Picture of the day: SOLD! 

Selling Furniture Makes me Happy

"Bobby" came over and bought a lot of my stuff, which makes my life easier. Other people have expressed an interest in the things that he does not want, so this is good. No one, it seems, wants my bed, which is the most expensive thing I have to sell, in other words, the thing that I need to sell. But I cleared $300 for the couch, kitchen table and chairs, coffee table, end table, a tall bookshelf, and some other odds and ends. I cut him a deal, and I didn't mind too much, because now I don't have to move the crap.

I still have lots of other crap to get rid of, but it might be easier to move at a yard sale or something. Plus, if sold more individually, I don't have to make any deals.

Lunch was good with my colleague, although he barely provided me with any gossip. But it was interesting to hear what he is working on and entertaining to talk to. "Bobby" was also a lot different this time. We chatted for a long time, about life, relationships, school, etc. He has a girlfriend and seems more confident in himself than when I first remember him, which is awesome. He also bakes muffins and will get my muffin trays. He did not seem like the sort. I absolutely love when first impressions work out to be wrong, because then you are always pleasantly surprised in a divine sort of way... Like it renews your faith in folks or whatnot. That is of course unless he screws me out of my money, then that cad has it coming.

I didn't get on the ball today about calling my landlady. A part of me is like "how can I throw together a yard sale in a day?" but then the other part of me is like "well, why do I really need her permission anyway? But I suppose that do. Bah.

I was also fortunate to sell another book on Amazon this past week, but unfortunately the sales just trickle in, so I end up getting like $7 a month from the sales. But that is $7 I didn't have already. I've been pretty religiously watching the Philadelphia Craiglist to check out part time jobs, and have thought about nannying and baby sitting. Will look more into it when I head back to Pennsylvania.

Picture of the day (part deux): Mackinac Island flowers. This is my favoritist photo from the whole trip. 

Cross Your Fingers for Me

Okay, so I just got off the phone with "Bobby" a pseudonymn for the boy who will be moving into my apartment in August. He was glad to hear from me, as he had stopped by on Tuesday, when I was out of town. To "prove" that he had actually been here, he noted that there was a package at my door. Hmm. Should I be impressed or scared? Anyway, he will stop by after work, and he'll be wearing bright neon because he does road construction. Details, details. Who needs details when this girl needs cash. I hope that "Bobby" has saved up this summer and can afford my high quality items. I should hence go and clean my bedroom, as I am hoping that he'll remember how much he thought that the lofted bed was cool, but honestly, I know myself. I'll end up putting all the clothes on the floor away on the floor in the closet or something. I also need to price other furniture like my beautiful plastic furniture. And how can I spin my couch into a boy couch? Wish me luck.

I also am having lunch tomorrow with a colleague who wants to talk shop and Peace Corps and Ivy League. He's an enjoyable character and perhaps will provide me with some office gossip. Don't judge. I live for office gossip, but that is only because I've worked hard to make my life as undramatic and boring as possible that I sometimes have to check and make sure that I have a pulse. Living vicariously helps. As does selling furniture that neither of us will have to move. Again, keep your fingers crossed for me that I can unload some heavy shit.

Picture of the day: May 2005, Cleveland, Ohio. Walking for a cure. 

Ugh

Well, I have done nothing today. Absolutely nothing. And I have things to do. I don't know what it is. I don't have the excessive heat to blame anymore. Lifetime Television is not that exciting. But what can I say.

Thankfully a friend came over to use the printer and I was able to sell her some clothing and we talked about putting together a rummage sale this weekend on completely last minute notice. I'll call up my landlady tomorrow and see what she thinks.

I have gotten several e-mail responses about my furniture which is good, and I do plan on calling the gentlemen who will be moving into this house about whether or not they'd like to come in and buy some furniture. I need cash and hopefully doing this can clear me $400. That will not last a long time, since I have bills to pay and whatnot, but it will help.

