Hey there...
Yes, you there, you reading this... it's been a while, hasn't it? Okay, where to start? Doing this in chronological order and (hopefully) keeping things a bit more concise than my usual tendencies probably makes the most sense at this point, so here we go (I'm sure I'll be forgetting lots of good stuff, but that's where we're at):
First, a brief update - - my understanding is that the person who has been charged with the murder of Christian Edward Martinez (see previous entries) is still behind bars, awaiting the actual trial. That's about as much of an update as I'm able to give.
Now, let's see - - the next 'big thing' happening was my sister's wedding in September. It was beautiful in both a physical and spiritual sense, the weather was fantastic (which was good, as the celebration was held outside at The Salvation Army's Camp Sebago), about a hundred folks attended, the State Street Traditional Jazz Band and thesaj provided entertainment during the reception, there was much laughter and a few tears as family and friends gathered (laughter especially pre- and post-wedding among those staying and hanging out at the Lodge), lots of good memories (the hours spent decorating provided many of these) ... and I now officially have a brother-in-law who I'm grateful to have as a member of the family. :-) I believe you can view some pics theSaj took of the event by clicking the link.
Jumping ahead to November, thelemurgod and I spent Thanksgiving at his mother's, eating lots of tasty food and spending time with his family, which was nice. Soon after we got home, we were surprised by a knock on the door and it was none other than MadHatter, who was in town on a surprise visit to his family (he moved to NC this previous summer and we hadn't seen him since the move). It was nice to have him sitting on the couch for a conversation again before he had to head back out.
December was a very busy (in a good way) month. LG accompanied me to my office/work party, which was held in the upstairs of a bar down in the Old Port, providing free pool games (which I hadn't played since The Well closed over a year ago), pizza and other food and dessert-type goodies... and I also scored a great sarong/wrap during the Yankee Swap, about which I was dead chuffed. :-)
One of the highlights of December was seeing Vivid Motion's take on the traditional Nutcracker ballet with their Nutcracker Burlesque. It was another sold-out run (second year doing it and second year completely sold out) and was quite enjoyable. We happened to see it on the final night, which also happened to be the night of a huge rain and windstorm in our area. All was fine until about ten minutes before the end of the show... and then the lights went out. After the audience waiting for a few minutes to see if the lights would come back on and then realizing that the entire Hill had no power (Munjoy Hill in Portland, Maine, that is ... we were at the great St. Lawrence Arts & Community Center), the dancers finished the show by flashlight, with the band reduced to a piano player, drummer and trombonist -- and it was FANTASTIC! The flashlights, supportive and happy still-full audience (no one left, to my knowledge) lent a strangely appropriate ambience to the whole thing, making the theatre feel like an old dance hall lit by gaslight or something. It was good and I encourage everyone who can to see it next year (no, it wasn't 'sleazy').
The following day was Christmas Eve and again thelemurgod and I were at his mother's for a full meal with all the 'Christmas trimmings' (which means LOTS of delicious homemade treats) with the whole family, which was fun.
Christmas Day itself brought an opportunity for my sister, her new husband, thelemurgod and myself to spend some time with my grandmother and step-grandfather, a couple uncles and a couple aunts (one couple plus one single of each gender, just in case it matters to anyone). Again, lots of food and laughter. I am grateful that LG's family and mine, though vastly different in some ways, are incredibly similar in other ways, one of which is that my jaw usually hurts by the end of any gathering due to the large amount of smiling and laughing which those gatherings entail.
LG and I hosted a rather relaxed gathering of friends from the area on Boxing Day (day after Christmas) and watched a couple of holiday-themed movies as well as a few episodes of You Can't Do That On Television provided by our friend Glade Swope. I think we had about eleven or twelve folks over, including former Mainers MadHatter, rook, and "Blue House Luke," who were all home for the holiday season (rook now lives in CT and Luke in... MS, I think?!?), as well as some newer faces added to the old familiar ones who usually grace our living room during these kinds of things.
