I am an Air Force brat. Since my dad hasn't actually been in the Air Force for 17 years this doesn't really affect me except I have super warm coats and know the rules of saluting. But I'm learning to drive right now and so things sometimes come up that I imagine don't happen to civilian kids.
For instance, an example of a typical conversation between my dad and I when I'm behind the wheel.
Dad: Next left.
Me: I know.
Dad: And straight here.
Me: I know how to get to my house. I've lived here for most of my life.
Dad: I know but it's sometimes hard to think of directions when you're first learning to drive. It's like they say in the Air Force. "Aviate, then navigate, then communicate." Keep flying first, then think of where you're flying to, then radio in and say where you're going.
Me: They sure say a lot in the Air Force, don't they?
And then last night my windshield was super dirty and it was raining so that all I could see through it were glares of light and the occasional odd shape that could have been a car but might as well have been a horse drinking tea. So at dinner tonight when I was recounting the story there were plenty of "night flying" and "instruments only" jokes going about. And honestly, if I had to describe to someone just how bad the windshield was, I would probably say it was like being under the hood.
Also since the pilot in me has a need for speed I'm just waiting for the comment "You're driving a Subarau, not an F-117!"
At this rate I may have my pilot's license before my driver's one.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Random Wednesdays
Way back in the beginning of the summer my friend Kate told me that our friend Dan asked her to give him lessons on "how to be random". I quickly agreed to help and Random Wednesdays were born.
We didn't really know what that would mean at first. We had a few plans but not many that we really loved. The first Wednesday wound up being spent in a bubble tea shop with a few friends, including Gaylen and her three British friends she brought from Cambridge for a visit. The tea shop is kind of a gathering place for people from my school and as the night went on more people joined us including a crowd of people coming from a trivia night down the road. Unfortunately the slightly drunk librarian couldn't join us and her car had to be driven home by my friend Jordan. Dan came with the trivia group and all in all about 20 of us wound up at the tea house for nearly four or five hours. By the end of the night we hadn't really done anything random so Dan, Kate, Michelle, Ashley, and I waltzed/ran/skipped around the parking lot in front of a random person in a parked car for a bit and that was that.
The second Random Wednesday we decided to have a Night Picnic. NIGHT PICNIC! Except it rained. So we had to retire to Kate's basement where she had set up a "forest" including a plant, blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals including a Lorax. We had a great time.
Next Random Wednesday. My first one after coming back to LeakyCon. Kate, Dan, and I decided to dress up as vagabonds (a.k.a. "Land Pirates") and walk around the mall. Within two minutes of Kate and I walking in we passed a man who immediately burst out laughing after trying to hold it in. Then we met up with Dan. So there we went, walking around the mall. Me, covered in shawls. Kate, layers upon layers of ruffled skirts. And Dan? All black with red-lined black cape and a fedora with red and black feathers in it. Oh I'm sure the security guards loved us.
Fourth Random Wednesday was pretty tame. Dan, Chris, Kate, and I walked through the forest along the highway at night and just had a good time going to Wal-Mart and the grocery store while Chris tried to remember what he was supposed to remember.
And this brings us to last night's Random Wednesday. Another Night Picnic but this time at a playground by the highway we walked the week before. The same Picnic group gathered as last time (Dan, Kate, Chris, Elana, and I) along with the new addition of Colin.
Elana and I spent half the time comparing our new wands that we both got at Wizarding World this summer and swapping Harry Potter stories. And that was really great. Just completely nerding out about Harry Potter and having someone from my IRL life understand. When I told my StarKid stories from LeakyCon, Elana just got it and made jokes back to me. We talked about Doctor Who and counted the amount of times the Doctor has snogged people in the new series. It's funny. I spend so much time missing my URL friends that I sometimes forget that I have people like this in my very own town. For now at least as Elana will be leaving for college in two weeks. But I'll still have Brooke! My best friend who I haven't mentioned in this blog yet I don't think because she doesn't do things. That's her thing.
So I guess the whole point of this blog post was just to remind myself that I have damn awesome, nerdy friends outside of the internet, too.