I also need to start putting together a packing list for Ukraine that includes items I do not currently own. Items such as 1) a decent raincoat 2) a professional suit 3) an alarm clock that uses batteries 4) a wireless shortwave radio 5) new sneakers 6) new shoes that are durable and professional 7) new luggage that will not be stolen 8) a travel towel 9) a dream digital camera, the list goes on and on and shows that I have got to do more than sell $400 worth of stuff. People who get married can expect to have this shit given to them, no questions asked, but people who either live together, or move into a new apartment alone, or do something like join the Peace Corps have to get it out of their own pocket. Society sucks.

Picture of the day: Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan. Eric took this pic of the Falls, which are the third largest east of the Mississippi. 

Milwaukee

Back in October, when there was still a possibility of this country having different leadership, Eric and I went to see Morrissey in concert in Milwaukee. I know what you're thinking, "why Milwaukee?" Well, it was the only concert within a certain radius that happened on a weekend when we both could attend, so we went and had a great time at the show and a great time in Milwaukee. The city was totally rad, who knew? The art museum is totally beautiful archetectually and the city has tons of good eats. I raved so much about the place that I was eager to go back and when my mother was into coming out this summer to take in some baseball games, I told her that we should see the Brewers in Milwaukee. We went to the game on Monday night and boy oh boy it was actually pretty fun. These midwesterners start off all nice and mellow, but when it's baseball time in Milwaukee, it's also Miller Time (the name of the ballpark is Miller Park, go figure) and they become as loud and obnoxious as any Philadelphian. The Brewers did win and we spent the next day walking downtown and checking out all the art deco buildings and then went to Miller Brewery for a tour. It was free, by the way. Anyway, the tour was not all that great, but it was interesting and you got some free samples at the end of it.

After that, we decided to take off and head back to home. She did not necessarily care if we made it all the way back to Bowling Green, so I suggested that if the weather would cooperate (it was raining at this point) that we go to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for some photo ops. There was some serious traffic jams in and around Chicago. We went (no lie) 30 miles in two hours. Traffic doesn't really bother me, I lived in Boston for two years and only after a year and a half did it begin to bother me. But then the rain started to come. Evil horrendous torrents of rain and big black clouds that never lifted. I pleaded to get off the road and we ended up staying in the nicest (and cheapest) Days Inn in Porter (or Portage??) Indiana. I have to give them a shout out, because it was so nice. We then went for some dessert next door at Denny's (I had done some serious driving that evening and I deserved a reward). Our waiter only charged us for one sundae and then we ran back to the hotel for the evening.

Although I don't think that my mother was as charmed with Milwaukee as I was, I totally dig that town. It rocks.

Picture of the day: Me in the tent at Tahquamenon State Park 

Tahquamenon

Going back to my earlier adventures in the UP, after I finished with Mackinac Island and took the ferry back to get the car in St. Ignace, I headed further north to Tahquamenon State Park for the evening. Tahquamenon hosts a set of waterfalls, the Upper Falls being the third largest waterfall east of the Mississippi, behind Niagara and some place in Kentucky. It measures second in volume behind Niagara.

In the morning I set out on a hike from the campground down to the smaller of the two, the Lower falls. We had read in our guidebooks that you can take a canoe to an island in the stream (haha, now I've got that song stuck in your head, don't I?) where you can view both sides of the Lower falls. I was rather surprised at  my company's dexterity in the water as he skillfully took us all around. After I had viewed everything I headed back to the campground and to the car to take on the Upper falls some miles upstream. After many many steps down to the viewing platforms I came to the waterfall. It was beautiful, but when compared to something like Niagara, it fails to compete. What could hold its own against those mighty falls though? It was beautiful and somewhat serene, and I took some photos and then marched back up all the stairs and then headed out to our next scheduled stop along the way--the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Pointe, which was also another really great stop and provided the first views of Lake Superior.