The following week, LG and I were able to take a couple of vacation days and make a trip out of New Year's weekend. bradenboi joined us as we traveled to New Haven, CT, where we (peed and... lol) left the car at theSaj's before taking Metro-North to Grand Central Station and then walked to where my parents live. (And yes, I realize that if anyone is seeking to stalk and/or maim me, I'm making it quite easy to find me -- and no, that's not an invitation to do such a thing!) We were supposed to be meeting up with BradenBoi later that evening but, due to having had VERY, VERY LITTLE SLEEP the previous few nights, just couldn't get ourselves out the door to check out his dj'ing and his friend's show at 11:00 pm (sorry about that, Braden -- we will HAVE to check it out next time, as it sounds great, and we both want to spend more time with you NOT in a car!). Besides Braden, there were a couple of people we'd wanted to meet up with during our time in NYC who circumstances prevented us from having an opportunity to hang with (our friend Lori being one of them and one of the folks who'd made the wedding decorating hours such a hoot back in September), but all-in-all it was a very good time. An unexpected opportunity was thrown LG's way when our friend Mimi set up a meeting with her boss, Steve, at Flash Distributors in Brooklyn. After initial introductions and all that stuff, Mimi gave my mother and I a little tour of the company while Steve, LG and (for part of the time) Merril spoke for quite a while about Disassemblance and other things, and apparently Steve IM'ed someone at Oni Press while LG was there, so who knows where this may or may not lead. Whatever the case, it's a nice encouragement as LG works on any number of his 10,752 (or however many) projects at any one time. Thank you, Mimi -- and for dinner afterward! I was able to show LG a little of Queens the following day, as we met up with Marsha and her almost-nine-year-old daughter Celeste (who I babysat when she was an infant) right in Flushing, ate some good Chinese food and then hung out at their apartment in the Whitestone area for a while before heading back to walk around a bit and grab some coffee before joining with some of the folks at my parents to ring in the new year. I think LG, my mom and I were actually in their living room when the clock hit 2005, but we did go out to the roof garden for a bit to watch the fireworks and listen to the crowd from that vantage point.
On the first day of 2005, deepwoodsdancer joined us for a meal before bringing us to New Haven, CT, where we all ate some Thai food at a restaurant with theSaj and his mother. DWD had to leave that night, but LG and I stayed over at 'Saj's and were able to spend some time (with some, very briefly and with others, extended) with 25bluerose25, kevin_epperson (who we got to meet for the first time in person), KLNoise and the aforementioned rook (btw, sorry I was half asleep - I was glad to see you again and hope you're feeling better!).
[ETA THIS PARAGRAPH: The time-stamp on this entry is deceiving, as I'd started it in the 11:00 p.m. hour but worked on it between other things, finally posting somewhere in the 4:00 a.m. hour... and I believe that's why I neglected to say a huge THANK YOU to DWD for the ride from NYC to CT, which also afforded most of the limited 'chat time' we were able to grab this time around, as well as to theSaj for the overnight accommodation. Both LG and I had a great time, though a bit wiped out and therefore perhaps not being as 'interactive' as usual, and hope to see EVERYONE again on the sooner rather than later side of things, especially with 25bluerose25's upcoming move to the southern part of the country!]
After sleeping longer than we'd planned (I think it was close to seven hours), LG and I traveled by car to my other sister's and her guy's place in New Hampshire, where we grabbed some pizza, played with the dog, went grocery shopping and watched some cable tv together before leaving for Maine at around 1:00 in the morning. As the weather had been crappy and there was a winter weather advisory in effect, and as we weren't sure how we'd be feeling about traveling that night in general, we'd been playing the decision to stay overnight or travel home by ear -- though I would have loved to have stayed longer and spent more time with them (and my sister had off of work the following day, which is unusual), I'm glad we got on the road when we did because the weather started to get worse as we pulled into Portland around 3:00 a.m.
