Ohio/Michigan

Even though in the big scheme of things it's never really mattered to thousands upon thousands, the prospect of someone from Ohio wanting to spend time in Michigan (or vice versa) always raises eyebrows with some, especially if you've lived in Columbus (Go, Bucks!). So, why would an Ohio boy be heading out for a weekend in October?

For the Fall Gathering seminar from Innovative Martial Arts, of course. If I can work out transportation issues, I'll get to train with Mushtaq Ali al Ansari and Steve Van Harn, among others. I'm always up for more knife fighting techniques; the prospect of learning Zulu knife techniques is just too good to pass on. See, all those essays your teachers forced you to write about "Compare and contrast x, y, and z" can be good for something, in this case comparing Filipino, Western, and now African knife fighting styles.

And, my hand will probably be fully healed by then--I can now hold weapons again--so I might actually be able to do some work!

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Degrees of Separation: 3

Last night, The Wife and I entertained a government agent in our home.

I pondered letting that line stand by its lonesome in this entry, but I don't want to worry anyone :). Actually, this person is an old high school friend of The Wife's who was back in their old stomping grounds which are a stone's throw from Ithaca, so he visited.

He's a real nice guy. It was weird how much his mannerisms resembled those of our friend in Columbus who's in the CPD. They're even about the same height and build, now that I think of it. He and The Wife shared a lot of stories about the good ol' days, and he had a lot of cool stories about the vagaries of life as a G-Man. I learned lots of interesting things.

• According to him, it's rather difficult for his agency to actually arrest people. Now, there are circumstances where he could presumably just take you out. But, to arrest you, he has to get it cleared with his supervisor who in turn must have it cleared with the US Attorney.
  
• "The most powerful Federal Laws," as E's friend put it (jokingly, I think), are 18 USC §711 and 18 USC §711a which prohibit misuse of the characters and slogans relating to Smoky Bear and Woodsy Owl, respectively, either of which could get you six months.
  
• I'm a mere three degrees of separation from this incident

Hey, The Man is still The Man, but still...

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This Overload

I don't know how I did this to myself. Actually, I do know. My eyes got bigger than my, well, eyes, in this case. I've lost track of all the books I've borrowed from the library, purchased, or um, borrowed digitally. These include, but are not limited to:

• Sudden Fiction: American Short-Short Stories edited by Shaparo and Thomas
  
• The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
  
• Collected Stories by Gabriel García Márquez
  
• The Notebook of Anton Checkhov by guess who
  
• Torso and Fire by Brian Bendis
  
• Not to mention about 5 books on writing that I'm just picking at bit by bit
  

Ah, how the sin of gluttony often goes beyond the stomach.

So, the agenda for today? To go down to the Commons, of course, to see if this indy record store that I know has an above-average Sons of Champlin selection has the new CD, of course.

Update

1. I forgot to add Aliens in America: The Strange Truth About Our Souls by Peter Augustine Lawler, which is sort of the anti-Bobos in Paradise.
   
2. The response I got from the scruffy indy record store guy: "I thought Secret was the last one. Last Tuesday? Really?" So, I had no choice but to do what I've done all of twice before, but order it. Now that I think about it, the last time I ordered a CD, it was a Champlin one.

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This Definitely Isn't PC, But...

Can it possibly get any gayer than this...?

Musical Lestat To Hit Boards

After more than two years of development, Warner Brothers Theatre Ventures on Aug. 23 told the Los Angeles Times that it will be ready to premiere a musical adaptation of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in December, with a Broadway opening planned for next spring.

Called Lestat and featuring a score by the famed pop writing team of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, the production will star Hugh Panaro, who has appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables, Show Boat and The Phantom of the Opera, the newspaper reported. Also in the cast are Carolee Carmello, Jack Noseworthy, Jim Stanek, Roderick Hill, Michael Genet and Allison Fischer.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

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Childhood Favorite

One of my favorite games from childhood was to see two pictures side by side and have to spot the differences between the two. I got quite good at it, too.

Now, as an adult, I get to do the same thing, thanks to Glen Feron's The Art of Retouching site (via Neil Gaiman). Now, I get to click on models' photos, mouse over them and see what they looked like before they were Photoshopped.

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Why Champlin Rules

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait a bit before I get the latest Sons of Champlin album, Hip Li'l Dreams. The Wife'll kill me if I buy a CD while we still have to weed things out of our weekly grocery list. (Plus, she's not exactly the biggest Bill Champlin fan in the world, which isn't helped by the fact that I play his stuff constantly.)