For anyone keeping track, mom and I did make it to the Tigers game, even though it rained like cats and dogs (or Tigers and Lions?) before we got in. The Tigers won against the Twins and tomorrow we should be off to take in our third and final game in Milwaukee.

Picture of the day: Mackinac Island, beautiful Arch Rock

Cincinnati

Well, we made a whirlwind tour of Cincinatti, and honestly, it probably would have taken half the time that we allotted for it. The city does not have a lot of things for tourists to do. There are several art museums, but after reading about the collections, we decided that they didn't really have anything that we were really interested in seeing. We also went to check out some river boats on the Ohio River over in Kentucky (right across the river) and well, they didn't have anything either, other than a shuttle to the Reds game. When I asked if they did a "tour" of sorts, the woman said no, that it was mostly a shuttle. Well, we walked across the bridge in about 10 minutes, so we decided that we'd keep our $4 per person.

Our lunch at the Rock Bottom Brewery adjacent Fountain Square was lackluster too. Mom complained that her lunch was not as it was listed in the menu and mine wasn't all that great. Oh well.

We decided that we would spend some time investigating the Freedom Center, but didn't leave enough time to take it all in. Focusing on the plight for freedom that various peoples (predominantly African Americans) it was very educational and we didn't even make it through the top floor before the museum closed and we spent about a half hour out on their patio waiting for the Reds game.

The Red s game basically did make up for the rest of the city though, as we had good seats, the game against the Brewers was exciting, and we had excellent company as a gentleman from Vermont sat next to us who was originally from the city to provide some local color as well as some expanded social commentary on the East too. The Reds won, which is always cool to see the home team win.

The next morning we decided to check out the Mt. Adams area that according to the brochures was Cincinnati's answer to Manayunk outside of Philly. That area was really pretty and beautiful. But we were ready to head home and I had pumped up the Toledo Art Museum so much that she wanted to check it out. She was impressed!

Tomorrow we head to Detroit for the Tigers game. Hopefully that will be as much fun.

Picture of the day: A view from Mackinac Island. 

The Out of Town Visitor

Today, early, I went to the Toledo airport and picked up my mother. She will be in town for the next week, and boy oh boy, the fun times have already begun. We went to see the new Johnny Depp movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" which was really really good. I guess I should say that it's more Tim Burton than Johnny Depp and the kind of movie that makes me really enjoy what film can do--transport you to a different place, a different reality, a place where possibilities are endless. Anyway, we both really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow morning we will head off to Cincinnati for a Reds game and to check the town out, maybe even make it into Kentucky. Who knows. Should be back on Saturday.

After that we head north to Detroit for a Tigers game. And then it's Milwaukee for a few days to check out the Brewers. In case you didn't know, my mother loves baseball.

I do tons of these quizzes, but this was just too uncanny...

In a Past Life...

You Were: An Albino Assassin. Where You Lived: Ukraine. How You Died: In Childbirth.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

Picture of the day: Sunset at Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island

After I spent the night in St. Ignace, doing such tourist things as eating a pastie (pronounced pass-tee, people--get your minds out of the gutter, will ya?) going to Castle Rock and the Mystery Spot (you'll have to see it yourself--the mystery consumed me, so we had to stop), I spent the night at Foley's Creek Campground in Hiwatha National Forest, which was my favorite campsite on the whole trip.

Mackinac Island, and specifically the Grand Hotel, is listed in Patricia Schultz's 1000 Places to See Before you Die, and after visiting, I see why. No cars are allowed at all on the island and you must take a ferry to get there. Once you dock you see numerous horse carriages carrying tourists, packages, and luggage over the busy streets. Perhaps there are more bicycles than horse carriages, and even more pedastrians walking around buying fudge and the like. Honestly, I didn't know what else there was to do on the main streets of the town other than buy fudge.