Today... I/we slept. And put stuff away. And got caught up a little on email and whatnot. And did a few errands. And enjoyed our final vacation day from our respective jobs. And now.... ahhh, sleep beckons. Perhaps some observation type of updates will come now that I've kind of done the "this is what's been up lately" entry. We shall see.....
First, a brief update - - my understanding is that the person who has been charged with the murder of Christian Edward Martinez (see previous entries) is still behind bars, awaiting the actual trial. That's about as much of an update as I'm able to give.
Now, let's see - - the next 'big thing' happening was my sister's wedding in September. It was beautiful in both a physical and spiritual sense, the weather was fantastic (which was good, as the celebration was held outside at The Salvation Army's Camp Sebago), about a hundred folks attended, the State Street Traditional Jazz Band and thesaj provided entertainment during the reception, there was much laughter and a few tears as family and friends gathered (laughter especially pre- and post-wedding among those staying and hanging out at the Lodge), lots of good memories (the hours spent decorating provided many of these) ... and I now officially have a brother-in-law who I'm grateful to have as a member of the family. :-) I believe you can view some pics theSaj took of the event by clicking the link.
Jumping ahead to November, thelemurgod and I spent Thanksgiving at his mother's, eating lots of tasty food and spending time with his family, which was nice. Soon after we got home, we were surprised by a knock on the door and it was none other than MadHatter, who was in town on a surprise visit to his family (he moved to NC this previous summer and we hadn't seen him since the move). It was nice to have him sitting on the couch for a conversation again before he had to head back out.
December was a very busy (in a good way) month. LG accompanied me to my office/work party, which was held in the upstairs of a bar down in the Old Port, providing free pool games (which I hadn't played since The Well closed over a year ago), pizza and other food and dessert-type goodies... and I also scored a great sarong/wrap during the Yankee Swap, about which I was dead chuffed. :-)
One of the highlights of December was seeing Vivid Motion's take on the traditional Nutcracker ballet with their Nutcracker Burlesque. It was another sold-out run (second year doing it and second year completely sold out) and was quite enjoyable. We happened to see it on the final night, which also happened to be the night of a huge rain and windstorm in our area. All was fine until about ten minutes before the end of the show... and then the lights went out. After the audience waiting for a few minutes to see if the lights would come back on and then realizing that the entire Hill had no power (Munjoy Hill in Portland, Maine, that is ... we were at the great St. Lawrence Arts & Community Center), the dancers finished the show by flashlight, with the band reduced to a piano player, drummer and trombonist -- and it was FANTASTIC! The flashlights, supportive and happy still-full audience (no one left, to my knowledge) lent a strangely appropriate ambience to the whole thing, making the theatre feel like an old dance hall lit by gaslight or something. It was good and I encourage everyone who can to see it next year (no, it wasn't 'sleazy').
The following day was Christmas Eve and again thelemurgod and I were at his mother's for a full meal with all the 'Christmas trimmings' (which means LOTS of delicious homemade treats) with the whole family, which was fun.
Christmas Day itself brought an opportunity for my sister, her new husband, thelemurgod and myself to spend some time with my grandmother and step-grandfather, a couple uncles and a couple aunts (one couple plus one single of each gender, just in case it matters to anyone). Again, lots of food and laughter. I am grateful that LG's family and mine, though vastly different in some ways, are incredibly similar in other ways, one of which is that my jaw usually hurts by the end of any gathering due to the large amount of smiling and laughing which those gatherings entail.
LG and I hosted a rather relaxed gathering of friends from the area on Boxing Day (day after Christmas) and watched a couple of holiday-themed movies as well as a few episodes of You Can't Do That On Television provided by our friend Glade Swope. I think we had about eleven or twelve folks over, including former Mainers MadHatter, rook, and "Blue House Luke," who were all home for the holiday season (rook now lives in CT and Luke in... MS, I think?!?), as well as some newer faces added to the old familiar ones who usually grace our living room during these kinds of things.