We didn't really know what that would mean at first. We had a few plans but not many that we really loved. The first Wednesday wound up being spent in a bubble tea shop with a few friends, including Gaylen and her three British friends she brought from Cambridge for a visit. The tea shop is kind of a gathering place for people from my school and as the night went on more people joined us including a crowd of people coming from a trivia night down the road. Unfortunately the slightly drunk librarian couldn't join us and her car had to be driven home by my friend Jordan. Dan came with the trivia group and all in all about 20 of us wound up at the tea house for nearly four or five hours. By the end of the night we hadn't really done anything random so Dan, Kate, Michelle, Ashley, and I waltzed/ran/skipped around the parking lot in front of a random person in a parked car for a bit and that was that.
The second Random Wednesday we decided to have a Night Picnic. NIGHT PICNIC! Except it rained. So we had to retire to Kate's basement where she had set up a "forest" including a plant, blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals including a Lorax. We had a great time.
Next Random Wednesday. My first one after coming back to LeakyCon. Kate, Dan, and I decided to dress up as vagabonds (a.k.a. "Land Pirates") and walk around the mall. Within two minutes of Kate and I walking in we passed a man who immediately burst out laughing after trying to hold it in. Then we met up with Dan. So there we went, walking around the mall. Me, covered in shawls. Kate, layers upon layers of ruffled skirts. And Dan? All black with red-lined black cape and a fedora with red and black feathers in it. Oh I'm sure the security guards loved us.
Fourth Random Wednesday was pretty tame. Dan, Chris, Kate, and I walked through the forest along the highway at night and just had a good time going to Wal-Mart and the grocery store while Chris tried to remember what he was supposed to remember.
And this brings us to last night's Random Wednesday. Another Night Picnic but this time at a playground by the highway we walked the week before. The same Picnic group gathered as last time (Dan, Kate, Chris, Elana, and I) along with the new addition of Colin.
Elana and I spent half the time comparing our new wands that we both got at Wizarding World this summer and swapping Harry Potter stories. And that was really great. Just completely nerding out about Harry Potter and having someone from my IRL life understand. When I told my StarKid stories from LeakyCon, Elana just got it and made jokes back to me. We talked about Doctor Who and counted the amount of times the Doctor has snogged people in the new series. It's funny. I spend so much time missing my URL friends that I sometimes forget that I have people like this in my very own town. For now at least as Elana will be leaving for college in two weeks. But I'll still have Brooke! My best friend who I haven't mentioned in this blog yet I don't think because she doesn't do things. That's her thing.
So I guess the whole point of this blog post was just to remind myself that I have damn awesome, nerdy friends outside of the internet, too.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
College-ing: The Hunt- Part 1
So yesterday I went to go college hunting around New York City. And so I don't forget my impressions of the places I visited, I'm writing them down.
College One
Of the three I visited I think this one was my favorite. I mean, the first thing I heard when I got on campus was "Go to the castle." How can you go wrong with that!? I liked the more compact feel the campus had, the dorm rooms were nice, and it had a 24 hour library. Plus it seemed to have a solid history department. Our tour guide was pretty sweet, too. He kept misspeaking. My favorite things he said were "All the bathrooms have sinks" and "All freshmen are required to have cars". He's a senior and a history major. His general thesis topic is unity in the US during WWII. Seems pretty interesting. So yeah I liked this school.
Oh also the college used to be an all-girls Catholic school and this woman on the tour asked if it was "in your face Catholic". xD
College Two
This was a huge tour group and I could barely hear anything our guide said but my general impression of this school was that it is super artsy. And that they don't put a huge emphasis on the gen eds. So I could practically enter as a sophomore. And I don't think they have many history majors. But if I wanted to pick up a minor in film production and become the next Ken Burns then this would be a great place for it. And they have a Starbucks on campus. Just saying.
Before the tour started I heard a guy talking behind me and he kind of sounded like the serious actor type so I tweeted "Ugh. I think there's an actor who takes himself seriously behind me. No one should ever take themselves seriously. Especially an actor." Just hearing snatches of his conversation kind of reminded me of someone I didn't want to be reminded of. But as luck would have it his dad went to medical school with my father and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. A Shakespearean actor who's into Greco-Roman history. So sorry I made that snap judgment of you, Alex!