But the Island itself is certainly something out of an old movie. The Victorian homes, lighted streets with big flower arrangements with geraniums and purple petunias. The Grand Hotel itself is wicked expensive (something like $300 a night per person) and huge. I gawked at the large and beautiful summer homes that belong to the millionaire families of the midwest. Ah, such is the life, right? Conversely, we overheard many different languages walking around, the non-English typically coming from folks who either worked at the Grand Hotel or from the Eastern Europeans minding the fudge shops--those who cater to the wealthy midwesterners. It was all so... weird... yet really charming at the same time.

I only spent a night there, at a lovely B&B who's keeper was from Pennsylvania and had wonderful things to say about Ohio. I am still in shock. I ate dinner at a nice restaurant that overlooked Lake Huron as the sun set on the Round Island Lighthouse, and the newer automated lighthouse a few hundred feet away. It was beautiful.

The next day was spent walking around the island away from the crowds. A large portion of the Island is a state forest, encompassing Fort Mackinac, which I visited the day before. I ended up getting lost on some trails, but eventually found my way back to the main part of town, but it was certainly worth it. On this Island of many, I certainly found peace and quiet, overlooking the Great Lakes which surprisingly look like pictures I've seen of the Caribbean. It was so absolutely gorgeous and took many photos.

While the time on the Island was short, I definitely felt like I packed as much into the experience as possible, and perhaps one day it will be worth revisiting. But only if I can stay at the Grand Hotel!

*Sigh* Now I have to clean up my bedroom, the only room left to clean before my mother arrives in tomorrow morning.

Picture of the day: Nothing but blue skies. Ohio, summer 2003?

Storms

Yesterday afternoon there was a severe thunderstorm alert for Northern Ohio for the entire evening. Here they seem to take those things very seriously, more seriously than in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and after experiencing storms here, I understand why. I am not entirely too sure what the deal is, but because of all the wide empty spaces and farmland, I suppose that storm-like weather can produce tornadoes. Also they always cause rain to pour down like a faucet has been opened right above your head. It rains torrents here and when it does thunder and lightening, the sound cascades from very far away sounding horrific and very scary. If you happen to be near the center of the storm it is even worse. I can typically sleep through such storms, but not here. They are the loudest, most violent storms I have ever experienced.

Yesterday the storm did arrive, but did not thunder or lightening. Just poured down rain like cats and dogs for about a half hour and then produced a beautiful rainbow (even a portion of a second one) that I saw when I returned some of my library books. Driving back to my apartment, I noticed that a part of the rainbow appeared to begin or end in the BGSU football stadium, something that I hoped someone who cared was around to appreciate or get a photograph. Because of the trees in my backyard, I was unable to get a picture of it myself, but it was so glorious to see after not finding any for over a year and a half. I'm sure that there will be another before I am to leave town.

Picture of the day: Frankenmuth, Michigan. July 2005. 

Frankenmuth, Michigan

I should probably wait until for photo contributions before I start posting about our trip, but I am a void today of what to write about, other than my procrastination in cleaning for several guests who will be coming in this week. One of which is my mother, which means that I have got to do a thorough job if I don't want to be harrassed about what a lax housekeeper I am. Seriously, my place is never too bad, but I did just spend all of June in another home and wrote a 150+ page thesis. Cut me some slack, okay?

Anyway, I will start by telling you all about the first and most bizarre place we went to on the trip. On the drive up Interstate 75 to our first scheduled night stop, a national forest campground in St. Ignace, Michigan, I kept passing these billboards for Frankenmuth in old-like script promising tasty Bavarian food.  I was intrigued. Before I departed I had purchased several books to aid the trip. They were both informative and good, so I will give them a shout out: The Moon Handbooks Michigan was terrific, as was Michigan's Best Campgrounds. A copy is now available on Amazon.com, if you are interested in purchasing that book for yourself. So, curious about what exactly this Frankenmuth town is, I refer to the Moon guide, which has this to say: "It would be easy to dismiss Frankenmuth as the worst kind of overcommercialized kitsch. 'Michigan's Little Bavaria' once was a quiet and undistinguished German farm town of just more than 4,000, but has since grown to become the state's top tourist attraction, with an estimated three million visitors each year. (144).