The following week, LG and I were able to take a couple of vacation days and make a trip out of New Year's weekend. bradenboi joined us as we traveled to New Haven, CT, where we (peed and... lol) left the car at theSaj's before taking Metro-North to Grand Central Station and then walked to where my parents live. (And yes, I realize that if anyone is seeking to stalk and/or maim me, I'm making it quite easy to find me -- and no, that's not an invitation to do such a thing!) We were supposed to be meeting up with BradenBoi later that evening but, due to having had VERY, VERY LITTLE SLEEP the previous few nights, just couldn't get ourselves out the door to check out his dj'ing and his friend's show at 11:00 pm (sorry about that, Braden -- we will HAVE to check it out next time, as it sounds great, and we both want to spend more time with you NOT in a car!). Besides Braden, there were a couple of people we'd wanted to meet up with during our time in NYC who circumstances prevented us from having an opportunity to hang with (our friend Lori being one of them and one of the folks who'd made the wedding decorating hours such a hoot back in September), but all-in-all it was a very good time. An unexpected opportunity was thrown LG's way when our friend Mimi set up a meeting with her boss, Steve, at Flash Distributors in Brooklyn. After initial introductions and all that stuff, Mimi gave my mother and I a little tour of the company while Steve, LG and (for part of the time) Merril spoke for quite a while about Disassemblance and other things, and apparently Steve IM'ed someone at Oni Press while LG was there, so who knows where this may or may not lead. Whatever the case, it's a nice encouragement as LG works on any number of his 10,752 (or however many) projects at any one time. Thank you, Mimi -- and for dinner afterward! I was able to show LG a little of Queens the following day, as we met up with Marsha and her almost-nine-year-old daughter Celeste (who I babysat when she was an infant) right in Flushing, ate some good Chinese food and then hung out at their apartment in the Whitestone area for a while before heading back to walk around a bit and grab some coffee before joining with some of the folks at my parents to ring in the new year. I think LG, my mom and I were actually in their living room when the clock hit 2005, but we did go out to the roof garden for a bit to watch the fireworks and listen to the crowd from that vantage point.
On the first day of 2005, deepwoodsdancer joined us for a meal before bringing us to New Haven, CT, where we all ate some Thai food at a restaurant with theSaj and his mother. DWD had to leave that night, but LG and I stayed over at 'Saj's and were able to spend some time (with some, very briefly and with others, extended) with 25bluerose25, kevin_epperson (who we got to meet for the first time in person), KLNoise and the aforementioned rook (btw, sorry I was half asleep - I was glad to see you again and hope you're feeling better!).
[ETA THIS PARAGRAPH: The time-stamp on this entry is deceiving, as I'd started it in the 11:00 p.m. hour but worked on it between other things, finally posting somewhere in the 4:00 a.m. hour... and I believe that's why I neglected to say a huge THANK YOU to DWD for the ride from NYC to CT, which also afforded most of the limited 'chat time' we were able to grab this time around, as well as to theSaj for the overnight accommodation. Both LG and I had a great time, though a bit wiped out and therefore perhaps not being as 'interactive' as usual, and hope to see EVERYONE again on the sooner rather than later side of things, especially with 25bluerose25's upcoming move to the southern part of the country!]
After sleeping longer than we'd planned (I think it was close to seven hours), LG and I traveled by car to my other sister's and her guy's place in New Hampshire, where we grabbed some pizza, played with the dog, went grocery shopping and watched some cable tv together before leaving for Maine at around 1:00 in the morning. As the weather had been crappy and there was a winter weather advisory in effect, and as we weren't sure how we'd be feeling about traveling that night in general, we'd been playing the decision to stay overnight or travel home by ear -- though I would have loved to have stayed longer and spent more time with them (and my sister had off of work the following day, which is unusual), I'm glad we got on the road when we did because the weather started to get worse as we pulled into Portland around 3:00 a.m.
Today... I/we slept. And put stuff away. And got caught up a little on email and whatnot. And did a few errands. And enjoyed our final vacation day from our respective jobs. And now.... ahhh, sleep beckons. Perhaps some observation type of updates will come now that I've kind of done the "this is what's been up lately" entry. We shall see.....