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| Writer's Block: Two Tickets to Paradise | ||
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| Virginia | ||
I'm back in Boston. I had a great deal of fun with My sister, niece, brother-in-law, and mom. Maddie is a little ball of energy. Well, not little, she's quite big for a 7 year old. Smart and creative, but I just can't keep up with her. The day I arrived, Thursday, we pretty much stayed around the house and relaxed. My mom had already been there for several days and was already settled in. Friday, Christian stayed home while Maddie, Bridgette, my mom, and I went down to Georgetown. We hit Lush and Godiva and went to Dean & Deluca for lunch. While I've seen central meter machines in parking lots, I'd never seen a central machine for street parking before. I guess it is more efficient than having a separate parking meter for each spot, I'm just not used to it. The biggest disadvantage I see with the central machine system is that if it breaks down it disrupts the use of a number of parking spots at once. Saturday we drove into Virginia through wine country and went to Linden Vineyards (nothing to do with Second Live). That was my favorite part of the trip down. Relaxing doesn't even begin to describe the place. Surrounded by rows of grapes and vine watching the clouds shadow-dance on the Blue Ridge Mountains. The cigar Christian gave me to smoke at the vineyard not only went perfectly with the cheese and wine, but also with the surrounding tranquility. Sunday, I got up later than I had planned, but not so late that it caused any hassle in catching my flight. Upon leaving, Christian gave me some cigars, along with a 15-pack of Rocky Patel vintage 1992s, one of my favorites. My mom gave me a wonderful dragon cane when I arrived at the house and I was a bit worried about getting on the flight with 2 canes, but I didn't have any hassle and the return trip from Reagan National to Logan went smoothly. I had hoped to get some good bird pictures, but unfortunately my birding camera is not working. I noticed it my first day there. It seems to be a connection problem with the battery prongs, which should be repairable. But, I was glad to see that Maddie loved birds and birdwatching despite her father's hatred of them. | ||
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| Midwestern Gloom | ||
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| Morning Above the Clouds | ||
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| Voice Post: Landed | ||
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| Voice Post: Layover in Washington | |||
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| Voice Post: Zombie Travel | |||
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| Winging It | ||
I'm going to be landing in Saint Louis this Friday on a one-way airline ticket. It will be the first time my brother, my sister, my parents, and I will all be in the same place at the same time in over a decade. I'm looking very much forward to this. Sunday, we will all be heading down for the day to Murphysboro, Illinois - where I was born - to see my family down there. Sometime during my stay in Missouri I hope to see I also want to find a way to get to Columbia, I haven't seen the town for a long while and I'd really like to meet up with I plan to go home via rail and/or bus, but that leg of the trip has not been fully set in place. I will definitely be stopping in Saint Thomas, Ontario on the way back to spend some time with I'm also hoping to meet up with While this isn't well planned out, I have a good feeling about it. I'm sure it will be an adventure at the very least. | ||
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| In the Clouds | ||
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| Voice Post: Back | ||
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| Voice Post: Landed at the airport | |||
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| Near Departure | ||
Heading off shortly. I'm a bit worried about the possibility of falling at the airport. I've been having less vertigo episodes the last couple weeks, but I'm still having at least one severe one daily and I won't have a staff or cane with me at the airport. Most of my time at the airport will be spent sitting and if I'm sitting an episode won't be a problem, so my chances of a good trip are pretty high. Nevertheless, I'm worried. I don't want a huge hassle at the airport. Nothing I can do about it though. Qué será, será. | ||
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| Voice Post: Waiting for the bus in Burlington | |||
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| Free Snapes on a Plane Icon | ||
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| Above the Clouds | ||
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| Pride Parade 2006 | ||
I had fun with Every year the corporate side of pride gets more and more blatant. Near the beginning of the parade was a loud and obnoxious Delta Airlines float. Its booming stereo, by far louder than anything else in the parade, literally made me nauseous. I couldn't decided if I though the bad placement of the Stolichnaya float directly in front of the "Sober and Proud" group was amusing or disturbing. All in all, though, I had a good time and enjoyed being there. While the weather wasn't wonderful, it was still a nice change from the normal swelter Pride is usually held in and groups like the Stonewall Warriors still counterbalance the corporateness to a degree. And of course, the Dykes on Bikes were kick ass. | ||
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| Back in Boston | ||
I arrived back in Boston yesterday afternoon. The trip home was relatively uneventful. My flight left St. Louis at 7:05, and I have found that morning travelers tend to be far less eager to strike up a conversation than evening travelers. I saw my Uncle Dizz for the first time in many years, Thursday. When he saw me he exclaimed "Haven't seen you in a long time. You've got breasts!". He's a very nice guy, who is apparently doing quite well these days. It was nice talking to him again, even if my visit to his house was brief. That evening I stayed up until 2am talking with my mom on the back porch. We discussed many difficult issues and I still feel a bit not-here, but I'm glad we had the talk. | ||
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| Cities of Gold | ||
My flight from Chicago to Saint Louis was delayed and took place after the sun had gone down. In the air, I looked down and saw all the cities lit in the bright yellow street lights that are most commonly used now. I thought to myself... "shining cities of gold". I could not think of a more accurate description of what I saw below me. I was struck in awe. The sight is grand, and in part it is such sites that lead humans to believe they are above nature. Above the All. Much like Yzordderrex, these cities of gold are an imitation to the Great City of Gold that is both God and God's city, that is the Universe of a uncountable number of shining suns. It is a pale imitation we have built here on our rock, and even the smallest of those suns far outshine all of our cities together. Many would fashion humanity collectively as the new demiurge, above the All as true masters and creators of the universe surrounding them. But, humans only have the ability to change what is already here, we cannot create. We are but a small part of the Everything and therefore cannot rival the Universe, we cannot be greater than Everything. When we look in awe at the works of humanity, it is important to keep in mind the scale of the Universe and our place in relation to it. | ||
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| From Boston to Saint Louis |
I wasn't doing well yesterday before I got to the airport, and when I realized I didn't have the correct information with me after |