Did someone say kitsch? Tourist trap? Oh, I am so there. The place was extremely ridiculous and I just kept shaking my head as we drove through the two blocks or so of absolutely
Barvanian kitschness and parked in the Vistor's Center parking lot. Walking around the town left less than to be desired. Unless you are hungry enough for a chicken dinner (something we never did figure out exactly what it was) or want to buy ugly souvenirs, it's best just to drive by this little town. It was surreal, like being trapped in a bad Epcot Center ride, but it was memorable, and I bought some tasty treats that aided me on the rest of  the way up to St. Ignace. The food was exceptional, I got a hot pretzel and a carrot bunt cake that was so delicious. I also didn't make time for the Bavarian Riverboat cruise or go to the Bavarian shopping mall, so maybe my view is skewed. Anyway, if you are ever up in that part of Michigan, I do recommend at least taking a spin around town and picking up some food.

Picture of the day: Drive-by Ohio. 

10 Things I dislike about Ohio

Like Fox News I prefer to be fair and balanced, providing you, dear reader, with both sides of the story.

Some time ago I highlighted some of the magnificent things this fine state has to offer. Today, I will address the downsides to living in what is typically referred to as a "fly-over" state.

10) The Indians. Not those people who come from Asia. Not those Native Americans who had their land stolen by the white dudes. The Cleveland Indians. It's hard for me not to grimmace everytime I see the mascot on hats, shirts, and so on. I just find it offensive. What can I say? I've overly P.C.

9) Location. Location. Location. Okay--so I survived four years literally in the middle of nowhere. But I was young then and able to invent fun. Now it's just depressing and lonely. Detroit is not that far away, but I ask you, would you want to hang out in Detroit? No. I've been there, I was not shot at, robbed, or hurt, but why take your chances? And of course, there was the programmed response my friend and I got when we were mere prospectives at BGSU: "There's always Toledo." We later assessed this in the hotel room asking ourselves, can this really be true? Because when I think about the cities in America that inspire me to think to myself "yeah, living there would be cool" Toledo, Ohio is not on that list. Hell, if I had to place it on that list, it would be somewhere after Detroit, Michigan. I have ended up actually liking Toledo, but I believe that this is almost entirely due to the Toledo Museum of Art. Actually, it is entirely due to the Toledo Museum of Art--it's fantastic and it has a Wyeth. I also later heard said friend (who became my roommate) use that line "there's always Toledo" not in jest on one occasion, and knew that it was time for him to go....The Scientologists had obviously gotten to him.

8) ugly American cars. Hey, I love America, let's not mistake that, but Detroit, we have a problem. Someone has got to pretty these ugly cars up so that people will buy them. And not just Americans. UAW is strong out in these parts, and Jeep has a factory in Toledo, so I understand, but oy, they are ugly and not the most safe or longest lasting vehicles on the market.

7) Lack of interesting vacation spots. Listen, everyone knows someone in Ohio. But no one visits someone in Ohio. Yes, I have had two (2) exceptions: once a friend and her then dude were traveling cross country. As Ohio is in fact in the United States, the country she was traversing in a westerly fashion from the Northeast, it was bound to happen. The second time a friend was visiting a college and I was only a little over an hour away, so why not? These were both circumstancial. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to see them both, but again, if Ohio was home to say, New York City, or Los Angeles, more people would come. Ohio should think about this. Dayton does not exactly rivet tourists. The best thing Ohio has is Cedar Park, and I don't do roller coasters.

6) Lack of diversity. This could simply be due to where I am situated, but there are not really any other types of visible people other than white straight people. Coming from working on a college campus with people of all sorts of backgrounds, this was really disappointing, although I can only imagine that in Ukraine, there will be even less diversity and probably less of an availablity to be open.