Fortunately, to tide me over, I've got this video of saxophonist Grady Nichols ("Who?" Don't worry about it.) featuring The Champ singing Stevie Wonder's "Heaven Help Us All". If you have trouble with it hanging, close the window and try it a couple more times. Honest to God, you'll be glad you did!

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

You scored as A classic novel. Almost everyone showers praise upon you for your depth and enduring relevance. According to your acolytes, everything you say is timeless, erudite and meaingful. Of course, none of them actually listen to you. Nobody listens to you at all, but it's fashionable to claim you as a friend. Fond of obscure words, antiquated notions and libraries, you never have a problem finding someone to hang out with. The fact that they end up using you to balance their kitchen tables is an unfortunate side effect, but you're used to being used for others' benefit. Oh the burden of being Great. A classic novel 86% A coloring book. 82% Poetry 64% A college textbook 57% A paperback romance novel 57% An electronics user's manual 54% The back of a froot loops box 43% Your Literary Personality created with QuizFarm.com

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Not Getting Our Groove On

Ivy League and I had dinner plans tonight about 90 minutes away. But, between the fact that she's exhausted from her third full day at her new gig, and fighting off a cold, and the fact that, if how I feel today is any indication, I'm probably fighting off said cold, we're probably staying home tonight.

Probably just as well, because what was originally going to be a small dinner party sort of blew up into a full-fledged birthday party, complete with kids. We wouldn't want to infect a whole mass of our friends.

Incidentally, I'd just like to mention (in an entirely non-cry-for-help kinda way) that if it ever came down to it, my new preferred method of suicide is downing 116.03 shots of espresso or 80.02 cups of drip coffee while singing Suicide is Painless. Of course, since I've taken to combining the two lately, let's just call it 75 Shots in the Dark Juna Jolts.

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Gems

Shirley Jackson's The Lottery - What student of high school advanced freshman English didn't read this one?

Hunter S. Thompson's The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved - the historically first Gonzo piece

And now, my favorite, from writer Jay Pinkerton, with apologies to all my friends of the Caucasian persuasion. But, since a lot of you are fellow martial artists, I know this'll make you laugh...



$3.00? Sign me up!

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Behind the Curve

I've always been a little behind the times. This thing was vogue, what, two or three months ago?



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

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Pinball Wizard

E and I saw one of these inside of DP Dough, a calzone chain, near Ohio U. We regretted not taking a picture of it when we had a chance, but I guess there are others around the country, indeed, around the world.

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Liberal Stupidity in the Media

Is there bias in the media? Maybe. But, there's definitely no shortage of stupidity. I've read whole lists of "legal, improvised weapons" (pens, rolled-up magazines, and the like) that you can use to defend yourself in the case of a terrorist threat on your flight. Yeah, because only even-keeled, responsible, and law-abiding citizens read Black Belt Magazine. I've seen pieces that actually advocate using windshield wiper fluid like you would Windex, something that's contraindicated by the skull and crossbones on the bottle.

But NPR takes the cake by featuring a commentator giving some general tips on how you, yes you, the average citizen, can get away with murder!

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Good Advice

Well, I've taken lots of martial advice from Mushtaq. I thought I'd take some musical advice from him as well. I almost missed it, in fact, because he posted his suggestion to watch The Burns Sisters Band at the Ithaca Commons right while the Mrs. and I were smack in the middle of packing for the big move. But, I caught it, and I went, and he was right--it was good music. Not necessarily my thing, but good music is good music. The vocals were impeccable and the lyrics were just about as deep as any of my faves. Defintely a band I'd go see again.

Here's the band's site.

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Week in Review

Talk to the Hand - Well, the swelling is way down, and my hand doesn't look as deformed as it did a few days ago. Everything seems to be moving back into place and I'm even getting a bit more freedom of movement back in my pinky. Still can't hold a weapon, though, but my left hand's gotten some training.

Speaking of Training - I didn't get to go observe the FMA class, because The Dude never emailed me back directions. Possibly, he didn't because I mentioned my hand, so I'll contact him again once it's close to 100%.

Jobz - Well, I'm following E's advice and trying to "grade up" from the Diamond Mines. There are a lot of Diamond Mines around here, and they're all hiring, but she's right. Plus, we live in NY where, as I've said, taxes and such are fux0red. There are some good opportunities at that "school up the way" where E works.