College Three
You seem like a lovely school for business and finance and economics majors who want to work with money and I know you have a great nursing program, but I just didn't get the feel that you were right for history nerds who don't really give a damn about money and don't have the patience for the Fortune 500. But you have a beautiful campus. And you have a farm. And a cute little pond. And you offer some pretty sweet financial aid and scholarships. And you seem organized. And I don't know if I'm seeing you objectively or not because of what happened right before the visit, though.
Before:
So here I am eating at a diner in Sleepy Hollow. I'm having a pretty good time. I'm awake. I have one more visit. And yeah Kara and Kristine are out of town and it'll be too late to visit West Point by the time we get there and I don't have Sierra's or Vikki's phone number to call them and possibly set something up and I missed Jason's exit. Okay. Whatever. It's not the first time I've had plans fall through. But then. Oh but then. I get a message. From Zach. Saying he'll be in Manhattan. Four. Hours. After. I. Leave.
Zach. My Llama. The one who I only just left in Orlando a few weeks ago. Who, living in Canada, I will probably have few opportunities to see again soon. Zach! It had to be him, didn't it? Mo? Okay we don't live that far from NYC or Poughkeepsie or someplace we could meet up. Alice? We're from the same general area. We're bound to see each other again. Kara? I wind up seeing you the most out of any of my URL friends. But Zach? A Canadian? Too. Fucking. Much. Ugh! Just another lesson in why life is not fair.
College One
Of the three I visited I think this one was my favorite. I mean, the first thing I heard when I got on campus was "Go to the castle." How can you go wrong with that!? I liked the more compact feel the campus had, the dorm rooms were nice, and it had a 24 hour library. Plus it seemed to have a solid history department. Our tour guide was pretty sweet, too. He kept misspeaking. My favorite things he said were "All the bathrooms have sinks" and "All freshmen are required to have cars". He's a senior and a history major. His general thesis topic is unity in the US during WWII. Seems pretty interesting. So yeah I liked this school.
Oh also the college used to be an all-girls Catholic school and this woman on the tour asked if it was "in your face Catholic". xD
College Two
This was a huge tour group and I could barely hear anything our guide said but my general impression of this school was that it is super artsy. And that they don't put a huge emphasis on the gen eds. So I could practically enter as a sophomore. And I don't think they have many history majors. But if I wanted to pick up a minor in film production and become the next Ken Burns then this would be a great place for it. And they have a Starbucks on campus. Just saying.
Before the tour started I heard a guy talking behind me and he kind of sounded like the serious actor type so I tweeted "Ugh. I think there's an actor who takes himself seriously behind me. No one should ever take themselves seriously. Especially an actor." Just hearing snatches of his conversation kind of reminded me of someone I didn't want to be reminded of. But as luck would have it his dad went to medical school with my father and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. A Shakespearean actor who's into Greco-Roman history. So sorry I made that snap judgment of you, Alex!
College Three
You seem like a lovely school for business and finance and economics majors who want to work with money and I know you have a great nursing program, but I just didn't get the feel that you were right for history nerds who don't really give a damn about money and don't have the patience for the Fortune 500. But you have a beautiful campus. And you have a farm. And a cute little pond. And you offer some pretty sweet financial aid and scholarships. And you seem organized. And I don't know if I'm seeing you objectively or not because of what happened right before the visit, though.
Before:
So here I am eating at a diner in Sleepy Hollow. I'm having a pretty good time. I'm awake. I have one more visit. And yeah Kara and Kristine are out of town and it'll be too late to visit West Point by the time we get there and I don't have Sierra's or Vikki's phone number to call them and possibly set something up and I missed Jason's exit. Okay. Whatever. It's not the first time I've had plans fall through. But then. Oh but then. I get a message. From Zach. Saying he'll be in Manhattan. Four. Hours. After. I. Leave.
Zach. My Llama. The one who I only just left in Orlando a few weeks ago. Who, living in Canada, I will probably have few opportunities to see again soon. Zach! It had to be him, didn't it? Mo? Okay we don't live that far from NYC or Poughkeepsie or someplace we could meet up. Alice? We're from the same general area. We're bound to see each other again. Kara? I wind up seeing you the most out of any of my URL friends. But Zach? A Canadian? Too. Fucking. Much. Ugh! Just another lesson in why life is not fair.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Life After LeakyCon
I have to say that it hurts to put down in words that it's been 3 weeks since I left LeakyCon. I don't want to accept the fact that it's already been that long since I've seen so many of my very best friends. And I can't tell if it seems like it's been shorter or longer than that.