5) Along with number 6 is the lack of diversity of opinions. Students here often times seem content to think alike, dress alike, talk alike, and not ask questions. This is the majority. There are those special students who question both their professors and their peers and who are active politically on either side of the aisle, and I applaude them. It's just not many of them, and attempting to be an educator in such an environment is saddening.

4) Tornadoes. This is scary stuff, if you ask me. All the buildings on campus post tornado emergency directions, which are reminiscent to fall out shelter directions and is just plain scary. However seeing one from a safe distance would be cool. The downside is that they say there is no safe distance when watching a tornado.

3) Pop is soda. Even though at Kroger the sign above the aisle says "soda."

2) The food. Memphis, you think bbq, right? Philadelphia: cheesesteaks. Baltimore: crab cakes. You get the idea. Certain parts of the country are known for certain culinary delicacies. But Ohio? It's a void. It has been the home to the worst Indian food I have ever had, for one, and several heinous crimes in my book. One: They toast all subs. Yes ALL. You have to specifically ask for them not to do it. It's like did I call Quizno's? No. So why are you burning my hoagie? Number two is the worst in my book: the pizza here is awful. AWFUL. In certain parts of the country, you wonder why places like Domino's and Pizza Hut can exist because their pizza is so yucky. Here, all pizza tastes like that. You can't get a slice of it anywhere, meaning that if you want it, you have to order an entire pie of the stuff. It's not even like Chicago's deep dish, which has it's time and place. It's just heavy on the dough, no flavor to the sauce or cheese, and kinda doughy. My mom I think questions why I always want to eat pizza when I am at home, this is why.

1) November 2, 2004. Any possibility for a love affair with Ohio ended on that day. Ohio, I will never forgive you. Well, I could. But you'd have to do more than send me $30 in the mail as a "tax refund" buy my forgiveness.

There are always other little things, but those I suppose, are the main complaints.

Picture of the day: Chicago, August 2004. 

Chicago

After coming home, I was able to check my e-mail and see that some of the volunteers had gotten the promised packet from the Peace Corps that indicated that our staging would take place in Chicago.

This was almost a given, as I had read earlier that Ukraine groups almost always leave from Chicago, but a part of me was definitely still holding out for Philadelphia for obvious reasons.

Things are moving quickly and even though I realize this, I don't think that I fully appreciate the magnitude of my decision. I will be leaving the country soon and leaving it for a significant amount of time. I did not get homesick in England or in Russia, but I was also only gone for 3 months and was fortunate in one case to already speak the language and the in the other case became friends with another person from BG who spoke Russian fluently and we passed most of our afternoons together. Plus, all of our excursions and such were in English and my host mother spoke English. Essentially in some ways I cheated the system, but felt at the time that learning Russian was not a priority like living the culture as much as possible. Boy, I wish that I would have paid more attention. But at least I know and remember all the niceties.

I feel that I need to work harder on learning Ukrainian and reading about the country. This vacation has set me off and with the wicked sunburn I achieved I am more interested in watching television than engaging my brain in activities like learning a new language or reading the history of my new home. Of course, I also need to plan things like what am I going to take, how am I going to get rid of my furniture, and what can I do to prepare myself to teach English and what sorts of things can I bring over to help me accomplish that goal.

My confidence of a few months back, especially when waiting to hear about the organizations final decision and placement for me has begun to crumble. But I suppose that most people have doubts about any major life changing decision, right? Cold feet and the like? Sometimes it seems so overwhelming that the excitement of it is gone--but I still feel like it is the right thing to do now. But I suppose if it was so easy it wouldn't be the toughest job you'll ever love, right?

Picture of the day: Outside the Walter Gropius House in the Boston suburbs, summer 2003. 

It's Friday already?

Who knew?