"That's the second time you've used fux0red." - Blame Cory Doctorow.

Agenda - I think I'm going to hang at The Commons tonight, maybe check out some music. I was there last Thursday, but left just as they were starting the apparently weekly "Music at The Commons" show. Why did I have to leave so early? See below.

How To Deal With a Single Car and the Price of Gas - Unlike A-Town, the bus system here 1) runs you just about anywhere you want to go in Ithaca, 2) runs at convenient times, and 3) has equipped the entire fleet with these fold down racks at the front of each bus that you can slip a bicycle on.

Have I mentioned how much I love this town?

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Wow, this fits in with my strange dream last night of cellos and short, blunt swords. Funny, that.

Which random phallic object are you?
Quiz by Andrea.

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Everything Old Is Still Old!

Someone with too much time on his hands wonders just why people are preparing to unleash remakes of Get Smart, Knight Rider, and The A-Team on an already frightened moviegoing populace.

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Sunday Dinner III

Today was another successful weekend day of food, fun, and friends. Ivy League and I got to see some friends that we hadn't seen in a few months along with a certain Irish clan who helped us move in three weeks ago.

Unfortunately (depending on one's POV), there were no pictures. We were all too busy eating, drinking, giving threepenny tours of the new place, and, well... eating and drinking. It was mostly a pot luck affair. My contributions were breaded chicken patties (there were supposed to be breasts, but, oddly enough, two out of the three grocery chains around us don't seem to have them) that I baked and topped with E's home made spaghetti sauce and parmesian cheese.

I'm mostly over being full and tipsy, but I'm feeling rather sore due to the impromptu chiropractic adjustment I got. Don't worry, it was from a practicing chiropractor who was one of our guests. He happened to be E's old chiropractor once upon a time, and she swore by him. From what I saw, his diagnostic skills are very, very good. I guess I had a lot of little problems, which isn't surprising.

I've had minor adjustments in the past, but by D.O.s. I've never been cracked like this. I never knew cracking that loud could be done so painlessly. And, there was loud cracking. Back and neck. I felt the cracks all the way up to the base of my skull. He did another Dx rundown, and I guess I was sufficiently messed up that he had to adjust my arm a little tiny bit. No cracking, but a third Dx rundown satisfied him.

E immediately noticed the difference in my posture. The Wife and I felt along my neck and spine, and all I can say is that it feels topgraphically different back there. Even better, I noticed a couple of hours later that my legs were awful sore. Why better? Because I also noticed my feet. I'm not sure how long they've been this way, but they had slowly taken to being turned inward about 5° (along the length, that is). Some other friends who do massage noticed this a few months ago, and wondered about any back tension I might have had, which of course they found before I told them where it was. Well, after this adjustment, my feet are straight and flat. I can tell the difference when I walk, too. My weight is being borne throughout each foot. Of course, that means the muscles in my legs/back are fighting as they try to figure out whether or not to stay where they belong, or go back where they were before.

I've got to go back to this guy. He's a little under an hour away, but his prices are very reasonable, at least they were five or six years ago as E remembers. In any case, he's worth every penny (that I don't yet have, but hopefully will be the time I can use another adjustment).

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Bandwidth Conservation Post

...so that all that's wasted is my time and bandwidth ;)

1. First name? Don

2. Were you named after anyone? Nope, although my middle name is based on my paternal grandfather's name.

3. Do you wish on stars? Not for the better part of two decades

4. When did you last cry? The day I got married

5. Do you like your handwriting? At its best, my handwriting has been compared to Thomas Jefferson's. I find it a compliment, even if it's not meant that way

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? Hard and/or genoa salami

7. What is your birth date? We've been through this on here already

8. What is your most embarrassing CD? It's a tie between The Best of the Art of Noise and the soundtrack for Dawson's Creek. And, they were both free, so shut up ;)

(Don't know what happened to number 9) Number 9,
Number 9, Number 9...(paul is dead)

10. Do you have a journal? Well, duh--and yes, I've got a private one full of things that will dash any hopes of a political career

11. Do you use sarcasm a lot? What? Me? No, never, not in a million, jillion years.

12. What are your nicknames? I've been called "Master P," "The Last Dragon," "Don the Dragon," "Don the Last Dragon," "My Horny Asian Brotha," "Don Juan de Marco," "Don Ho," "bubba," (remember: I've lived in Appalachian Ohio) and currently "My Huzz-binnd"

13. Would you bungee jump? Yes

14. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? 98% of the time

15. Do you think that you are strong? Nope--but then, I've always believed that smarts and cunning were better

16. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Death by Chocolate

17. Shoe Size? Just keep clinging to your Asian stereotypes...

18. Red or pink? Better dead than pink

19. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My inherent procrastination

20. Whom do you miss most? Dead or alive?? I miss everyone whose company I've ever enjoyed

21. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? n/a

22. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? You'll have to dial 1-800-555-SLUT to find out. $4.99 for the first minute, $1.49 each additional minute. Yeah, it's steep, but I live in NY now, and the taxes are fux0red.

