spending time with them. okay, and the cousins too. and aunts. i have an awesome family. we missed you kristin!

• finally getting a dslr! canon eos 20d. dad never used his camera, so he gave it to me. just had to buy a lens and memory card. awesome. i am so psyched. although i have never taken a photography class. i should probably read a book or something.

• holding a less-than-a-week-old kitten. no joke. i went to visit my mom at work, and she took me into the kennel area, where there was a pile of new born kittens. only two had their eyes open, and even then, they were still milky and cloudy. i got to hold one, and it was smaller than the length of my hand from fingertip to the end of my palm. it was so adorable, and soft, and i wanted to stick it in my purse and take it home to boston. it was mewing and snuggly and so so cute. i wish i had had my camera.

• seeing mary! yay! i miss my buddies when i'm gone.
  

• seeing sara and shannon at shannon's reception, and catching up with mary jo and jim. i really wish we still had our book club going; that was so much fun.

• being in seattle. period. i love that city (aside from the snarled i-5 traffic. that sucked. i don't miss traffic)

so, all in all a good trip!

last night, jeff and i watched the olympics opening ceremony. so crazy! china went all out for it - it was so incredible how so many of the displays had hundreds of people moving in unison. particularly the martial arts masters - was it tai chi? i don't remember. but there were over a thousand of them, and they formed all of these perfect circles as they were doing their routines. no marks on the floor or anything. it was crazy. and a bit disturbing. some of the things sort of reminded me of old wwii footage, with the rows and rows of goose-stepping nazis. but overall, it was an incredible show. bravo, whoever directed that! so impressed.

and it is always fun to watch all of the countries walk past! although there were some countries i had actually never heard of in my life, it was still so neat. those people have so much pride, even if they only have one or two athletes. the u.s. of course had a massive contingent, as did china and russia. the olympics are just so darn fun!

okay, enough for today.

.cheers.