But life moves on as it always does after Con and Tour Season (it's a thing now) comes to an end. You see you're URL friends less and actually start to answer when your IRL friends send you messages. You start going out with people you haven't seen since June rather than the ones you haven't seen since David Tennant was still the Doctor. You create memories with your IRL friends and soon the last time you were out that late it was because you were at the grocery store looking for peppers with Chris, Kate, and Dan rather than because you were sleeping in the lobby of the Royal Pacific with Annie, Kara, ShaSha, Zach, Alex, and the rest of the gang. And the blisters you got from running around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for five hours are replaced with the ones you got from going on four mile walks along the highway at night.
But the reminders of friends stick around long after everyone has left the conference halls. Just the other night when Chris, Dan, Kate and I were out walking, Chris decided that if he shuffled along he would expend less energy. Of course I was still thinking of LeakyCon and started to sing "Everyday I'm Shuffling". But as soon as I got "shuff-" out, I remembered where I was and that no one would join in. Kate looked over at me and asked "Everyday you're shuffling?" I told her never mind. Kate! One of my best friends for six years. I couldn't even explain to her why I stopped singing.
A similar thing happened earlier that night when Dan got in the car and brought with him the scent of Man Christmas. Man Christmas is what we smelled on the morning after the Roflcoptour stop in Poughkeepsie. Kristine, Patrick, Alex D, Mo, and I were just sitting in Kara's room and then this weird scent that can only be described as, in the words of Kristine, "Like Christmas, but Man Christmas." So when I smelled it in Chris' car I had to say something. And no one knew what I was talking about. I had to text Kristine and then I remembered she's in Europe and wouldn't be replying. So not only did I sit in Man Christmas for nearly 20 minutes, I couldn't share my emotions on finally finding the smell again with anyone.
I love my IRL friends, but it's those little moments like that on days like these that make you realize how much of your life is made up of things that only people miles and miles away would be able to understand.
But life moves on as it always does after Con and Tour Season (it's a thing now) comes to an end. You see you're URL friends less and actually start to answer when your IRL friends send you messages. You start going out with people you haven't seen since June rather than the ones you haven't seen since David Tennant was still the Doctor. You create memories with your IRL friends and soon the last time you were out that late it was because you were at the grocery store looking for peppers with Chris, Kate, and Dan rather than because you were sleeping in the lobby of the Royal Pacific with Annie, Kara, ShaSha, Zach, Alex, and the rest of the gang. And the blisters you got from running around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for five hours are replaced with the ones you got from going on four mile walks along the highway at night.
But the reminders of friends stick around long after everyone has left the conference halls. Just the other night when Chris, Dan, Kate and I were out walking, Chris decided that if he shuffled along he would expend less energy. Of course I was still thinking of LeakyCon and started to sing "Everyday I'm Shuffling". But as soon as I got "shuff-" out, I remembered where I was and that no one would join in. Kate looked over at me and asked "Everyday you're shuffling?" I told her never mind. Kate! One of my best friends for six years. I couldn't even explain to her why I stopped singing.
A similar thing happened earlier that night when Dan got in the car and brought with him the scent of Man Christmas. Man Christmas is what we smelled on the morning after the Roflcoptour stop in Poughkeepsie. Kristine, Patrick, Alex D, Mo, and I were just sitting in Kara's room and then this weird scent that can only be described as, in the words of Kristine, "Like Christmas, but Man Christmas." So when I smelled it in Chris' car I had to say something. And no one knew what I was talking about. I had to text Kristine and then I remembered she's in Europe and wouldn't be replying. So not only did I sit in Man Christmas for nearly 20 minutes, I couldn't share my emotions on finally finding the smell again with anyone.
I love my IRL friends, but it's those little moments like that on days like these that make you realize how much of your life is made up of things that only people miles and miles away would be able to understand.
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