23. What are you listening to right now? "Gold Mine" by Sons of Champlin

24. Last thing you ate? Coffee

25. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Mauve

26. What is the weather like right now? What am I, Al Roker? (see #11)

27. Last person you talked to on the phone? The Wife

28. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Their face

29. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes

30. Favorite Drink? Saranac Adirondak Amber, which I can now buy by the fcuking case!

31. FAVORITE SPORT? Anything involving competition between two, and only two, opponents

32. Hair Color? Black

33. Eye Color? Black

34. Do you wear contacts? Nope, too lazy

35. Favorite Food? Mom's lumpia

36. Last Movie You Watched? Batman Begins

37. Favorite Day of the Year? Any day with fall-like weather

38. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Scary movies

39. Summer or winter? Winter

40. Hugs OR Kisses? Both

41. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Coffee

42. Who Is Most Likely To Respond? Dunno

43. Who Is Least Likely To Respond? Anyone with anything better to do

44. What Books Are You Reading? Jinx by Brian Michael Bendis, among other things

45. What's On Your Mouse Pad? n/a

46. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? The Late, Late Show with Colin Ferguson

47. Favorite Smells? Coffee

48. Favorite Sounds? Coffee

49. Rolling Stones or Beatles? I don't dig too heavily on either, but I choose the Beatles out of principle--at least they know when to try something new other than be in the same band for 40 years

50. What's the farthest you've been from home? Manila, Philippines

51. Who sent this to you? DATU_B with the subject line "Touchy feely fun siht"

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My Week: The Expurgated Version

For the first time in a long, long time, I can truly say my week has been more or less quiet. That is not to say that nothing's been happening, though. I offer this truncated version, partly for the reasons I'll outline below.

Lefty - I sort of damaged my right hand in a training mishap. Ok, I wish. It was mindless punching as I went to sit down on the floor, and my hand connected with said floor. I think I dislocated my pinky knuckle, but managed to put it back before my mind could process what was happening, which is a good thing. Actually, I thought I broke it. But after enough balur and ice, the swelling is waaay down, and its range of movement is improving too quickly to have been a break. Obviously, this makes typing difficult, but not impossible.

Training Prospects - I've written about my contact with the instructor of the local FMA/WMA school here. In our second round of emails, I frankly explained my current financial situation (i.e. I have none), to which he politely and quite correctly responded with what his rates were and suggestions for alternatives around town. (Slightly pricey, but for who he is and the material he's offering, it's really quite inexpensive overall.) I wrote him back to thank him for his information and suggestions, as well as my intent to "see what your group is about as soon as I can." This, as well as possibly dropping a name that I resisted dropping to begin with, are the only reasons I can think of for him emailing me back with an invitation to check out his group next week, even after his frankness about his costs, especially his pricey one-time "Don't waste my time fee" for new students.

Currently Reading or Have Read:

• Cory Doctorow's Craphound, 0wnz0red, and Shadow of the Mothaship
  
• Brian Bendis's Hellspawn (Issues 1-5), with Jinx, Torso, and Goldfish on tap.
  
• Any peroiodical with job listings
  
• Ansen Dibell's Plot, and two other books from the Writers Digest series. Gotta love the Tompkins County Public Library.

I Dislike Remakes - How much? Next Tuesday morning, click here to find out.

Sunday Dinner III - Potluck party this Sunday with 4 adults and 2 children confirmed. I remember when 2 guests were too much for us to handle.

That's all my addled brain can recall right now. If there's anymore, I'll let y'all know.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

I knew I was forgetting something today. It was because (seriously) I didn't get my espresso this morning!

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

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First "Sunday" Dinner

It was actually yesterday's dinner, but Mamazoo has all sort of stuff to do Sundays, so we had her over yesterday. E picked her up out in Elmira and brought her back here to give her the grand tour. We did the usual stuff we used to do when we'd visit from Ohio: hang out, play Scrabble and/or Yahtzee, and eat! No lumpia that night, though. We had some spaghetti with some Italian sausage and our favorite Bully Hill Love My Goat vino!