So, yes, we are back from our trip to Northern Michigan. It was beautiful. Unusually sunny and clear for the whole trip. It was marvelous and we did a lot of camping and were successful. We did stay at a few motels along the way, economically friendly ones, which was helpful for my dwindling wallet. We camped 5 nights, did 3 nights at other accomodations (hotel, motel, and a bed and breakfast), saw 6 waterfalls (this number could be wrong?), swam in 2 Great Lakes (Superior and Michigan), got stung umpteen times by mosquitoes and black flies, hiked numerous trails, climbed several dunes, took tons of pictures, ate 14 hot dogs, 6 potatoes, almost finished 3 pounds of fudge, and bought numerous postcards, and looked at amazing amounts of chotch, which of course I did occasionally buy: 2 mugs, 3 t-shirts, 3 decks of playing cards with pictures of national parks (for Ukrainians). Conservative, I might say.

Unfortunately, I got burnt on our last day laying out on a beach in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. I'm a dumbass. I got burned severely back in 2002 out in Provincetown in Cape Cod because I neglected to put on sunscreen. It was so bad that I could not walk for several days and my legs got hard as rocks. It was awful. This looks like it might not be so bad, but I certainly do feel a swelling when I walk around, so it looks like I have license to relax. Unfortunately, I want to clean and also try to look for a job because I am broke. We shall see how that goes. I will detail more of the trip once I get some photos back to accompany the entries. Every day was fantastic and we saw so many beautiful things!

Picture of the day: Summer 2002, Cape Cod, exhausted. Boy, do I know how that feels! 

Picture of the day: Something rotten in the state of Denmark? Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, July 2004. Happy Birthday President Bush! 

Picture of the day: I am DONE! Here is another rainbow, just missing one of the water towers here in Bowling Green. Symbolic or something, I guess! 

Done!

Today I turned in my thesis. Unless the graduate office calls me back because of format issues, it is done. As such, I picked up a cap and gown, as it seems that I really will be graduating in August. You can just call me Master Molly from now on!

Today was also a very busy day as we prepared for camping tomorrow (actually later today, as it has stretched into the wee hours of the morning): I had not only my thesis to tend to, but various other errands to run, like holding the mail, picking up some things in town, going to the bank, etc. There was also a trip to the camping goods store where I picked up a new sleeping bag and a leatherman tool, so we can ward off any bastards we meet--don't worry Mom, we'll take 'em!

After that, it did not end, as we still needed to buy groceries and attempt to put up the tent in a practice run. I also needed to do my laundry. Eric and I headed off to the laundromat around the corner from me. Everything started swell enough, and we headed off to Walmart so Eric could buy some flip-flops. After we returned, we noticed that there was a strange crackling sound and some flames coming from the dryers. Hmm? Smoke was spewing from above the unit and filling up a part of the dryer itself. We went and fetched the laundry lady, and she couldn't quite see the flames?! Eric was given the extinguisher and he went to town. I've never seen one of those things in action, but he obviously either had previous knowledge or had studied Backdraft really well. Gotta love Kurt and Patrick! Anyway, thanks to Eric, the place did not burn down, and myself and another patron took our wet duds elsewhere to dry. Nothing says "bad for business" more than flames from ancient dryers.

That was probably the most exciting thing of the day, although I did beat Eric at air hockey, as I finally went to the 'modern laundromat' in another part of town. It was cool and really clean. I don't think that I will be returning to the other place... We checked this evening and it was still standing!

We also were successful in our trial run of the tent set up. And in the near dark!!! We are ready to take on the Upper Peninsula, and I will let you all know how it all went--we have no set plans on when we will get back--just depends on the weather and how much we can stand eating potatoes. No, this is not some Ukrainian thing, I'm just not into buying pots and pans for camping, so if you can't put it in the fire with some aluminum foil, I ain't making it! But we will most likely be back in a week. Some of the places we will be visiting are: Mackinac Island (http://www.mackinac.com/), Hiawatha National Forest (http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/hiawatha/), Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (http://www.nps.gov/piro/), and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (http://www.nps.gov/slbe/). Wish us well!

Picture of the day: Americana theme party, Newton, Mass., early July 2002. Who am I? Dorothy of Kansas.

Happy July Fourth!