After dinner, we spent a bit of time at a park that's right on one end of Cayuga Lake. It's not like living near Lake Erie, but it's close enough, what with the water, the lake breeze, and the gulls that would walk right up to you. It was the replacement for the usual visit to Harris Hill in Elmira. There were even swing benches.

The wierdest thing was knowing that it wouldn't be six months before we'd get a chance to do this again with Mamazoo. This is going to be regular, maybe once or twice a month. I can tell you, the ladies were ecstatic, too. Mamazoo was beside herself with giddyness when she sat down at our table to hang out and play games.

The other side of it is that spending time with E's family or mine doesn't have to be such a choice anymore, or the time-crunched misadventure that it usually is. Yes, the drive to my folks is a little longer, but neither of our families are out of the way.

Of course, this begs the question: What's for tonight's "Sunday Dinner?" Maybe some lumpia.

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The Nearness of You

Well, not "you" in particular--just in general. I remember a few days ago when I finally took a moment to relax and flipped on the TV. Regis was on, and when he mentioned NY, it occurred to me that I was a mere five hours away from him. That's roughly 300 miles, give or take a few. When I think of the sorts of things in a 300 mile radius of Athens, OH, I come up blank.

It was on or about the same day that I was rereading through my backlog of Eskrima Digest postings and found that Maha Guru Pak Victor de Thouars is going be in Cortland, NY in October, a mere 30someodd minutes away! And, that's another thing I love about this town. It's just the right distance away from everything. You don't feel clausterphobic nor do you feel like you're out in BFE somewhere.

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Once Upon a Time in Ithaca: Courtesy

Well, unless and until I step into a training hall here, there's no getting around the fact that I've got to start training on my own again. The recent photolog we've taken during our move highlighted this fact. It's been over a month since I've trained, and with the hectic pace of the past two weeks, my diet has been basically crap, and it's beginning to show.

It's one thing to eat crap when I'm working out. When I'm not, it definitley wreaks havoc on the waistline. So, at minimum, I'm going to pull out the old MMAC summertime curriculum and see what I can't do about starting up a small curcuit routine again. At least I finally managed to get in touch with the local FMA/WMA instructor via email.

I admit that I made a pre-judgement based on some of the photos I've seen of this person and things I've heard about his associates. Our email conversation shattered those prejudices a bit. I started out, thus...

I was writing to inquire about the [school's program]. I have recenly moved to Ithaca from Athens, OH where I trained with [my old club]. While there, I trained (among other things) [two styles of kali]. Also, I got to know two of the officers at the time, [guys I trained with whose names I dropped, and why the instructor would care]. While I possess a stick, my training with it has been minimal, but I would be very interested in expanding my skills there, too.

I'd really appreciate any and all information about your school. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Don

Now, one would think, based on common sense, that this should be Standard Operating Procedure for anyone looking for, well... anything. I didn't think this email was anything more than a solicitation for information. So, I was pleasantly surprised by this response, which began...

Don,

First off, thank you for writing a very nice, polite letter of introduction. That is a rare thing these days and much appreciated.

[stuff snipped]

I was wondering what kinds of letters of inquiry he usually gets. Knowing some of the freaks that inhabit the martial arts world, I shudder to think. But, it saddens me in a way. Are manners, even in the martial arts world, so passe that to see them is that much of a rarity? Even in the Filipino Martial Arts, where one misspoken word or stick pointed in the wrong direction in a salutation is enough to get that stick jammed straight up your earhole?

I remember when I first met DATU_B in Club. We were as polite and cordial with each other as we could be, for fear of putting off the other one. Of course, he found out in short order how much I sucked compared to him, but at the time, he saw a Filipino with sticks walk into the room. For all he knew, I could've been GM Cabales's grand-nephew or something. For all I knew, he could've been a recent grad of Hock's Scientific Fighting Congress.

But, even without the fear of unintended insults turning into challenge matches, you just don't walk up into someone's house for the first time and immediately announce that you're going to raid their 'fridge. But, maybe that's just me. Like a wise person said, "Common sense ain't so common anymore."

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My New Second Home

At this moment, I'm spending my second day at the Commons. I was here two days ago, looking around and remembering all the good things I loved about this place the last time I visited.