Well, most people have off today and here I am, getting up earlier than I have in a looonnnng time. At least since I defended.

Today I will be spending time doing some American things. I will be driving, ensuring that I am going to burn fuel and cause pollution (yay me!), I will cook some deviled eggs, an American summer time bbq and picnic specialty, attend a bbq, and probably go and see a movie. I also need to throw away about 3 bags of trash, which does include recyclable items, but as Bowling Green doesn't recycle, off it goes into the trash (yay me, again!) Consume, consume, consume. Ah, how proud our Founding Fathers would be.

I hope that my other fellow Americans are enjoying their day off. America, we certainly deserve, don't we?

Picture of the day: The completed thesis, ready to roll! 

Crap!

Well, it took a lot longer to reread and revise my thesis for the final time. The good news is that it is printed out and ready to head off to the Graduate College office on Tuesday morning.

The bad news is that Eric is coming to BG tomorrow morning first thing and I have yet to begin cleaning and it is past 5pm. I also have not yet bought a sleeping bag for our camping trip, or taken the car in to get its oil changed.

There were so many things that I planned on doing before he got here: cleaning, returning library books, oil changed on car, sleeping bag purchased, laundry done, itinerary ready... The list goes on and on, but it's obviously not going to happen. He'll be lucky if I can get the bathroom cleaned and the kitchen floor scrubbed. Joy.

Picture of the day: Border between Norway and Sweden. Taken from the Norwegian side. 

Beautiful Day!

Outside it is gorgeous. After a storm came in a few days ago, the weather has been wonderful. I could turn off the air conditioner and open up all the windows and feel a nice cool breeze in the apartment. Today it is sunny, but cool. Socks and sweater are needed.

Sorry, I was just now interupted from my faithful blogging by the Church of Latter Day Saints, or whatever name the Mormons are going by nowadays. This comes just a day after two women Jehovah's Witnesses came to my door. It seems that I am always the only one who is either around or bothers to answer the door for these people. Oh well. Neither were pushy and left me alone. I might even consider asking them in to chat, but my apartment looks like the Apocalypse took place here. Sadly, one of the Mormons was really cute. I say sad because it is probable that he is only 18.

Anyway, today I will read the thesis, check the footnotes, and print it out. So close, but still little motivation. There is a bio about Prince William (speaking of younger men...) on television, and this is much more interesting than reading.

Picture of the day: Peterhof, city of fountains

Today was a Good Day

I finally was able to head back to the gym this morning for the first time in maybe three weeks. It felt good to do that, even if I did have to start over to an extent. Especially with the weights. But thankfully, the gym won't be closed tomorrow or Sunday, so I can continue this weekend.

This afternoon, I was able to pick up the final revisions from my director. Before that, I went out to lunch with the kitties owner, which was also nice. She informed me that my reader said that my thesis was good. This was after she informed him that comments like "it's not a train wreck" are not considered constructive, especially to females who solely hear "this is crap." I redid the revisions this afternoon, and the table of contents too, after conferring with colleagues. I also want to reread the entire thing tomorrow and make sure that I did all the of the footnotes correctly. Joy! So, technically, after tomorrow, it will be done. Just will need to print it out and put it in a binder and hand it in to the Graduate Office on Tuesday. Another copy will go to the department and I'll bind a copy for myself. I can then rejoin the land of the living, and call back all of you that I have not chatted with in forever!

The rest of this weekend will be spent cleaning, because my place looks awful. Sunday afternoon I can get rid of most of the clutter, as I will finally be able to return all the library books.

The only potentially bad thing that happened today comes as the first woman Supreme Court Justice announced her retirement. This could potentially f*ck things up, but we just have to have faith that the judges who are appointed have a respect and love of the law and do not bend to public pressure. The administration also needs to realize that appointing extreme conservatives to the bench is no different than accusing liberals of "judicial activism." It will be interesting to see how this takes shape. Again, let's all hope that it's someone that everyone can live with.