I found the coffee shop in the picture that The Wife took, namely Juna's Cafe. Now, I probably won't be spending as much time here as I did at Donkey. But, why didn't anyone tell me that this place is the love child of Donkey and the recently renovated Village Bakery?

As I walked around the Commons two days ago, I couldn't help but represent...

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Settling In

Well, Ivy League, being the busy-bee that she is regardless of her energy level, has managed to get most of the house in order. Not that I haven't done my fair share, mind you (I think even she'll admit that much ;)). My favorite of her work: the swanky shower curtain in the bathroom.



Sometime after the kitchen and dining areas got done, I got around to fixing up my new "command and control center" aka my Office Space.

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My Weekly Personality Analysis

Lest I forget...

You Should Learn French

C'est super! You appreciate the finer things in life... wine, art, cheese, love affairs. You are definitely a Parisian at heart. You just need your tongue to catch up...

What Language Should You Learn?

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And Now For Something Completely Different

Call it a little break from the posts about moving and adjusting to life in upstate NY.

Did we learn nothing from Highlander 2?

New Highlander To Shoot

Highlander: The Source, envisioned as the first of three new films in the popular supernatural franchise, will shoot in Lithuania starting in October, according to an announcement by Davis-Panzer Productions, Sequence Films and Grosvenor Park. Brett Leonard (Lawnmower Man) will direct, with Adrian Paul playing the immortal Scottish swordsman Duncan MacLeod.

I just know this thing is going to make Highlander: Endgame look like Highlander: The Final Dimension.

It's meme time
I rarely do the long ones. You know, "Name five things..." But, every week, American Nerd does a survey with more or less interesting questions. By far, the most interesting question was last week's...

Describe the movie adaptation of your adolescence.
Go on, take a stab at it. You know you want to.

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Recap: Moving Day 3

We had a problem the night before getting into the apartment itself, since we arrived after the Rental Office Hours. But, thanks to a nice, new neighbor and a responsive maintenance man, we got in after a brief wait.

The next day, after much hanging out with our help, we started the unpacking process, which really amounted to unpacking a few things and blowing an ungodly amount of money on miscellaneous things we needed. But all in all, it was still good.

Needless to say that we did follow the truck's advice as we were emptying it the night before.



By the way, Budget kicks ass.

The first two rooms we cobbled together were the living room and the dining room. A dining room with tables and chairs so that, as DATU_B said about his similar experience after his recent move, we can actually sit and eat like adults.

I love having furniture from each of the periods of my life. Ivy League likes the "retro swank," but it's something else for me. For instance, that bulbless lamp and coffee table are just slightly older than I am. As a toddler, I smashed my head into every corner of that table at one time or another. The futon is straight from Athens and used to belong to Mr. and Mrs. DATU_B. Ah, all the beer drinking and movie watching...



And, at the risk of sounding maudlin again, the other picture is that of our first Sunday dinner in our new home. Ivy League, partially due to her half-Italianness, was determined to reinstitute "the Sunday dinner" into her life, which is more than fine with me. Next week, we'll probably have Mamazoo over, now that she's a mere 45 minutes away.

Well, that's our move. Thank God "Ithaca or Bust" was not a bust. I need to find something productive to do, now, not the least of which is find a jobby-job.

Anyone hiring a former mental health worker with retail skills, fair-to-middlin' martial arts skills, an overactive imagination, and an overstocked vocabulary in the Ithaca, NY area?

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Recap: Moving Day 2

We got the rest of our stuff, sans one bookshelf, onto the truck, hence the look of disbelief on my face.



While we were packing, my dad "supervised" as dads are often wont to do while Mom packed enough food to last us a week.



So, we hit the road about 11:30 in the AM, and soldiered on. And, at exactly 2 PM on July 30th, 2005, we became New Yorkers!



Although, we still had another five hours of driving ahead of us...

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Recap

T-minus 12 hours until move time:



The looks on our faces still haven't completely faded.

T-minus 9.5 hours until move time: No, more than 2.5 hours had passed. It's just that we grossly underestimated the moving and cleaning time.



These were our last purchases from Donkey Coffee. Note the "symbol of the day"--very appropos in Ivy League's eyes.

T-minus 2 hours until moving time: 75% of the truck filled with 95% of our stuff. The other five percent we would pick up at my parents' house in Cleveland.



T-minus 30 minutes until moving time: After cleaning up, dinner, and a quick shower, we spent time pondering the close of the first chapter of our lives--not that we got all maudlin or anything ;).



More when I get more energy back...

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